Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello Everyone: I need advice on visiting White Sands National Park in December. How much time should one plan as a minimum for the trip? I cannot go hiking or due much walking due to a medical issue. I will be driving and wanting to stop and take photographs. If I arrive late one day, will the morning of the next day be enough time to see the Sands or should I plan to spend two days?
In addition, can one get into the park to take photographs at sunrise? If so any suggestions of where to take photos.
Winter hours: (November 7, 2010 - February 27, 2011)
Visitor Center 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. The Dunes Drive may be entered from 7:00 am. to sunset. No vehicles may enter the Dunes Drive after sunset. All visitors must exit the park by one hour after sunset. The visitor center is closed on Christmas day. Download park gate hours from link at top of page for specific inbound gate and park closing times.
Once you drive as far as vehicles are permitted to go on Dunes Drive, there isn't that much to see or do in the park if you have no desire to walk the dunes, roll in the sand and otherwise cavort around. The turnaround basin is below the tops of the dunes, so in order to get panoramic views into the distance it's necessary to hike to the top of the tallest dunes in the area.
The visitor center displays will likely take more time than seeing the interior of the dunes for those with disabilities. Sunrise on the shortest day of the year, Dec. 22, is about 7am, and the entrance road opens at 7am, so that answers that part of your question.
joqua has it nailed for you. Exploring the dunes is not a day long, much less two day long, experience if you can't get out and wander too much. The roads thru the White Sands wander all over and provide a lot of interesting views and good photo opportunities. Do what you can and enjoy it, it's beautiful.
The park vistors center will explain how WS came to be, and a lot of detail about plant and animal life there. You might spend almost as much time there as out in the sands.
If you're headed West from WS you can explore Las Cruces and my town, Mesilla, as well as cruising down the Mesilla Valley toward El Paso on Rte 28 thru the valley farm country. There are a couple wineries along the way, Rio Grande just south of Mesilla and Zin Valle as you cross over into Texas, that are worth the visit. If you're wine person you can also stop at Luna Rossa and St Clair tasting rooms/restaurants on Avenida de Mesilla (which turns into rte 28 going south) or Vintage wine bar just off the plaza in historic Mesilla. Most of the local history in this area can be found in the village of Mesilla, both on the plaza and by cruising slowly thru the town and eyeballing everything. Some pretty cool places.
If you're headed east you can explore Alamagordo and Tularosa to some extent and go on, as another poster has suggested, to the higer altitude of Ruidoso and surrounding areas.
Enjoy
Forgot to include the new Bosque Park on the Rio Grande in Mesilla...it's new, not developed much, but the visitors center there is pretty well done and is accessible if you can't walk far. They do birdwatching things and other presentations on some mornings. Just driving around the valley can be fun and interesting...lots of pecan orchards, etc. mesilla valley
Aside from White Sands, there are at least two other state parks that can be visited in the same day if planned right:
Oliver Lee is just southeast of Alamogordo, accessed from US-54. Aguirre Springs is just southwest of White Sands, accessed from US-70.
The latter is the most scenic and easily driven in a car as the loop road through the park is paved. The access road to Oliver Lee is also paved, but to enjoy the park itself one must bet out and walk a bit.
White Sands Missile range is also accessible from US-70 with its museum, and there is another interesting Space Museum in Alamogordo proper.
There is a LOT more to see in the area, but those will fill a couple of days.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,760 posts, read 23,870,173 times
Reputation: 14686
I spent a couple hours at White Sands very early in the morning back in March and didn't stray very far from the road. I drove there from Las Cruces and got there around the break of dawn. If you can, I highly reccommend getting there to see the sunrise. I can honestly say it's a very magical experience. I do remember the park opening its gates around 7:00 AM and I made it for the sunrise in the month of March and it was around 34 degrees out (though warmed up fairly quickly after the sun came up). Though I wanted to spend more time there, my flight from EP was departing later that day so I had to go. I certainly wasn't dissapointed with the 2 hours I spent there, definitely worthwhile. The drive between Las Cruces and White Sands is also very beautiful. Here are some photos I took while visiting...
Here is what you'll see from the road...
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 11-14-2011 at 11:07 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
