I'm finally sharing a recap of one of my favorite places I got to visit last year: White Sands National Monument. I'd actually been here before, but it was many years ago, so I hardly remembered it. I do remember running up and down white sands of gypsum though, so I thought I had a general idea of what the experience would be like. But it was so much more incredible than any faded memories or online photos could have prepared me for.
White Sands National Monument is basically a desert - except instead of sand, the dunes are made of white gypsum that collects from the nearby San Andres mountains. It's the largest deposit of white gypsum in the world. And unlike sand, the gypsum remains cool, even under the hot sun.
I've mentioned this before, but visiting this place feels a like entering an incredible amusement park ride. It just doesn't look real, and it makes you feel like a kid again. I had the time of my life running around the white dunes and taking lots of photos. And though I only spent about 20 minutes here, they were some of my favorite moments of 2017.
Getting There
If you're not planning to road trip to White Sands, the best way to fly in is through the El Paso airport. You can then rent a car to drive to the monument. The drive is about an hour and a half, but there are plenty of places to stop for snacks and gas. I made sure to take a little bit of a detour (meaning we took the highway about ten minutes out of the way) to drive through Franklin Mountains state park on the way out of El Paso. It's a short drive in between the mountains, but the lookout point halfway in makes it worth it.
From there, you will soon enter New Mexico and pass through a couple tiny towns and rest stops before you arrive at White Sands. The minimum donation to enter is $5. They also have a small gift shop that we didn't go into because we were in a hurry to get to another spot in New Mexico (you can read about that here), but I'm sure they have a lot of neat souvenirs.
A Few Tips...
As you drive into the monument, you may notice quite a bit of plants scattered throughout the dunes. It might seem like they're all throughout the monument, but they're not! As you keep driving in (the drive is a lot longer than it seems), you'll notice the plants start to decrease, until you're surrounded by nothing but white sands and blue skies. These are of course the best spots for photos. The park is full of openings in the road where you can pull over and climb out onto the dunes. So don't be afraid to drive in for a little while before stopping for photos.
A must on a sunny day: sunglasses. The white sand may be cool in the summer, but it's also very bright. I was so grateful to have my sunglasses on hand here (even if I did take them off for most photos ;).
If you've ever been to White Sands, what was your favorite part about it?
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