Dunes Nature Trail at White Sands National Park

 

Dunes Nature Trail at White Sands National Park

Relatively speaking, White Sands National Park is rather small (about 228 square miles).  However, it certainly packs a punch in terms of beauty and fun for everyone who visits.  On January 18, 1933, President Hoover designated White Sands as a National Monument.  It was made a National Park in 2019 by President Trump.  It is surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base.  In fact, when they are doing testing at the Missile Range, the National Park can be closed for a period of time, generally an hour or two.  Luckily, this didn’t happen when we visited!

The first visit was to a place called Dunes Nature Trail.  Usually, there aren’t that many folks who stop there.  I think it’s because the larger dunes are further along the park road.  The interesting thing about this stop is that there is a lot of vegetation among the dunes.  I really like the dune plant in this image – standing tall!

One of the lovely things we could see along this trail is how the various components of nature really shine.  The sky, with its wonderful clouds, complements the mountains which seem to echo the grassy bunches of beach grass.  Grounding it all is the sand.  In reality, the “sand” is gypsum, but everyone just calls it sand!

Because the area is so open at White Sands, the sky often takes front and center, as it’s doing here, at the beginning of the sunset for the day.  I especially like the streaking that the light creates with the clouds in the bottom image!

As the sun gets close to the horizon, the warmth of its rays is evident in this dunescape.  Warm rays created shadows that really lend texture to this peaceful image.

And, finally, as we were leaving the area once the sun set, the moon rose!!  Here are two images of it. The one on the left is the moon low enough to seem to be blending into the branches of plants in the area.  The second image is as we drew closer to where our car was parked, at the outer edge of the dunes area.

Enjoy!