White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Backcountry Camping Area Trail
Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
11/03/2024	1.7 miles	50 minutes	15'	2.0 mph	695.3 miles
Dune Life Nature Trail
Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
11/03/2024	0.9 miles	23 minutes	94'	2.3 mph	696.2 miles
Playa Trail
Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
11/03/2024	0.4 miles	13 minutes	9'	1.7 mph	696.6 miles

Parking: 

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We woke up early and drove from Albuquerque to White Sands National Park. We had to pass through border patrol on the way there. Our first stop was the visitor center. Then we drove to the end of the 8-mile road through the park and stopped to eat lunch at a picnic table somewhat protected from the wind. From what we've read, November is the start of "wind season". 

White Sands has the largest gypsum dunes in the world. They almost look like snow. On part of the 8-mile road, we weren't allowed to get out of our car due to an air force 'mishap' in the park. We did 3 hikes on the dunes. The sand was pretty firm, so walking on them was easier than expected (way easier than the dunes hiking we did earlier this year in Colorado). Some people sled down the dunes. There is also a 5-mile trail that we didn't do, as well as a short trail in the restricted area. I was hoping to see lizards or other wildlife, but no such luck. One day is really all you need for this park.

We decided to get a room in Alamogordo for the night. We saw signs for Pistachioland and the world's largest pistachio, so we had to stop by. It started raining, so we missed out on going on a pistachio farm tour. But we enjoyed free tastings of flavored pistachios with flavors like dill pickle, lemon lime, and chocolate. We also took photos with the giant pistachio :) We stopped by a grocery store to pick up food for dinner. It had a couple of unusual things. They were selling huge bags of chilis - the bags look like the size of a large dog food bag. And the grocery store made fresh tortillas. People stood in line to order massive amounts of tortillas, fresh from the oven. 

Visitor Center

Picnic area at the end of the park road

You could camp on the first trail we took. 
I don't think you'd sleep much because of the wind though.

The only way to find the trail is to look for these markers in the sand.
The wind blows away any sign of a formal trail.

Cottonwood

How do you eat this many chiles?

Tortilla making