White Sands National Park is a snow-white oasis in the middle of the New Mexico dessert. It’s truly one of the most unique places that we’ve ever visited… and with that comes opportunities to see and do some singular activities. Here is our recommended itinerary for what to do in White Sands National Park in one day!
1. Explore the Map of White Sands National Park
Before you visit the park, it’s a good idea to understand the geographic layout of White Sands. The National Park Service has some beautiful maps of the park that help visitors understand what they will see and experience. A subset of the Dunes Drive map is seen below. This is the main driving route through the park that is available for visitors.
You enter the park at the bottom of the map (the red road marked Highway 70). The yellow road is the Dunes Drive, an approximately 16 mile round trip. It takes on the shape of a lollipop with a long two-lane, paved road that you will encounter for the first 5 miles or so. The remainder of the route is a packed sand roadway that loops through the most beautiful views of the dunes. Note how there is one way in and one way out of the park.
White Sands National Park is located next to the Holloman Air Force Base, and near the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
2. Visit the Visitor Center
When entering the park, you will be greeted by the White Sands Visitor Center (even before proceeding to the attended gate to pay the entrance fee). The White Sands Visitor Center is a unique building with information that you will need to make the most of your visit in the park.
This facility features exhibits that showcase the geology, wildlife, and plants that you will see in the park. You will also be able to catch the park film shown every half-hour throughout the day. This is also where you will be able to stamp your National Park Passport to commemorate your visit.
Adjoining the visitor center is a gift shop. This will be a place to check out if you are interested in purchasing a sled for your visit in the park. There are also other keepsakes and local art that you can purchase here.
3. Drive the Dunes Drive
The Dunes Drive is perhaps one of my favorite scenic drives of all time. White Sands is unlike any place that I’ve seen before, and the vast expanses of white gypsum sand dunes dazzle endlessly.
The Dunes Drive takes you back to the heart of the dune field. The road itself is formed of packed gypsum, and you are surrounded by deep blankets of white sands abutting distant mountains. In whichever direction you look, you see the magnitude of the desert that is constantly in motion by the blowing and drifting grains of power-like sand.
We drove the loop at least four times during our two-day visit. The first time, we caught the drive right before sunset (a true treat) to see the sun setting over the mountains. The next day, we drove it to find the perfect dune to sled. The other times, we just drove it again top hop out and do a little walking because we simply weren’t ready to leave.
When we visited (in January), there were only a few others that we encountered on this drive which surprised me. It was as if people decided to stop venturing along the drive after the paved road ended. This, in my opinion, is a mistake! Plan to drive the entire loop.
4. Sledding at White Sands National Park
Sledding the beautiful gypsum sand dunes is one of the most unique and genuinely fun experiences that I have had in our parks! I literally felt like a kid (and squealed in delight like one) when we found our very own sand dune to climb and sled down.
Getting a Sled at White Sands
You can bring your own sled (like this one), or you can purchase a saucer-shaped sled at the park’s gift shop. The shop is adjacent to the National Park Visitor Center when you first enter the park. The sleds that you purchase can be sold back to the shop after you’re done using them, and you can even get a small portion of your money back.
The shop also sells wax that you’ll want to use on the bottom of your sled. This wax kind of resembles the chalk that you put on a cue stick when playing pool. You rub the hard, plastic-like substance across the bottom surface of your sled like a kid coloring a coloring book with a fat crayon, and it reduces friction with the gypsum that forms the dunes.
Pro Tip: You can also purchase used sleds at the shop for a reduced rate. The used sleds might be in short supply though, so get there early to save a few bucks! Also, yes, you can purchase a used sled and sell it back to the gift shop when you’re done.
Where to Sled in White Sands National Park
You can basically sled on any dune in the park. As you drive deeper into the park, you will see folks sledding shorter dunes that appear as though they will run into the road. I recommend going back to the loop road though. When we visited, there was hardly anyone back there. Yes, we had to walk further into the dunes than those that were roadside, but we had our choice of dunes in this vast open space, and there were hardly any people in sight.
The other place that I think would have been fun to sled were around the picnic area. The dunes there formed an amphitheater surrounding the drive in picnic tables. There was one family that we observed sledding, and that was it!
When you are going to sled, rub the wax on the bottom of the sled to reduce friction. You will also benefit from creating a groove or trail in the dune by riding the same path multiple times. This led to increased enjoyment after multiple runs.
5. Hike the Interdune Boardwalk
There are a few hikes that you can take once you’re in White Sands National Park. The Interdune Boardwalk is a short (0.4 mile) and accessible, educational walk that you can take. It’s located close to a parking area, and is built above the grasses and dunes. There are a number of informational bulletins and informational signs about the wildlife, plant life, and geological features of the park.
6. Grab a Bite to Eat in a Covered Picnic Table in the Roadrunner Picnic Area
We highly recommend that you pack a cooler for your day trip to White Sands National Park. There are covered picnic tables at a couple of pull offs. The covering helps to protect you from the wind while you enjoy your food.
We stopped at the Roadrunner Picnic Area which you enter right before beginning a loop on the Dune Drive. There are an abundance of tables where you can sit. It’s almost as if you are at the center stage of a dune-lined amphitheater. This seemed to be a great place to sled as well since you are surrounded by dunes.
7. Hike the Playa Trail and Observe the Desert Wildlife
In addition to the Interdune Boardwalk trail, the Playa Trail is an easy and educational hike to fit into a one-day trip to the park. On the half-mile Playa Trail, you will see a lakebed in the middle of a desert. For the better part of the year, it is dry, but during stormy weather, the playa refills with water. The trail highlights the habitat for animals and plants, and delights visitors that enjoy learning about the ecology of their surroundings.
How to spend your time
We recommend getting into the park early, and staying through the day to experience the sunset over the dunes. With one day, this is how we would spend our time. Note, the times are estimates, and we intentionally added some cushion time in the mix so that you can just take a few minutes to enjoy your experience without rushing to the next thing.
9am – Arrive at the Visitor Center when it opens for maps, information, exploring the displays, viewing the park video, and securing your disc sleds at the gift shop (~50 minutes)
10am – Drive into the park, pay your fees (or show your America the Beautiful Park Pass), drive to / explore the Playa Trail (approx 30 min), drive to / explore the Interdune Boardwalk Trail (approx 30 min) – you will encounter the Playa trail first, then the Interdune Boardwalk trail
11:30am – Get the lay of the land by driving the rest of the Dune Drive. Make a note of areas along the loop that you might want to pull off and explore more after lunch. Maybe even snap a few photos… but resist the temptation to start sledding – there’s plenty of time in the afternoon for that after you have eaten and rehydrated yourself. Once you complete your first loop, pull off to the picnic area to enjoy lunch at a covered area.
12:30pm – Lunch – enjoy the chance to sit down and take in your surroundings – perhaps you might even see another dune that looks interesting that you’d like to check out.
1:00pm – Sled (and wander) to your heart’s content – find your dune (or dunes) to sled until you’ve had your fill. Make sure to drink plenty of water as you’ll likely get tired and expend more energy than you realize.
3:30pm – Wrap up sledding. Enjoy a final trip, and head back to sell your sled back to the gift shop before it closes (unless you want to keep yours – completely up to you!)
4:30pm – Make plans for sunset. While we would likely drive back out to the loop on the Dune Drive to stake out our favorite place to watch the sun set over the mountains, the park also offers a free, ranger-guided ~60 minute Sunset Stroll.
Sunset – Enjoy this most special part of the day’s experience.
After sunset – Safely exit the park! When we visited, we stayed at the Hampton Inn Alamogordo, and enjoyed the cleanliness of the hotel located about 25 minutes from the park on the outskirts of the town of Alamogordo.
Concluding Thoughts
Enjoy this special trip to White Sands National Park! There are even more amazing things that you can do here, but with one day, you can see and learn quite a bit. See how this visit to White Sands can fit into an even larger Southwestern National Park road trip.
Until next time, happy exploring!
