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From Wikipedia – Located in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin, White Sands consists of the southern part of a 275-square-mile field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals—the world’s largest gypsum dunefield. The park is completely within the White Sands Missile Range and is subject to closure when tests are conducted.
- Established: 12/20/2019
- Annual Visitors: 608,875
- Size: 146,344 acres
On the Way to White Sands – November 5 & 6, 2020
We left the quaint and privately-owned town of Whites City, NM, after touring Carlsbad Caverns NP, heading to Roswell, NM for a night on our way to White Sands National Park in Alamogordo, NM. The newest National Park, #62!
I wanted to visit Sitting Bull Falls on our way. The falls are about 42 miles west of Carlsbad, NM and “on our way” except for the 64 miles round trip “out of our way” on the paved Guadalupe Backcountry Byway/State Route 137. Sitting Bull Falls is a recreation area in the Guadalupe Ranger District of Lincoln National Forest. The desert forest is over one million acres! Sitting Bull area has a 150-foot waterfall coming from many different springs at the top. You could tell that there would be many waterfalls and a lot more water in the pool at the bottom, in the springtime. The area has been inhabited by the Paleo Indian people 10,000 years ago, the Mescalero Apache, Spanish explorers and tourists since the 1930’s. There are extensive caves under this area in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert! It was the Lincoln Forest Reserve in 1902 and then purchased by the US Forest Service in the 1920’s. In the 1930’s The Civilian Conservation Corps built stone structures for picnicking. Sadly, in the 1970s there was fire that damaged the trees and structures then, to add to Mother Nature’s powers, there were two floods in 2013 and 2014 which damaged the recreation area two more times. The remodels and rebuilds are impressive and we had a wonderful time exploring the falls before an early picnic lunch. See the slide show of pictures at what was one of Rangeley’s favorite spots on this whole trip! He was off lead, chasing sticks, jumping and swimming for over an hour! We admit that the area is posted for dogs to be on lead but we literally had the falls to ourselves the entire time.
Gary and Rangeley enjoying the other side of Sitting Bull Falls 
Rangeley loved the pools 
Check out the ‘man’s face’ in the ivory rock! 
Elizabeth at the base of the falls 
Great reflection of the falls in the pool at the bottom of picture 
Another great reflection shot 
Rangeley swimming at base of the 150 ft. high falls 
Gary mid picture just above the pool. The sun was spectacular on the falls 
As the sun moved, the beautiful reflections appeared 
Water falling at top of pic, Elizabeth seated bottom right at sun line
6 month old Rangeley posing 
“I don’t want to leave!” 
Rangeley waiting for Gary to throw another stick into the pool behind the grasses 
The guys enjoying a few more moments on the limestone by the falls and pool. 
Once out of the water, Rangeley ran circles with his stick still in his mouth. 
“One more swim, please?!”
I wanted to see Roswell, NM, for the obvious reason of experiencing the well know alien town and, I called ahead to confirm what I had read about… dogs can tour the International UFO Museum with us! I am not quite sure Rangeley “enjoyed” the museum but we had to go …we were in Roswell, in a museum, with a dog! Roswell is home to NM Military Institute which started in 1891 and is still active. This touristy, artsy town founded in the late 1800’s was very alien to us…ok bad one… but it was interesting, educational and fun. See our slide show of our time in Roswell below : )
We left Roswell on Friday, Nov. 6 headed for Alamogordo, NM where we stayed for two nights because of its 14 mile proximity to White Sands NP. We drove through the Mescalero Apache Reservation which is flanked by the Sacramento Mountains and Lincoln National Forest. The 12,000 foot Sierra Blanca (Sacred Mountain) is host to a ski area on the reservation.
We briefly stopped at Ruidoso Downs in the town of Ruidoso, NM on US Route 70. A Thoroughbred and Quarter horse racing track in the middle of nowhere! The All American Futurity is raced here for a 3-million-dollar purse! It’s considered the richest Quarter horse race in the world! The 2020 Labor Day race crowned “Whistle Stop Café” the All American Champion. The filly walked away with $1.5 million for first place. It’s sad to see it closed due to a NM state order re: COVID.
Our last stop before Alamogordo was McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch. Had to buy pistachios that were picked from the trees beside the store!
White Sands NP – Saturday, November 7, 2020
Today was dedicated to hiking, sliding and playing at White Sand National Park. Initially we thought it would be a quick trip as the driving access to the park is relatively short. The Dunes Scenic Drive is only 8 miles long and the only public car access in the 230 square mile park. But we were pleasantly surprised by the foot access we had. Basically, once you are in the park you can walk anywhere, with your dog on lead too! The slide shows will tell pretty much the whole story! Hopefully you have been viewing our pics on a bigger screen because the scenery at America’s parks is amazing! White Sands is so expansive, area wise, that you will enjoy zooming in on the tiny people far away. We left most of the shots wide angle so you could enjoy the views along with us!
We drove the 14 miles to the Visitor center straight southward on the same road our hotel is on, US Route 70. We bought what I, as a child growing up in Vermont, used to call a flying saucer at the gift shop at the visitor center. A 24” plastic disk that is commonly used to slide down snowy mountains, but today…we went sledding on the sand! I picked up our post card and pin and had to stamp my post card because the NP passport book we bought last fall (2019) is already outdated. White Sands became the 62nd National Park in December of 2019 so it was not in it. We are hoping to get a page to insert, from the book’s manufacturer online, after we get home.
Our first stop was Dune Life Nature Trail, a 1-mile loop with several informational plaques telling about the Kit Foxes, Bleached Earless Lizard, Apache Pocket Mouse, Soaptree Yucca plant and the Skunkbush Sumac bushes in this area. The dunes move with the winds and leave low spot where plants then grow after heavy rains. The winds also create beautiful rippling patterns in the sand.
Our first hike was through the beginning of the dunes, more vegetation. Zoom in, Rangeley is on the sand-to-skyline by bush on upper left. 
Elizabeth wrote this with her hike stick. 
Rangeley loved this park as well. He could go anywhere and he was able to find a few sticks. 
The road out to the middle of the park. It is just packed sand. They “plow” the road to remove drifting sand. 
One of the many huge parking lots. It looks like packed snow/ice, but is just packed sand. 
Rangeley and I walking over a dune.
We stopped at the Interdune Boardwalk area but there were too many people to pass on a narrow metal .2-mile boardwalk with a dog and, we would have wanted to mask up being that close to others, so we continued up the scenic drive. There are plenty of places on the scenic drive to park and get out, hike and even horseback ride if you wanted to bring your trusty steed. We stopped to use our flying saucer at the Alkali Flat Trailhead (don’t be fooled, the brochures say, it’s not all flat as you walk this 5-mile up and down the dunes hike!). We were saving my ankle for a hike up ahead but the sliding was a blast. Even Rangeley went down a couple times with Gary! See pics!
I think Elizabeth enjoyed sledding in the 70 degree weather. 
Rangeley went down twice with me. He didn’t try and jump off, though not sure he really enjoyed it. 
Elizabeth going a second time! 
Elizabeth making a sand angel. 
One of the picnic areas. The covers provide protection from the wind as well as the sun.
Our last stop was the Backcountry Camping Loop Trail. This is mostly used by people tenting in the dunes but it made for a wonderful picturesque 2-mile round trip adventure for us. Indiana Dunes was amazing but the whiter color and lower rolling hills of White Sands made this adventure remarkably different. We loved it.
We did a second hike on the inner dunes. 
We posted a pic yesterday, above. of White Sands in the distance in the south, this is at White Sands looking back north 
When the low areas fill with rain water, then dry, it creates sand waves…looks lie tire tracks. 
Elizabeth walking back to the car 
By now you may have figured out how they came up with the name “White Sands”! 
Winds create wonderful waves in the sand 
There were lots of families out today. We enjoyed the kid’s laughter throughout the dunes near parking lots.
We wanted to visit Lake Lucero on the southwest side of White Sands NP but you have to go with a tour guide. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the tours are not happening right now. The entire western half of the park is a “Cooperative Use Area” with a military missile testing site that is not allowing the public on that side of the park right now. We didn’t see any missile parts or experience a shut down of the park for testing launches but those are real, interesting and scary facts about this park.
Tomorrow we drive back into Arizona for our final park of this wonderful journey, Saguaro National Park.
Not all those who wander are lost.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
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