Great Sand Dunes National Park

Thursday September 11, 2014
Piñon Flats Campground
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Mosca, Colorado

 

We leave Black Canyon separately again because of the mountains.  My last post from there did not show up on blog rolls so if you have not seen it and would like to read about our final day, the steep East Portal Road and the Gunnison Tunnel you can find it here.

This 198 mile trip to Great Sand Dunes was a slow rough go over mountainous roads with very bad pavement. I really wish we could have driven together because we did go through some very beautiful scenery along CO 114.  It was very slow going with  twists and turns and necessary low speed limits. I was sure wishing I could have stopped for pictures but not knowing for sure what day we would get here, I made no reservations.  The campground does have a first come first served loop but it’s a FRIDAY and when you have a rig that’s at the size limit for the park you don’t have many site choices.  So no stops and no pictures.   If you aren’t in a hurry, I really recommend a slow mosey along Colorado 114.

 

 

I started out at 8:30, before David and Winnona, for the campsite grab.  I arrived at the park around 12:30 after a stop in Gunnison, Colorado for gas at $3.799.  Sure hope gas prices decrease as we move east.  They usually do.

While driving down the last stretch of road before the park, Colorado Lane 6 North-isn’t that an odd road name, I did have to stop for a picture of this wood sculpture next to a ranch driveway.   The sign was just too funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving at the park, I go directly to the campground and after driving around all 3 loops I find Loop A is walk ins, loop B can be reserved.  Loops A & B have a mix of RV only and tent only sites.  Loop C is tents only. 

Most sites in all 3 loops are not level.  As in many National Parks, the campground is older, has no hook ups and was originally designed for tents and pop up trailers.  With the constant cutting of funds to the National Parks, they have been unable to afford to redo the campgrounds.   The way they have accommodated motor homes is to make pull out sites along the road.   I pick the widest one I can find and hope that we can level it up.  It is in Loop B so I will have to reserve in order to make sure it is not taken by someone else.

 

While I wait for David, I go down to the Visitor Center for a map, a schedule and a first look.  The building has  a very lovely entryway with a map of the park and some beautiful stained glass above it and the entrance to the restrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

I wished these stained glass panels had been hanging in front of windows rather than against the wall and so high up.  They weren’t being displayed to their greatest advantage although they were very safe here so perhaps that was the intention.

 

 

 

 

 

In the entry way, there are a few exhibits about the park including one on early visitors which has artifacts.  Archeological evidence shows that nomadic people visited the San Luis Valley, where the park is located, at least 11,000 years ago.  These people, known to us as the Clovis people, hunted mammoths, bison and other animals.  They gathered seeds and plants and made their camps near springs and creeks.  Fragments of worked stone, grinding stones and pottery sherds indicate that groups spent time here.

Inside the visitor center the first thing I notice is the dune.  The back wall is a giant window looking out on the great dune.  Not sure how it compares with the Dunes at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore which we visited early in the summer but this is one big dune right out here in Southern Colorado.   What a great surprise as you first walk into the center.   I can’t wait to see it up close.

The visitor center also has a film and many interesting displays with information I’m anxious to see.  But that will have to wait until we get settled in.

 

 

I return to the site I’ve picked which gives me a very nice shady place to wait for David and Winnona.  They don’t arrive until 3:00.  He has had to go even slower than I over the rough roads and the steep and winding curves.  He also stopped at the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass.  The elevation climb is why Winnona didn’t pull Ruby.  Easier all around.

 

 

His late arrival makes it a very good thing I came when I did because this site would not have been here by the time he arrived given the way the campground is filling in.  A person with a 39’ 5th wheel came in and drove through at least twice, but there are clearly no spots except perhaps ours that would fit them and even it is unlikely.

 

Our site from the front gives us good sun for the solar panels.

 

 

The back is shaded, as is our picnic area up a few steps.

 

 

 

We have a great view of the mountains out the front window down the campground road and of the dunes not far away.

 

 

It is amazing how the dunes change color with the light.  Just a few hours ago they were a sandy brown, now they look gray.

 

 

We reserve our site through the week-end just to be safe.  Had we been in Loop A, where the sites are not reserveable we could have  decided one night at a time, up to the limit of 14 days of course.  But sadly we don’t have anywhere near that much time anyway.   Still, I would love never having to make reservations.   We determine that we don’t have enough time to do justice to the Visitor’s center but there is a loop hike from the campground and back that will take us to it so that’s up for tomorrow.