Things to Do in White Sands National Park: Sledding, Sunset and 8 More

Things to Do in White Sands National Park

The 10 Things to Do at White Sands, Ranked

Sled the Gypsum Dunes

This is the reason most people come. White Sands is gypsum, not quartz sand, so it stays cool even on a hot afternoon and slides more like packed snow than beach sand. Buy a waxed plastic saucer and a bar of wax at the visitor center gift shop, then walk out to a tall, steep dune away from the road. The far loop of Dunes Drive has the biggest unbroken slopes. Full details, including which dunes hold up best, are in our White Sands sledding guide.

Drive or Bike Dunes Drive

Dunes Drive is an 8-mile road into the heart of the dunefield, 16 miles round trip and about 45 minutes with a few stops. The first four miles are paved; the last four are hard-packed gypsum that a normal car handles fine in dry weather. Bicycling is allowed on the road itself, not on the hiking trails or off into the dunes.

Hike One of the Five Marked Trails

All five trails leave from Dunes Drive. The Interdune Boardwalk (0.4 mile) is flat and accessible, with interpretive signs, a good first stop or a stroller-friendly option. The Playa Trail (0.5 mile) is a short walk to a shallow playa that holds water after rain. The Dune Life Nature Trail (1 mile) is a loop marked with blue posts that climbs onto the dunes and explains the animals that live here. The Backcountry Camping Trail (2 miles) loops deeper into the dunes on orange posts and makes a good longer walk even though overnight camping on it is currently suspended. The Alkali Flat Trail (5 miles round trip) is the marquee hike, an out-and-back across open dunefield to the edge of an ancient lakebed, marked only by red posts. Soft sand makes 5 miles feel closer to 8, and the featureless terrain makes it easy to lose the route, so carry at least a gallon of water per person and never let more than one post go without spotting the next.

Watch Sunset Over the Dunes

The last two hours before sunset are the best time to be at White Sands. The heat breaks, the crowds thin, and the low sun turns the white gypsum pink and gold with long blue shadows. The park sometimes stays open later around the full moon for evening access; check the current schedule before planning a night visit, since it is seasonal.

Picnic and Visit the Historic Visitor Center

There are 62 picnic tables spread across several areas along the road, first-come, first-served, with one group area you can reserve ahead. The visitor center is a Spanish Pueblo-style building with a small museum, a gift shop where you buy sleds, and an orientation film, a good stop on the way in if it is your first visit.

Why White Sands National Park Sometimes Closes

The park shares its boundary with the White Sands Missile Range, and it is occasionally necessary to close the road into the park for up to about three hours during testing. US Highway 70 between Alamogordo and Las Cruces closes at the same time. These closures are not on a fixed public schedule, so check the park's closure webpage the evening before or morning of your visit, and watch the park's Facebook page and the New Mexico Department of Transportation road conditions site (nmroads.com) for the most current word if you are already on the road.

Building a Half-Day or Full-Day Visit

A half day covers Dunes Drive, sledding, and one short trail like the Interdune Boardwalk or Dune Life Nature Trail. A full day adds the Alkali Flat Trail in the cooler morning hours, a picnic lunch, and staying until sunset. Either way, plan around the heat from May through September by starting early or arriving in the afternoon, and check the best time to visit White Sands before you book your dates.

Have Us Plan the Trip

Tell us your dates and we will build the White Sands stop into a wider New Mexico trip, sledding, sunset and the missile-range schedule included. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.