Sandboarding is a sport similar to snowboarding that involves riding across or down a sand dune while standing on a board, either with both feet strapped in or while standing loose, without bindings; while sand sledding is sitting on a sled and coming down the dunes. I have never done sandboarding or snowboarding before and it did seem a tad bit adventurous; so we decided to stick to sand sledding and we had one of the most fun filled days of the trip!

If you have your own sand boards or sleds and are carrying them with you, then you are all set. However, if you are like me and are not a regular ‘sand surfer’, then the Kristi mountain Sports in Alamosa is a great place to rent the equipment for the day. That’s where I found myself first thing in the morning. After getting an adult size sand sled and kid size one for my 8-year-old, we set off for Sand Dunes National Park. We also remembered to carry a picnic lunch with us, as there are no food options available inside the Park.

Great Sand Dunes is about 40 miles to the north east of Alamosa. Right before you enter the park, you will have some great views of the sand dunes from Highway 150 which leads directly into the park. After spending some time at the Visitors’ center, we headed straight for the dunes with our sand sleds. There was ample parking when we arrived, and a short walk from the parking lot leads you right to the sand dunes. We hiked for a little bit on the sand, and found ourselves a relatively secluded dune. It was cold, but a bright and beautiful day, and we soon realized that as much fun it is coming down on the sled, it is just as much tiresome climbing back up! While Vaishakhi and I took turns, Daivik never seemed to run out of energy and had the time of his life!

We had our picnic lunch on the dunes, hiked to different areas in the dunes, and did some more sand sledding. Finally, after a few hours, we decided it was time to explore the other parts of the park as well, before the sun started coming down. We got back on the main park road, and headed to the small parking lot for the Montville nature trail. This is a 0.5 mile loop trail that features a river with a cute footbridge and several flora and fauna along the way. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is accessible year-round. A lot of the trail was covered in snow and we had the whole route pretty much to ourselves the whole time we were there.

We made a final stop at the Visitor Center on our way out, the sun was almost touching the horizon and we were able to get some great shots of the Dunes. Completely exhausted, we made it back to Alamosa, just in time to return the sand sleds (they also have a drop-off facility, in case you make it after closing time) and hit the indoor heated pool in our hotel.