Great Sand Dunes National Park

About

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve sits on the east side of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, where a dunefield up to 750 feet high piles against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is an odd sight in the Rockies, and that is most of the draw. People come to walk out onto the sand, climb as far as their legs allow, and slide back down on rented sandboards or sleds (rentals are outside the park, in the Alamosa area).

The Visitor Center is at 11999 State Highway 150, Mosca. The Dunes Parking Area, the closest lot to the sand, is one mile north of it. In an average year Medano Creek flows past that lot for only a few weeks, from mid May to early June, and families treat the shallow water like a beach. The park reported an exceptionally dry 2026 water year with minimal flow expected, so check the conditions page before you promise the kids a creek.

Most visitors spend a half day. The sand gets hot enough to burn bare feet, so wear closed shoes and go in the morning. Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms, and the park is blunt that the dunes are not a safe place in lightning; head for your car or a building when storms are near. Elevation runs from about 7,500 feet at the dunes to over 13,000 in the preserve, and there is no food service in the park, so bring water and snacks.

The park is open 24 hours a day, year round. The Visitor Center is open 9:00 am to 4:30 pm daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day (2025 schedule). A private vehicle pass is $25 for seven days (2026); the free America the Beautiful Access Pass for people with permanent disabilities is accepted at the entrance station. Pinon Flats Campground runs April through October and has accessible sites.

Alamosa, the nearest full-service town, is 37 miles away. Colorado Springs is 167 miles, Denver about 235 to 242 miles depending on route, and Albuquerque 246 miles. Use Highway 150 from the south or County Road 6 from the west. The park warns that phone mapping apps have routed visitors onto hiking trails and primitive 4WD roads, so follow the official map instead.

Accessibility

Great Sand Dunes is wheelchair accessible at the Visitor Center, the Dunes Parking Area and the edge of Medano Creek, but not on the dunes themselves. Getting onto the sand means borrowing one of the park's free sand wheelchairs and bringing someone strong enough to push it.

Accessible parking is available at the Visitor Center and at the Dunes Parking Area, one mile north. The Visitor Center building and its restrooms are fully accessible, and a concrete patio behind the building gives a view of the dunefield. Skip the nature trail next to it; it is narrow, uneven gravel. A 20-minute captioned film runs daily in summer and on request in winter.

From the Dunes Parking Area, sidewalks connect the lot to the restrooms and picnic area, and a rubber mat laid on the sand runs from the lot to the creek edge. Beyond the mat you are in loose sand. The park lends 4-wheel and 3-wheel sand wheelchairs at no charge. Reserve ahead by calling 719-378-6395, leave an ID at the Visitor Center desk when you pick one up, and return it at least 30 minutes before closing. The chairs are not self-propelled. Wet sand along the creek pushes fairly easily, dry sand does not, and the chairs cannot climb the steep dune faces. The park says they are not suitable for very large adults or for an adult holding a child, and must stay off rocks and cactus.

The Dunes Picnic Area has one accessible, shaded picnic site with a hardened trail to an accessible restroom. Pinon Flats Campground has accessible sites in loop 2 (reservable, with Access Pass discounts) and two first-come sites in loop 1, with accessible restrooms and hardened paths. Paved trails lead from the campground and amphitheater parking to the amphitheater for evening ranger programs, held late May through early September; sand chairs can be checked out for programs held on the dunes.

Trained service dogs are permitted throughout the park, along with trained miniature horses; emotional support animals are not. The park does not publish information on assistive listening, audio description or braille materials. For anything not covered here, call the Visitor Center at 719-378-6395 before you go.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Colorado

• History Colorado Center (Denver)
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Denver)
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs)
• Denver Art Museum (Denver)
• Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver)
• Seven Falls (Colorado Springs)

Photo credits

• Golden sand dunes rise against the forested Sangre de Cristo Mountains under blue sky.: Preiselbeere (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Great Sand Dunes National Park - co-great-sand-dunes-national-park-preserve-us-national-park-service-1: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Great Sand Dunes National Park - co-great-sand-dunes-national-park-preserve-us-national-park-service-3: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains rise behind the sand dunes and desert scrubland.: mark byzewski, CC BY 2.0 (source)
• Great Sand Dunes National Park - co-great-sand-dunes-national-park-preserve-us-national-park-service-4: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• Great Sand Dunes ridges stretch across the horizon under a bright blue sky.: mark byzewski, CC BY 4.0 (source)