White Sands National Park

A long-standing national monument, White Sands National Park had its designation upgraded in December of 2019 — and for good reason. This surreal field of gypsum sand dunes, tucked into the south-central portion of New Mexico, has dazzled visitors for decades. Along with its stunning beauty, it also has a fascinating historical and cultural context: surrounded by military installments, this part of the country is often used to test defensive technologies such as missiles, lending it an even more otherworldly, and perhaps even eerie, quality.

That said, White Sands is a cheerful place as well; families gather to sled down the dunes, and adventurers take to the sands for hiking, horseback riding, and just taking it all in. The national park is located in a relatively remote stretch of the southwestern desert, and the closest New Mexican communities are La Luz, Alamogordo, and Las Cruces.

As far as landscape characteristics, White Sands is known for — you guessed it — its white gypsum sand dunes, which, covering 275 square miles of the desert, is the largest such gypsum dune field of its kind. The park is also home to a variety of plant and animal life, including roadrunners, coyotes, bobcats, and more than 600 species of invertebrates. It’s also been the site of fossilized footprint findings, by which scientists have learned about a variety of its ancient citizens, like dire wolves, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats. Given its southern desert location, it’s no surprise to most visitors that White Sands can get extremely hot during the summer months, with temperatures frequently nearing (or reaching) the triple digits; the sub-freezing winter nights are often more surprising.