The final nature post, Great Sand Dunes National Park. This was not an originally planned stop but, again, because of the shutdown, we weren’t able to go to Arches National Park and Canyonlands. So, this was the backup plan. A really great location and my son’s favorite of the trip. Apparently, he liked hiking the very steep dunes, though I’m pretty sure he liked running down them even better!
This park has the highest dunes in North America, with the tallest one topping out at 750 feet. The kids were crazy, taking the steepest path every single time, I did not and was still dying! Very grateful for the cool, single digit temps. We were all hot even with how cold it was. I have no idea how anyone would do this in the summer months. And, yes, we did make it to the top of the tallest dune…woohoo!
It was pretty bright while we were there so the color photos aren’t what I’d like them to be. I prefer the black and white versions, which I’ll share here. However, I do have some color takes and some images not in this post, here.

A couple hikers adding a bit of scale.


Onto those abstracts, when the light was just starting to get good and low, which creates much better shadowplay. If this trip and these locations were predominantly about photography I would have timed this stop a bit better for later-day light. So much better for a location like this. However, still fun to get a few shots and have most of the time to hike and hang out with my kids. Even if they were dunes ahead of me, lol!