A DAY AT THE DUNES

Elizabeth Fowler, 16, from Katy, Texas, tries to balance herself through waves created by the flowing Medano Creek at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve on June 19.

On a recent June day, 8-year-old Clara Abel grabbed a board and hiked through a vast sea of dunes. She hit the sand, surfing down on her board for the first time. The Abel family had traveled from North Carolina to experience what Coloradans have long known: An otherworldly landscape awaits at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

The park is not new to in-the-know Coloradans, but others are discovering it in large numbers.

“We’re exploding in popularity,” said Patrick Myers, acting chief of interpretation and visitor services. “We’ve doubled in the last three years.”

Myers said more than 500,000 people visited the park in 2018; they were expecting to exceed that number this year.

Towering sand dunes in the main dunefield cover about 30 square miles of a valley surrounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Hikers can tackle the 750-foot elevation gains with a two-hour hike to the top.

Also in the area is the backcountry Medano Pass Primitive Road, which winds through a canyon toward the Sangre de Cristos. Trails in the park lead to forests, wetlands and alpine lakes, such as Medano Lake, home to trout and tundra wildlife. Recently, the park became one of four National Park Service sites in Colorado designated as an International Dark Sky Park.

In the spring, snowmelt on the mountains causes a surge, forming the seasonal Medano Creek and creating a beach at the base of the dunes. It’s running at about 1 to 3 inches deep, Myers said, and still drawing long lines of tourists.

He cautioned that visitors should check the park’s website before heading down to avoid long entrance lines and crowding, common during peak surge season.

“Planning ahead is critical to know what kind of conditions to expect,” Myers said, adding that on recent weekends the park has had entrance waits of up to three hours. ”People are realizing it’s not just a pile of sand in southern Colorado.”

Trinity Nelson takes in the sun as she floats in an inner tube down surge flows in Medano Creek on June 20. The park is known for huge dunes, such as the towering Star Dune, and for the seasonal Medano Creek and beach created at the base of the dunes.

Photos by Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post The dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve are the tallest in North America. They are shaped by the forces of wind and water and are continuously moving and shifting. The park near Alamosa is open all day and night year-round.

Park visitors hike one of the many dunes on June 20. The park offers 30 square miles of dunes and 750-foot elevation gains. The average hike time to the top of the dunes is two hours.

Jessica Fruin, right, and daughter Cole, 11, walk the family’s dog, Dorothy. Because of heavy snowmelt, the creek experienced a surge in late June not seen in years, and it drew people from all over the nation.

Clara Abel, 8, surfs down a dune on June 20.