What Color is the Sand at White Sands National Monument?

Now, that might seem like a trick question. As you can see in the photo above, the sand is white at White Sands National Monument. And Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb.

However, as I approached the site, I have to admit that I was a little concerned. I could see some white in the distance, but it looked more like snow drifts in a mall parking lot in March – vaguely white, but with lots of dark matter combined. When I got up to the Monument, I could see that the dark spots were desert plants growing in the white sand. Still, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

I stopped off in the visitor center, looked at the exhibits and saw a video about the dunes and how they are created. Then, I was off to see them for myself.

The first four miles of the Monument are a safety zone, which means there is no stopping. I assume that this has something to do with the fact that White Sands National Monument is smack-dab in the middle of the White Sands Missile Range. I didn’t ask.

The scenery is much like the picture posted above. White dunes sprinkled liberally with desert plants.

I came to a sign that gave me pause.

After the jarring rides I had after the pavement ended in Death Valley, I was a little concerned. However, I needn’t have worried.

The unpaved road was smoother than the asphalt! If you look to the side of the road, you can see that they have to plow the roads to keep them passable.

I stopped first to look at a display on the plant and animal life, but what I saw was a sign the made my heart sing!

 

“This area is reserved for Nature Study. For sand play and other recreational activities, please drive three miles down the road into the heart of the dunes.”

Oh, be still, my heart! Not only was I getting close to the heart of the dunes, but they were actually encouraging sand play! I jumped back into the truck and headed into the heart of the dunes.

After that, the white dunes that I was hoping to see came into view.

White sand as far as the eye could see!

And there were people sledding on the dunes! I kind of wondered how they happened to have flying saucers with them in southern New Mexico. I found out afterwards that they sold them in the gift shop.

I like how they will buy back  your sled and resell it. Used sleds are even cheaper than new ones. I was almost tempted to buy one, go back and give it a try. Then I reflected on my last sledding experience more than twenty years ago and thought better of it. The sand wasn’t particularly slippery. Maybe it was due to the rain they had recently.

Actually, the water table is very high here. In the visitor center, they showed that the water is only about a foot below the surface. I didn’t dig down to check it, but I could feel that the sand was much moister than the sand in Death Valley.

There were actually puddles on the sand. Bart looked really jaunty with the splatters from going through them.

One of the highlights of the experience at White Sands is sunset. They even have a ranger-lead stroll to experience sunset. I vowed to return for that.

But I will save that for another post.