Region

Less than an hour’s drive east of Las Cruces is a sea of white gypsum sand that is home to unique plant and animal life, magnificent sunsets and moonrises. A driving path and hiking trails allow visitors a full experience of the ocean of dunes.

Gypsum sand particles, eroded from the San Andres Mountains, are washed down and deposited at the intermittently dry lakebed of Lake Lucero, then picked up by winds and scattered eastward, forming the more than 275 square miles of dunes. The national monument covers about half the dunes; the rest are part of the White Sands Missile Range, which has restricted access to visitors.

Visitors to the national monument experience a sea of white that can be blinding and intimidating during the day, but which softens and changes in the morning or especially toward sunset, when the palette of glowing colors expands. Plant and animal life has adapted to survive in this sea of ever-shifting white sand. Some of the animals, including lizards and mice, have lost pigmentation to become nearly as pale as the sand that is their home. Yucca, the New Mexico state flower, is common, in many cases with only the tall seed stalk visible sticking out the sand, the remainder of the plant having been buried by the moving sand.

Unlike the sand found at seashores, gypsum sand particles do not soak up as much heat, so daytime adventurers can safely walk without shoes, even on the warmest days. Children also finds the dunes excellent for sliding down, much as they would a snowy hillside.