Great Sand Dunes National Park
Probably the most unique place that we visited while in Colorado was Great Sand Dunes National Park. It's home to the tallest sand dunes in North American and is a truly remarkable natural phenomenon. Surrounded by gorgeous snow-capped peaks is an area of desert and sand dunes that seems so out of place in the middle of rocks and snow.
The day that we were there temperatures were in the fifties, but on top of the dunes we were blasted by icy wind coming down off the mountains that made it feel as though it was well below freezing. Despite the cold we managed to have a wonderful time climbing up and down dunes, jumping off sand cliffs, and enjoying scenic views all around. One of the benefits of it being so cold was that we essentially had the park all to ourselves, which made it seem even more desolate and exotic.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day!
Can you spot my friends on top of one of the tallest dunes?
Walking the Crest
Soaking in the View
Andrew eyeing his next challenge
That last shot with (assuming Miller) is sweet!
Correct assumption! Thanks, it felt like we were on that one sandy planet from Star Wars.
What a crazy spot. I'll have to visit one day. If you want to get to other crazy dune locations there's one in Northern Saskatchewan that is really out of the way - on Lake Athabasca. https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Lake+Athabasca/@58.9409462,-109.1918864,8.53z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x53b4d0802bf790c5:0x483368cbeac90cf!8m2!3d59.4242231!4d-109.3403548
I definitely recommend it! Ooh sweeet, that looks awesome. Hopefully I'll make it there someday! Do you live near there?
Not really. I'm in Calgary. I've taken a heli up there once. It's like walking on the moon. Really strange to see so much sand in such a weird spot.
Gotcha. Haha yeah, it's so strange how sand ends up places!
This is fantastic! How long did it take you to hike up the dunes? Beautiful pictures:)
We ended up hiking around for 3 or 4 hours probably, but I would guess it took 30 minutes or so to get from the bottom to the top of the larger dunes.
Thanks! :)
Beautiful shot! So smooth with great colors.
Thanks! Much appreciated!
Whoa! Amazing place. thanks for sharing Sir!.
It's like being on another planet ...
Amazing photos! Happy hiking!
wow excellent landscape shot. very good composition and light ! love it . congratulations my friend
Dang i've still never been there. Been wanting to go for a while.
Definitely do it! It's in the middle of nowhere but worth the drive for sure.
So many places to visit ... so little time. haha
But I do love photographing sand dunes!!
Do you know how is it during the winter? Snow on dunes could be epic and I have lots less paid shoots in Utah during that time.
You're from Ohio right? I'm guessing you're not over in Colorado very often.
Haha for real! So many cool places to go!
These pictures were taken at the beginning of December. There was a tiny bit of snow on some parts of the dunes, but not much at all. I'm guessing if you went after a nice storm it'd probably have a snazzy layer of snow! That would be awesome to see and frickin' hard to walk in haha.
Yeah, I'm from Ohio, so I've only been to Colorado a few times unfortunately!
P.S. I just checked out your website, you've got some incredible shots! Good work!
oh my God , it is just wow. amazing place. :)