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| Gypsum dunes make up the bulk of White Sands National Park. Photo courtesy White Sands NPS. |
Transverse-Barchan dunes sit behind them on the field’s western and and northern sides. These arc-shaped dunes have gentle sloping sides on the windward side leading to high ridges with a steep dropoff on their front.
Dome dunes also can be found at the field’s western edges, usually next to the park’s Lake Lucero and the alkali flat. These dunes are large, rounded piles of sand.
A vast 1,600-square-mile alkali flat stretches between the dunefield’s northwest side to the San Andres Mountains, which forms the basin’s western wall. The flat is the remnant of the evaporated Lake Otero, which was larger than modern Rhode Island.
Two connected pools that make up Lake Lucero are south of the alkali flat and west of the dunes. The lake often is dry, but after rain, snowmelt from the neighboring mountains, and upwelling from deep groundwater, it will fill, only for the water to eventually evaporate.
Trail access to the vast dune field is limited.
The northern half of the dune field sits in White Sands Missile Range with the western half of the park – which includes the alkali flat’s southern portion, Lake Lucero and the dunefield’s southwestern section are shared by the missile range and national park.
The park itself – the area accessible to the public – consists of the dunefield’s southcentral portion and some adjoining desert with a little bit of the alkali flat.
A single road – Dunes Drive – runs about 8 miles into the park, and all of the park’s trails can be accessed from it. About nine miles of trails head into the dunes.
Some great trails to explore White Sands National Park’s geography are:
• Playa Trail (dune front)
• Alkali Flats Trail (Transverse-Barchan dunes, Lake Lucero)
• Interdune Boardwalk (Parabolic dunes)
