Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center
Address: Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center, 11999 CO State Highway 150, Mosca, CO 81146
North America's tallest dunes rise 750 feet against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado's San Luis Valley, built by wind from sand the Rio Grande carried off the mountains. People have lived beside the dunes for 11,000 years, from mammoth hunters to the Ute.
Sled and sandboard down the dunes and splash in Medano Creek's spring surge flow. For a challenge, climb 13,604-foot Mount Herard or backpack into the preserve's high alpine valleys.
Coordinates: 37.73321, -105.51213