Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park

You will find the tallest sand dunes in North America in Colorado in Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Sand too heavy to rise with the wind is blown northeastward across the flat desert floor of the San Luis Valley til it comes to the Sangre de Cristo Range, where sand deposits have piled up for around 15,000 years.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve covers 130 square miles, including the 39 square miles of sand dunes, plus land surrounding the dunes. Great Sand Dunes National Park was originally designated a National Monument. President Bill Clinton signed the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act of 2000, with the ultimate goal of National Park status achieved by act of Congress on September 13, 2004.

A National Park visitor center has exhibits explaining the natural and human history of the Great Sand Dunes area. There are self-guided nature trails, plus camping and picnic facilities. Naturalist conducted walks and, in summer, nightly amphitheater programs are presented.

Longtime local legends have told of wagon trains lost in the dunes, along with strange creatures living in the inner reaches of the dunes.

There are several streams flowing on the edges of the dunes. Water is carried downstream, and then when the stream runs dry the wind picks the sand back up and re-deposits it on the dunes.

Of the streams in the park the most notable is Medano Creek, which borders the east side of the dunes, near the Visitor Center. Medano Creek's streambed is constantly meandering. Sand will form dams, which then break, causing mini-floods, which look like waves of water rolling across the sand.

Visitors can play in Medano Creek, as long as no motorized equipment is used. Medano Creek fun includes sand castle building, making sand sculptures, skimboarding, wading and even surfing.

Great Sand Dunes National Park's sand dunes rise as high as 750 feet.

With the help of the National Conservancy, when the National Monument was expanded to a National Park, parts of Baca Ranch were included. The size of Great Sand Dunes National Park is about 3 times bigger than when it was a National Monument. Included in the National Park is Kit Carson Mountain at 14,165 feet in elevation.

Inside Great Sand Dunes National Park you will find 6 peaks over 13,000 feet in elevation, forests of cottonwood and aspen, plus spruce and pine forests, along with grasslands and wetlands providing habitat for diverse plant species and wildlife.

According to a study made by the National Park Service, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is the quietest national park in the lower 48 United States.

In addition to being quiet, this national park is also very windy. You can easily witness the dune building process as you hike on the Sand Dunes being pelted by blowing sand and small rocks.

For detailed current information about conditions at Great Sand Dunes National Park, including the water flow of Medano Creek, visit the National Park Service's official Great Sand Dunes National Park website.

Great Sand Dunes National Park is about 38 miles northeast of Alamosa via US 160 and SR 150. The map below will give you an idea of where the National Park is located in Colorado...

Estes Park, Colorado's Big Elk Population Chasing Tourists

The elk bearing down on the man in the picture is doing so in Estes Park, Colorado.

Estes Park is a popular summer resort town and is where Rocky Mountain National Park's headquarters is located.

At last count Estes Park had a population of 5,858. And for much of the year nearly 2,000 elk join the human inhabitants of Estes Park.

Estes Park average elevation is 7,522 feet, located on the eastern front range of the Rocky Mountains at the eastern entry to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Built in 1909 the Stanley Hotel in on the outskirts of Estes Park. Stephen King was a guest of the Stanley Hotel, a visit which inspired him to change the locale of his novel, The Shining, calling the Stanley Hotel the Overlook Hotel.

The highest highway in the United States, Trail Ridge Road, runs from Estes Park west through Rocky Mountain National Park and then on to Grand Lake at the Continental Divide.

Below is a map showing the location of Estes Park. As you can see it is a fairly short distance northwest of Denver.

Below is a BBC YouTube video about the elk in Estes Park. I have seen herds of elk take over the town-like north entry into Yellowstone National Park. It is sort of an unsettling spectacle.



Below are a couple interesting comments about the Estes Park elk video....

I'm a Colorado native and the elk population is in a serious boom cycle because the land is not hunted AND the elk no longer have their natural predators (wolves) around to cull the herd. When I was younger, the elk stayed in the park and were not in town as they are now. Spoke with a park ranger and they've talked of just killing some and letting nature take care of the carcasses. At least with hunters, they could make money from the license revenue, plus the meat would not go to waste.

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This is the same situation in Japan where the Shika deer no longer have their natural predators. It's a hunters' paradise since the government allows for a 5 month hunting season with no limit (limit of 1 deer a day per hunter applies). However Japan has far less hunter so the Shika deers are overpopulated and destroys crops and trees.

Silverton Colorado

That's Wanda looking at me looking down at Silverton, Colorado in the valley below. We arrived in Silverton on a Roadtripping day that started in Moab, getting to Durango about noon, then on to Silverton, hoping to find a place to stay for the night, before heading to Taos, New Mexico in the morning, via the Million Dollar Highway.

It was October, so there were not a lot of tourists wanting to stay overnight in Silverton. So, we easily found rooms at the Grand Imperial Hotel. I'd never stayed in such place before. Built in the Victorian style in the late 1800s when Silverton was a mining boomtown, the Grand Imperial Hotel has no elevators, which would seem to be no big deal.

The photo of the Grand Imperial makes it appear to be a 3 floor structure. But, I'm sure I remember we were on the 4th floor. Every time I had to climb up those flights I got winded. Silverton is one of the highest towns in America. 9,305 feet above sea level. I have been standing on the planet at a higher elevation, that being Pikes Peak, but I've never spent a night at so high an elevation.

Soon upon our arrival the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tooted in to town. This had all the stores and restaurants open and the town seeming busy. And then the train left, most of the stores closed, with the town back to its usual 500, give or take a few people, population.

A mountain hovers over Silverton. Part way up that mountain there is a statue. Big Ed and I got out the mountain bikes to pedal around town and then up that mountain. I did not take the 9,305 feet elevation in to account when I decided I wanted to pedal up that mountain. I was breathing so hard to get oxygen it was painful. Eventually I gave up pedaling and hiked to the statue. It turned out to be a memorial to those lost in a big Silverton mining accident.

That night we had dinner in the Grand Imperial Hotel's Restaurant. And then we went to the Grand Imperial's Saloon. Now, I did not know, until that night, that drinking an adult beverage at a high elevation has quite a more potent intoxicating effect than it does at sea level.

Two things stick in my mind from that evening. One was the full moon shining through the saloon's windows. This was the brightest, biggest moon I had ever seen. The other thing that stuck in my mind was our bartender. You can see both the moon and the bartender in the picture.

She asked where we were from. Back then, I'd always say "Seattle," when I'm on a trip, because people know where that is. It's like now I'd say I was from Dallas, because Fort Worth is not all that well known outside of this zone, for the most part.

So the bartender said she'd lived in Silverton all her life, that she has rarely left Silverton, just going to Durango a few times. Then she said her dream was to one day to get to travel to Seattle and see those flying fish. We all looked at each other, puzzled. Then I asked if she meant the flying fish at Pike Place Market? She confirmed that was what she meant.

How those flying fish in Seattle could possibly be someone's thing they dream of seeing is perplexing. I find it annoying when those fishmongers start tossing those salmon.

I don't remember how late we stayed in the saloon. I do know that I slept exceptionally well. I attribute this to the high elevation and that high elevation causing me some heavy duty aerobic exercise that exhausted me. The adult beverages likely had a sedative effect, as well.

Below is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad arriving in town....

Million Dollar Highway In Colorado

My Roadtripping over the Million Dollar Highway was part of a Roadtrip that began in Moab, went on to my second Lake Powell Houseboat experience, after another night at the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat, just like I did the first time I houseboated, then a return to Monument Valley, back to Moab, then south to Durango, an overnight in the Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton, followed by the Million Dollar Highway the next morning, ending up in Taos that night.

I have driven a lot of mountain roads. You spend most of your life living in the state of Washington, you do a lot of mountain driving. I prefer my mountain driving to have guard rails. As you can see in the picture there are no guard rails on the Million Dollar Highway. But, I have driven many a Washington and California, mountain logging road, with no guard rails, so the Million Dollar Highway's lack was not all that unsettling.

I did not find the Million Dollar Highway as challenging to drive as the Moki Dugway, or even the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The Million Dollar Highway does have a few moments, though, tight S-curves, a few steep drop-offs, without those reassuring guardrails, but all in all, the Million Dollar Highway is more scenic than scary.

This section of U.S. 550 is so-named due to way back in the day that it was built to better facilitate supplying mines and towns in the San Juan Mountains, a million dollars was a lot of money to spend to build a short stretch of road. Or so I've been told. Maybe it's called the Million Dollar Highway due to a million dollars worth of gold coming out of mines along the road.

Most people refer to the stretch of U.S. 550 from Silverton to Ouray as the Million Dollar Highway, but the actual Million Dollar Highway is the stretch of the road that runs south from Ouray about 12 miles through Uncompahgre Gorge, up to the summit of Red Mountain Pass. The Million Dollar Highway is part of San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway.

Below is a YouTube video that will take you from Ouray to Silverton, speeding up the drive from 40 minutes to 10.

Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado

I drove across Royal Gorge Bridge on the long ago longest Roadtrip of my Roadtripping career. The day before had been spent driving up Pikes Peak. The day after Royal Gorge headed in the direction of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, eventually making it to the second interesting bridge of this Roadtrip, that being London Bridge. And a hike down the Grand Canyon from the South Rim. Eventually ending up in Yosemite for the first time.

The Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge is pretty much a bridge to nowhere. It was built by the town of Canon City to be one of the tourist attractions in what amounts to being a theme park. Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge, hovering 1,053 above the Arkansas River.

In the Royal Gorge theme park you can ride the world's longest single-span Aerial Tram across the gorge. The tram travels 2,200 feet at 1,178 feet above the Arkansas River.

Traveling at a 45 degree angle Royal Gorge's Incline Railway is the steepest in the world. You ride it 1,500 feet to the canyon floor. When you get off the Incline you are hit with spray from the Arkansas River's Class 5 rapids.

Suspension bridges are designed to move a bit. Royal Gorge Bridge did some moving as vehicles crossed it. Walking across is a bit exciting for anyone with any degree of acrophobia.

Animals, like deer, wander around the park. For kids there is a carousel and the Royal Gorge Silver Rock Railway. For the really adventurous there is the Royal Flush Skycoaster, it being one of those bungee jump type things with a line attached to a tower that lifts you up high and then lets you swing. In this case you swing out 1,200 above the Arkansas River.

There are plenty of feeding opportunities at Royal Gorge, ranging from BBQ to Mexican food, to classic American fare to homemade ice cream.

There are several shopping opportunities in the park. Stryker Rich Trading Post is on the left before you cross the bridge. Royal Village Shirts is on the other side of the bridge. Colorado Country Shop is inside the Cliff Terrace. Eagle's Nest is outside the south side terminal of the Aerial Tram. Prospector Pan is at the bottom of the Incline Railway.

Tickets cost $24.00 for adults, kids 4-11 are $19.00, seniors are $21.00. You can get an annual pass. The admission ticket includes all park rides, shows and attractions, except for the Royal Flush Skycoaster and horse riding.

Pikes Peak Colorado

I drove to the top of Pikes Peak on the longest Roadtrip I've ever driven, the same Roadtrip I wrote about yesterday, where I talked about the London Bridge and Lake Havasu. But before I got to Arizona, on this particular Roadtrip, I was in Colorado.

Click here to watch video of the Roadtrip to the top of Pikes Peak along with other information about what you can see and do at Pikes Peak.

The pitstop the day before driving to the top of Pikes Peak had been in a campground besides a roaring creek near Rocky Mountain National Park. Driving through Rocky Mountain NP you get to some high elevations, but you don't drive to the top of any of the, what Colorado natives call, fourteeners, fourteeners being the 54 mountains in Colorado over 14,000 feet.

Being from the northwest and being used to seeing mountains, like Mount Rainier, from sea level, the Cascade Mountains look taller than the Rockies. This surprised me, til I realized the base elevation chops off a mile, as in Denver sits at 5,280 feet above sea level. That makes Pikes Peak about 9,000 higher. When you are in Seattle, Mount Rainier is over 14,000 feet higher than your sea level location.

Pikes Peak Highway is what takes you to the summit of the mountain. It's a 19 mile drive. You pay a fee for the privilege. The highway is paved to about the halfway point, then it's a gravel road to the top. The road has a lot of switchbacks, nicknamed "The W's," because of the design they seem to carve on the mountain when viewed from a distance. You will want to be sure you have good brakes before you climb up and down this steep, twisting road.

There are 3 visitor centers on the Pikes Peak Highway, located at the 6 and 12 miles marks and at the summit. The visitors center at the summit is quite large. There is a snack bar. When I was there fresh donuts were available. Somehow that seemed strange to me. But it smelled good.

Pikes Peak is the easternmost 14,000 foot mountain in the United States. Pikes Peak stands alone, unlike the other fourteeners in Colorado, thus it serves as a landmark visible for many miles to the east. You start seeing Pikes Peak soon after you cross into Colorado from Kansas. On a clear day Pikes Peak is visible from Denver.

Pikes Peak is the highest elevation I have ever had to breathe. There is 40% less oxygen than one gets at sea level. Just climbing up a few steps caused heavy breathing. Years later I would experience this again, at Silverton, Colorado, which is above 9,000 feet. I tried to pedal my bike up a mountain there. I've never breathed so hard, ever. Pikes Peak would have been much worse than Silverton if I tried to pedal my bike at 14,115 feet.

The drive down Pikes Peak is more nerve wracking than the drive up. My brakes overheated, slightly. The gravel does not provide the best traction. If driving to the top seems daunting, there are other means to the summit. One is the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway. This is a cog railroad operating out of Manitou Springs, going to the summit year round, weather permitting.

You can hike to the summit of Pikes Peak via the Barr Trail, climbing to the summit from the east. The trailhead for the Barr Trail is by the rail station in Manitou Springs. Another trail to the top starts in Crags Campground and reaches the top of Pikes Peak from the west. I can't see myself doing such a hike in such rarefied air.

The pitstop for this leg of the Roadtrip was outside Fort Union, north of Las Vegas, New Mexico, on the way to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, but not before driving across the Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge.