Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is an American national park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to tall on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in south-central Colorado, United States. The park was originally designated Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932, by President Herbert Hoover. The original boundaries protected an area of . A boundary change and redesignation as a national park and preserve was authorized on November 22, 2000, and then established on September 24, 2004. The park encompasses while the preserve protects an additional for a total of . The recreational visitor total was 527,546 in 2019.

The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes cover an area of about and are estimated to contain over of sand. Sediments from the surrounding mountains filled the valley over geologic time periods. After lakes within the valley receded, exposed sand was blown by the predominant southwest winds toward the Sangre de Cristos, eventually forming the dunefield over an estimated tens of thousands of years. The four primary components of the Great Sand Dunes system are the mountain watershed, the dunefield, the sand sheet, and the sabkha. Ecosystems within the mountain watershed include alpine tundra, subalpine forests, montane woodlands, and riparian zones.

Evidence of human habitation in the San Luis Valley dates back about 11,000 years. The first historic peoples to inhabit the area were the Southern Ute Tribe; Apaches and Navajo also have cultural connections in the area. In the late 17th century, Diego de Vargas, a Spanish governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, became the first European on record to enter the San Luis Valley. Juan Bautista de Anza, Zebulon Pike, John C. Frémont, and John Gunnison all travelled through and explored parts of the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. The explorers were soon followed by settlers who ranched, farmed and mined in the valley starting in the late 19th century. The park was first established as a national monument in 1932 to protect it from gold mining and the potential of a concrete manufacturing business.

Visitors must walk across the wide and shallow Creek to reach the dunes in spring and summer. The creek typically has a peak flow from late May to early June. From July to April, it is usually no more than a few inches deep, if there is any water at all. Hiking is permitted throughout the dunes with the warning that the sand surface temperature may reach in summer. Sandboarding and sandsledding are popular activities, both done on specially designed equipment that can be rented just outside the park entrance or in Alamosa. Visitors with street-legal four-wheel drive vehicles may continue past the end of the park's main road to Medano Pass on of unpaved road, crossing the stream bed of Medano Creek nine times and traversing of deep sand. Hunting is permitted in the preserve in the autumn, but prohibited within national park boundaries at all times. The preserve encompasses nearly all of the mountainous areas north and east of the dunefield, up to the ridgeline of the Sangre de Cristos.
Q46169
national park
Concept
Q25391
dune
Concept
Q649768
San Luis Valley
LOC
Q841646
national preserve
Concept
Q1419187
Sangre de Cristo Range
LOC
Q1261
Colorado
LOC
Q893775
National Monument
LOC
Q35236
Herbert Hoover
PER
Q49
North America
LOC
Q43521
geologic time periods
Concept
Q166620
watershed
Concept
Q16887481
sand sheet
UNK
Q637600
sabkha
Concept
Q859654
alpine
UNK
Q43262
tundra
Concept
None
subalpine forests
UNK
None
montane woodlands
UNK
Q13360049
riparian zone
Concept
None
Southern Ute Tribe
UNK
Q659307
Apaches
ORG
Q108266
Navajo
PER
Q972422
Diego de Vargas
PER
Q16197469
Spanish governor
UNK
Q921283
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
LOC
Q727612
Juan Bautista de Anza
PER
Q169549
Zebulon Pike
PER
Q169011
John C. Frémont
PER
Q3068971
John Gunnison
PER
Q570459
Sandboarding
Concept
Q570459
sandsledding
Concept
Q1010247
Alamosa
LOC
Q228760
street-legal
UNK
Q214833
four-wheel drive
MISC
Q1429491
stream bed
Concept
Q609097
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
LOC
1932-03-17T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 17, 1932
DATE
2000-11-22T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 22, 2000
DATE
2004-09-24T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 24, 2004
DATE
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
1932-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1932
DATE
+527.546^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
527,546
NUMBER
+17^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
17
NUMBER
+18^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
18
NUMBER
+19^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
19
NUMBER
+19^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
19
NUMBER
instance of
located in the administrative territorial entity
located in the administrative territorial entity
has boundary
located in the administrative territorial entity