USon8wheels – a travel blog

April 4-6

Sliding down dunes, getting covered in sand, visiting a half frozen waterfall, witnessing beautiful sunrises, sunsets and stars. This was definitely a fun stay! This was our first national park on the trip. We had a wonderful campsite at Zapata Falls campground; it was on the side of a mountain. The kids had fun seeing different sites that one of their favorite mystery book characters went to. They also had a blast rolling in the sand, creating structures, and watching the different patterns on the sand. My (Eliza) favorite part was the spectacular views and that there was so much sand, it was like the biggest beach on earth! Us kids were sworn in as Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve junior rangers! We earned badges and got to stamp the park’s stamp in our journals. We learned that the sand which forms the dunes came from the surrounding mountains and was blown by the wind into the impressive hills of sand. Some of the dunes are more than 700 feet high!