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White Sands National Monument, Las Cruces {New Mexico}

Mar 312016



White-Sands-National-Monument-Visit

Travel dates :: March 12 – 14, 2016

After a wonderful four nights in Carlsbad, New Mexico it was time to keep moving west. Our next planned stop was Las Cruces, New Mexico.

There were two routes to choose from going from Carlsbad to Las Cruces and we opted for the route that went right through the White Sands National Monument because that was on our list of things to see.

Cloud-Croft-Village-8650-foot

However this route ended up taking us up through Lincoln National Forest – and we reached an elevation of 8,300 feet! The drive up to the summit was a gradual uphill grade with BEAUTIFUL views and we even saw SNOW along the roadside! The climb down the other side of the mountain had a fairly steep grade – something we hadn’t driven for months and I was a little bit nervous. But we just took our sweet time, shifted into a lower gear and let our truck’s tow/haul mechanism do most of the work.

Tunnel-New-Mexico-Lincoln-Forest

There were a lot of curves which meant other traffic wasn’t going fast either and we even went through a tunnel at one point!

RV-Parking-White-Sands

It wasn’t long after we descended that we reached White Sands National Monument and we pulled into the Visitor’s Center parking lot. Thankfully they have 3-4 RV parking spots, we had plenty of room to park. But imagine when it’s busy that it could be difficult to find parking.

White-Sands-Visitors-Center-outside

We started inside the Visitor’s Center and picked up the Junior Ranger booklets for the kids (read more about the Jr. Ranger Program here).

White-Sands-visitors-center

We watched the 20 minute video on the White Sands National Monument in the Visitor’s Center and learned so much about this unique place. The displays inside the visitor’s center are fantastic!

White-Sands-National-Monument-Drive-Thru

Then we headed back out to the truck and drove it into the White Sands National Monument! It was a Saturday so it was fairly crowded but we found it was easy to drive through the monument.

White-Sands-National-Monument-Airstream-2

There are lots of big pull-thrus and parking areas with plenty of room to turn around. You can see the kids and Jeremy hiking on the sand in the top right corner of the photo above.

White-Sands-National-Monument-Sand-Windy

The area was currently under a severe wind watch, and the park ranger had told us that parts of the white sands were under whiteout conditions, so we opted to just drive part of the way in. You can see the sand flying around in the background in the photo above.

White-Sands-National-Monument-sun

We parked and let the kids run around the sand. It was GLORIOUS. So soft and beautiful. It reminded us a lot of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park in Michigan but was a different landscape with the desert habitat.

Here are photos of the fun we had. . . .

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White-Sands-National-Monument-Jumping-2
White-Sands-National-Monument-sun

White-Sands-Monument-playing-sands

White-Sands-Jeremy-Walk

White-Sands-National-Monument-jumping

White-Sands-National-Monument-Liam

You can rent sleds in the gift shop and use these for sliding down the sand. We opted NOT to do this because of the wind and because we had already had a LOOONG morning with the drive through the mountains.

White-Sands-National-Monument-sun-run

The kids really didn’t want to leave, but we still had a bit of a drive to get to our campground in Las Cruces.

Junior-Ranger-Badge-White-Sands-2

We stopped back into the Visitor’s Center briefly to submit our Junior Ranger books and earn our badges. What a wonderful time we had. I’d love to go back on a weekday, during the school year, and stay all day until after sunset. I heard the sunset and stars are INCREDIBLE there. So that’s now on my bucket list for next time around.

Sand-Wind-Las-Cruces

We pulled into Las Cruces later that night and were exhausted from the fun. The winds picked up around 4 p.m. and we had 45-50 mph wind gusts blowing wind right at our trailer. It howled all night and we just stayed put inside.

La-Posta-De-Mesilla

The next day one of my roommates from college drove down from Socorro with her adorable baby boy. We spent he morning visiting and then went to lunch at La Posta De Mesilla – rated one of the top 10 Mexican restaurants in the US and in business since 1939. The restaurant building dates back to the 1840s and it was gorgeous inside. The food was delicious and so we enjoyed walking around the small town of Mesilla.

After lunch we went to the nearby Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park and walked along some of their nature trails. It was a wonderful day in Las Cruces!

Sunset-Las-Cruces-2

This would be our last day in New Mexico. From here we head to Tucson. . .

Have you been to White Sands National Monument before? What are your favorite locations in New Mexico?

White-Sands-National-Monument-Airstream

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{ 5 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Destinations, New Mexico

Comments

  1. Nikki Plauche says

    March 31, 2016 at 8:25 am

    We have been to White Sands and yes, yes, yes y’all mist go back when you can stay at night!!! Have fun!!

    Reply
  2. Tracy says

    March 31, 2016 at 9:15 am

    Those pictures of the kids jumping in the sand are so fun. I’m so glad that you’ve shared about the Junior Ranger program. Last week my niece and nephew earned their first Junior Ranger badge in Washington, D.C.

    Reply
  3. Jeanna Powers says

    March 31, 2016 at 9:55 am

    I have been to White Sands. We have family that used to live in Alamogordo. We would always visit White Sands and Cloudcroft while we were there. They now live in Albuquerque so we have visited the Sandia Peak Ariel Tramway and Santa Fe while we were there. My parents have been out there for the Balloon Fest in the fall.

    Reply
  4. Robin Smith says

    March 31, 2016 at 10:16 am

    For our sightseeing destination in New Mexico, I wanted to go to the White Sands National Monument. But I was outvoted and we went here instead (and I was disappointed) http://www.faithfilledfamilytravelsusa.com/our-trip-to-santa-fe/

    Love the pictures in this post – I can feel the kids excitement!
    What joy! What great memories y’all are making!

    Reply
    • Robin Smith says

      March 31, 2016 at 10:17 am

      oops – should be wasn’t disappointed – my apologies for the typo

      Reply

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