Visitor Center - White Sands National Monument

Our May 2015 trip to the American Southwest continued with a stop at White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Created in 1933, the monument protects the major portion of the largest gypsum sand dune field in the world. The visitor center has an information desk, bookstore, museum exhibit area, and theater. Adjacent buildings house a gift shop and restrooms with running water. The 17-minute orientation video, A Land in Motion, is one of the best park service productions we have seen. It is shown on the hour and half-hour throughout the day. The rangers and volunteers we met were professional, informative and displayed a keen desire to share this wonderland with visitors.

The visitor center is located on the northwest side of US 70/82 about 13.4 miles west of the junction with US 54. The monument is almost completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. Flights from nearby Holloman Air Force Base overfly the monument regularly. Due to activity on the missile range, the road into the monument may be closed for periods of up to three hours for visitor safety. Portions of US 70/82 between Alamogordo and Las Cruces are also closed during missile tests. While we were there, the Playa Trail and the Dune Life Nature Trail along Dunes Drive were still closed over a year after a QF-4 drone from the air base crashed near the road in February 2014. As of this writing, the both trails are still closed and the first four miles of Dunes Drive is still designated a road safety corridor with stopping or even slowing down prohibited.

Front entrance

Information desk and bookstore with theater and museum beyond

Gift Shop

Birds staking out their benches

Birds could be found everywhere around the visitor center

An entrance fee of $3 per person is required to enter the dunes. The fee is valid for seven days. Other options include a White Sands National Monument Annual Pass for $20, an Interagency Annual Pass providing access to most national park, national forest and BLM fee areas for $80 and a lifetime Interagency Senior Pass for those age 62 and older for $10. Special events such as Lake Lucero tours, full moon bike rides and full moon hikes require reservations and additional fees of $8 per person.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm.