The Essentials:

• Sandals or Shoes – The sand gets extremely hot on sunny summer days and will burn the soles of your feet if you don’t have a barrier between your foot and the sand.  Socks are also recommended.
• Clothing – Check the weather and plan accordingly. Generally shorts and a t-shirt during the summer months. We recommend long sleeved shirts and pants on windy days.
• Water – Remember, you’re at 7,500 feet – drink!

• Sunglasses or Goggles
• Sunscreen
• Bandanna or BUFF to cover face
• Backpack
• Rain Gear
• Zip-off Pants
• Camera – Leave the point-and-shoot and the SLR at home (sand will seize the lens). Cell phone and GoPro cameras are best suited for the Dunes.

Yes! Contrary to the Great Sand Dunes National Park website, our sandboards and sand sleds work great in all conditions. The boards are specially made to slide on sand unlike cheap plastic sleds or snowboards. Our experience is that the boards actually work better in dry sand because it’s less dense and allows the rider to “carve” and steer the board down the dune more fluidly.

Nope! The bindings are designed to be ridden barefoot or in socks. We recommend wearing sandals or shoes while hiking the dunes and holding them in your hands while you ride down.

The rider stands on the sandboard and has the ability to “carve” and steer the board down the dune. The rider sits on the sand sled (feet downhill) and has little to no control of the sled. We generally recommend the sand sled to users who don’t have a background in board sports (snowboarding, wakeboarding, surfing, skateboarding, etc.) simply because there is no learning curve with the sled.The bindings are designed to be ridden barefoot or in socks. We recommend wearing sandals or shoes while hiking the dunes and holding them in your hands while you ride down.

We apologize, but we do not have any pick-up/drop-off options closer to the Dunes than Alamosa. It’s about a 35 minute drive from our store to the dunes.  After-hours returns are accepted at the Fairfield Inn in Alamosa outside our store's business hours.  All equipment must be picked up at our store during normal business hours.

Anywhere! We recommend approaching the dunes from the main parking lot. This offers dunes at pitches and lengths comfortable for all riders and skill levels.  For those looking for a wild ride, park at the “point of no return” at the north end of the Park and hike to Castle Creek. This area has the steepest dunes in the Park.

Yes and No. The feel is similar in that you are strapped to the board and sliding sideways down the hill, but the control and balance aspects are different. Unlike a snowboard, you must lean back far enough to get the board to plane on top of the sand, but leaning too far back results in the board digging into the sand therefore it won’t slide – finding the happy medium is a process of trial and error for every rider. The control of the board is not as precise as a snowboard – it has been reported to feel like riding in deep powder or surfing. Sandboards are the fastest thing on the Dunes, but they are not as fast as a snowboard on snow – the sandboard feels like riding a snowboard with a “draggy” wax job.

Nope – you earn your turns. There is no mechanized travel allowed on the Dunes (including 4-wheelers).

A: The main parking lot is as close as it gets. It’s about a 1/3 mile hike across the flats from the parking lot to the base of the Dunes.