Sight · Great Sand Dunes National Park
A remote pair of alpine lakes beyond the steep Music Pass climb.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Sand Dunes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Sand Dunes National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Little Sand Creek Lakes is a pair of perennial alpine lakes in the upper Sand Creek basin of Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. This is a full-day objective for fit hikers looking for a high mountain basin, not a quick lakeside stop: the National Park Service lists 16 miles round trip from Music Pass Trailhead.
Reach the trailhead from Highway 69, about 4.5 miles south of Westcliffe, following signs for Music Pass and South Colony Lakes. High-clearance 4WD can continue to the trailhead. Standard 2WD should stop where Rainbow Trail crosses Music Pass Road, adding 2.5 miles each way and bringing the outing to about 21 miles round trip. From the trailhead, the route climbs steep, rocky terrain for roughly a mile to treeline and Music Pass. The crest opens a view into Upper Sand Creek basin before the route continues to the lakes. Snow may block these high trails from November into June, so check with a ranger before setting out.
The plural name is literal: two separate perennial lakes sit about three-quarters of a kilometer apart in the high basin. Sand Creek is part of the watershed that supplies the dunes. Keep going if the demanding hike is part of the appeal; the view from Music Pass comes earlier, while Little Sand Creek is the destination beyond it.
Wildlife
16 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
21 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
12 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
153 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
38 sightingsRavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
15 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Sand Dunes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingLower Sand Creek Lake Trail8 mi · 6 hr · 2.9 mi awayThe steep pass opens onto a high alpine lake basin.
ModerateMusic Pass Trail2.2 mi · 2 hr · 2.9 mi awayA steep climb to a sweeping Sand Creek basin view.
ChallengingUpper Sand Creek Lake Trail7.7 mi · 7.5 hr · 2.9 mi awayHigh alpine lake after a steep pass and loose basin descent.
ChallengingUpper and Lower Sand Creek Lakes Hike9.9 mi · 6.5 hr · 2.9 mi awayTwo lakes beyond Music Pass, with hard miles in between.
ChallengingSand Creek Trail10 mi · 9 hr · 4 mi awayA full-day creek climb to alpine lakes; high water can stop you.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayLower Sand Creek LakeAn alpine lake past Music Pass, reached by a hard hike.
Sight · 2.6 mi awayUpper Sand Creek LakeAn alpine lake beyond Music Pass, reached by a long high-country climb.
Sight · 4.1 mi awayMedano LakeA timberline lake after 2,000 feet of climbing from a 4WD road.
Sight · 4.2 mi awayMount HerardA steep, remote climb earns a view over the entire dune field.Parkwolf’s Great Sand Dunes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
