Parking
Use the Montville/Mosca Pass Trailhead parking area just north of visitor-center parking. Starting from the visitor center adds a roughly quarter-mile connector each way.
Overview
About Montville Nature Trail
Why go
- Shaded forest and a creek are a welcome contrast to the open dunes.
- A short circuit still reaches a bridge, a mountain view and a bit of local history.
Heads up
- Rocky, uneven footing keeps it from being a smooth accessible path.
- At half a mile, it is a quick change of scenery rather than a longer hike.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Sand Dunes map
Full mapElevation8,255–8,343 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Great Sand Dunes alerts
- CautionStage 1 fire restrictionsStage 1 fire restrictions are active throughout Great Sand Dunes; use fires only in designated steel fire rings or picnic-site barbecues.Official details
- CautionSwift, deep water on Medano Pass Primitive RoadMedano Pass Primitive Road is open, but heavy rain has created swift water up to 3 feet deep, especially at creek crossings 3, 4, and 5.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Sand Dunes Tour Guide
Your drive to Montville Nature Trail, narrated.
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.
Recorded for this trailhead
Montville Nature Trail0:00 / 0:24
“You're nearing the Montville Nature Trail, a good choice for a short, shaded walk beside Mosca Creek.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Sand Dunes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Dunes Parking and Medano Creek
- Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center
- Piñon Flats and Dunes Overlook
- Point of No Return and Sand Pit Trail
- 31 audio storiesacross Great Sand Dunes’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Elk, Pronghorn, Wild Turkey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 17 trails, 29 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Montville Nature Trail
A small walk away from the dunesMontville Nature Trail is a 0.
Montville Nature Trail is a 0.5-mile loop through shady forest beside Mosca Creek, with a short climb to views of the dunes, valley and Mount Herard. Allow about 30 minutes for roughly 200 feet of climbing. It’s a good change of scene after time on the open sand, and one of the park’s easiest forest walks. Rocks and uneven spots mean it isn’t wheelchair accessible, though NPS recommends it for a wide range of ages. Leashed pets are allowed.
Follow the marked loopThe loop branches near the Montville/Mosca Pass Trailhead.
The loop branches near the Montville/Mosca Pass Trailhead. Take the right fork counterclockwise to follow the numbered markers. You stay under trees for much of the walk, then reach the high point and a view toward Mount Herard, the valley and the dunes. In fall, golden cottonwoods can frame the dunes and snowy high peaks. The route crosses Mosca Creek on a bridge near the Mosca Pass junction and crosses the creek again on the return. At junctions for Mosca Pass and Wellington Ditch, stay with the Montville markers to finish the short circuit.
A little more than a creek walkMontville was a small late-1800s settlement with about 20 houses at its height.
Montville was a small late-1800s settlement with about 20 houses at its height. A trailhead booklet and numbered stops explain the old community as you walk. Summer brings wildflowers, and the creekside trees turn color in fall; birds and mammals are around in every season.
Start at the right parking areaThe Montville/Mosca Pass Trailhead has a separate parking area just north of the visitor-center…
The Montville/Mosca Pass Trailhead has a separate parking area just north of the visitor-center parking. Starting at the visitor center adds a roughly quarter-mile connector each way, or about half a mile to your outing. NPS says the trail is generally hikeable year-round, though small snowdrifts can linger in winter. No reservation or separate trail fee is required.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Sand Dunes
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.
