#7 of 12 sights in White Sands
Sight · White Sands National Park
A designated trailer lot that also serves dune sledding.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
White Sands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for White Sands 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 area
Clear Crystals, White Dunes“The mineral in these white dunes can form clear crystals. So where does the white come from? As gypsum grains blow around, they collide and scratch one another.”
Plays on the road 0.1 mi from Horse Unloading Area in the Parkwolf White Sands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Horse Unloading Area is a large parking lot among White Sands’ gypsum dunes, about seven miles from the Visitor Center. When equestrian access is permitted, this is the designated place for vehicles towing horse trailers to park and unload. Regular vehicles may use the lot too.
Many visitors also park here to sled on the surrounding dunes, so the lot serves a second, very different kind of visit. If you’re not hauling a horse trailer or planning to sled, there’s little reason to make a special trip here.
Rolling white gypsum dunes surround the broad lot, with sparse soaptree yuccas, grasses and other plants. It’s a practical access stop in an open dune landscape, rather than a separate viewpoint to linger at.
Wildlife
39 sightingsGemsbokMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
17 sightingsGreat Horned OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
10 sightingsRoadrunnerMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
11 sightingsRavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
16 sightingsHorned LarkMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
20 sightingsBlack-throated SparrowMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across White Sands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingAlkali Flat Trail5 mi · 3 hr · 0.4 mi awayFive sandy miles through gypsum dunes to an ancient lakebed edge.
ModerateBackcountry Camping Trail2 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayClimb loose gypsum dunes on a short, orange-marker loop.
EasyInterdune Boardwalk0.4 mi · 24 min · 2.3 mi awayA short boardwalk through White Sands’ fragile interdune landscape.
ModerateDune Life Nature Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 3.6 mi awayA short sand loop with blue markers, steep dunes, and wildlife signs.
Picnic area · 0.2 mi awayYucca Picnic AreaA convenient picnic stop near two dune-hike parking areas.
Sight · 0.3 mi awaySunset Stroll Meeting AreaA ranger-led half-mile walk into the dunes at sunset
Sight · 0.4 mi awayWest Filming AreaA popular sledding stop among rolling gypsum dunes.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayAlkali Flat Sledding AreaPractice on a gentle run; the high dunes get steep.
Restroom · 0.4 mi awayBalloon Area RestroomAccessible vault toilets and parking along Dunes Drive.
Restroom · 0.4 mi awayEvening Program Area RestroomTwo accessible vault toilets, right off Dunes Drive.
Sight · 0.5 mi awaySledding Area - Backcountry Camping Parking LotA sledding stop beside White Sands' marked two-mile dune loop.
Picnic area · 0.5 mi awayRoadrunner Picnic AreaA big shaded picnic stop with sledding dunes right at the lot.Parkwolf’s White Sands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
