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Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit in White Sands National Park

Historic marker · White Sands National Park

Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit

A tiny world lives in the crust beneath the dunes.

Photo: National Park Service
Type
Historic marker
Nearest trail
0.3 mi
Audio stories
12 nearby
  • Exhibit
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Living Ground Between the Dunes

Overview

About Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit

Why stop

  • Makes the dunes' fragile soil crust easier to understand.

Heads up

  • A single wayside panel offers a short, focused visit.

Map

Where it is

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Historic markerLife Thrives Roadside Exhibit32.79417, -106.23337
Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your stop

Before you go

2 active White Sands alerts

  • ClosureDunes Drive safety corridor and Interdune Boardwalk closureMentions Dunes Drive, referenced in this guideDrive through the Dunes Drive safety corridor without stopping or exiting; the Interdune Boardwalk is closed. - The corridor spans mile markers 3–5.5.Official details
  • ClosureBackcountry camping closedBackcountry camping is closed, and there is no overnight lodging in the park. - NPS says the campsites are closed for rehabilitation; no reopening date has been determined.Official details
White Sands alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

White Sands Tour Guide

Your drive to Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit, narrated.

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

Living Ground Between the Dunes
0:00 / 0:35
“Some of the ground between the dunes is alive. A thin soil crust contains tiny organisms, including bacteria, lichens, and fungi.”

Plays near Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit in the Parkwolf White Sands Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Interdune Boardwalk: A Firm Path into the Dunes
  • Lizards That Match the Sand
  • Shrubs That Build Pedestals
  • Moths New to Science
  • 23 audio storiesacross White Sands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Gemsbok, Great Horned Owl, Roadrunner, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 5 trails, 24 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!!!!”
JMJamesApp Store review
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit

A small wayside on Dunes DriveLife Thrives is a roadside interpretive panel along Dunes Drive about the microscopic life in…

Life Thrives is a roadside interpretive panel along Dunes Drive about the microscopic life in the dunefield's soil. It makes a good brief pause in the drive if you want to understand what supports this pale, apparently empty landscape. The panel is the main draw.

The ground is aliveThe panel's central point is easy to miss from the road: a footstep can kill microscopic life…

The panel's central point is easy to miss from the road: a footstep can kill microscopic life in the soil crust, and it can take years to regrow. The sign asks visitors to stay on bare sand while walking. Keep that in mind anywhere you step out onto the dunes.

Fit it into the driveThis works as a brief interpretive pause during a drive on Dunes Drive.

This works as a brief interpretive pause during a drive on Dunes Drive. No site-specific walking distance or facilities are documented for the wayside, so keep expectations focused on the panel. Check current park access notices before planning a stop.

dunesecologyexhibitsoilcrust

Wildlife

Wildlife in White Sands

All White Sands wildlife maps
Gemsbok39 sightingsGemsbokMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapGreat Horned Owl17 sightingsGreat Horned OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapRoadrunner10 sightingsRoadrunnerMost seen around 9 AMSighting mapRaven11 sightingsRavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapHorned Lark16 sightingsHorned LarkMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapBlack-throated Sparrow20 sightingsBlack-throated SparrowMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across White Sands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Life Thrives Roadside Exhibit

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyInterdune Boardwalk0.4 mi · 24 min · 0.3 mi awayA short boardwalk through White Sands’ fragile interdune landscape.ModerateDune Life Nature Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 1.2 mi awayA short sand loop with blue markers, steep dunes, and wildlife signs.ModerateBackcountry Camping Trail2 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayClimb loose gypsum dunes on a short, orange-marker loop.ChallengingAlkali Flat Trail5 mi · 3 hr · 2.9 mi awayFive sandy miles through gypsum dunes to an ancient lakebed edge.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.8 mi awayRare Wonder Roadside ExhibitA compact bilingual guide to the dunes, from desert scrub inward.Sight · 1.8 mi awayGone with the Wind Roadside ExhibitA quick stop explaining how wind reshapes the dunes and roads.Picnic area · 2 mi awayWhite Sands Group Use AreaShaded, reservable pavilion for group picnics and gatherings.Restroom · 2 mi awayHeart of the Sands RestroomTwo accessible vault toilets beside White Sands’ Dunes Drive.Sight · 2 mi awayChihuahuan Life Roadside ExhibitA quick bilingual guide to life across scrub and white dunes.Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayPrimrose Picnic AreaShaded tables and built-in grills along Dunes Drive.Sight · 2.1 mi awaySledding Area - Backcountry Camping Parking LotA sledding stop beside White Sands' marked two-mile dune loop.Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayRoadrunner Picnic AreaA big shaded picnic stop with sledding dunes right at the lot.

Parkwolf’s White Sands ranking

Top sights in White Sands

All 24 places
  1. 1Sunset Stroll Meeting AreaSight
  2. 2Sledding Area - Backcountry Camping Parking LotSight
  3. 3Alkali Flat Sledding AreaSight
  4. 4Lake LuceroSight
  5. 5White Sands AmphitheaterSight
  6. 6West Filming AreaSight

Take Parkwolf to White Sands.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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