ParkwolfGet the app
Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit in White Sands National Park

#8 of 12 sights in White Sands

Sight · White Sands National Park

Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit

A quick stop for the water story under the gypsum dunes.

Photo: National Park Service
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
1.6 mi
Audio stories
7 nearby
  • Exhibit
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

The Yucca Hidden in a Dune

Overview

About Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit

Why stop

  • Makes the dunes’ hidden water story easy to picture.

Heads up

  • A single wayside panel, best as a brief pause on the drive.

Map

Where it is

Loading the White Sands map
Full map
SightTularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit32.78755, -106.18636
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 Tularosa Basin 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

The Yucca Hidden in a Dune
0:00 / 0:29
“A tuft of yucca leaves sticking out of a dune can hide a surprisingly long plant. As sand piles around a soaptree yucca, its stem grows longer, keeping new leaves above the surface.”

Plays on the road 0.3 mi from Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit in the Parkwolf White Sands Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Following a Giant Sloth
  • A Child Carried Across the Mud
  • Water from a Seed
  • White Sands Visitor Center: Footprints and Supplies
  • 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
Download Parkwolf on the App StoreGet Parkwolf on Google Play

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit

A quick pause on Dunes DriveTularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit is a single outdoor panel along Dunes Drive, using a basin map…

Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit is a single outdoor panel along Dunes Drive, using a basin map and water diagrams to explain what lies beneath the gypsum. Stop if you want a little context for the landscape; it’s a quick read, not a destination to plan a day around.

The water underneathGroundwater can sit just 12 to 36 inches below the dune surface, helping keep this gypsum dune…

Groundwater can sit just 12 to 36 inches below the dune surface, helping keep this gypsum dune field from blowing away. The water has been underground for very different lengths of time: it may be around 50 years old within a dune, but more than 6,000 years old at the dunes’ base.

Fit it into the driveFold it into Dunes Drive instead of making it a separate outing.

Fold it into Dunes Drive instead of making it a separate outing. The road runs eight miles from the visitor center into the dunefield; the 16-mile round trip takes about 45 minutes before stops. Its first five miles are paved and its final three are hard-packed gypsum sand.

exhibitgeologygypsumwaterdesert

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 Tularosa Basin Roadside Exhibit

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateDune Life Nature Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 1.6 mi awayA short sand loop with blue markers, steep dunes, and wildlife signs.EasyInterdune Boardwalk0.4 mi · 24 min · 3.1 mi awayA short boardwalk through White Sands’ fragile interdune landscape.ModerateBackcountry Camping Trail2 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.8 mi awayClimb loose gypsum dunes on a short, orange-marker loop.

More stops nearby

Entrance station · 0.7 mi awayWhite Sands Entrance StationBuy your pass here, just beyond the Visitor Center.Sight · 0.8 mi awayChihuahuan Life Roadside ExhibitA quick bilingual guide to life across scrub and white dunes.Visitor center · 1 mi awayWhite Sands Visitor CenterAncient tracks and cool adobe make this a smart first stop.Store · 1 mi awayWhite Sands Trading CompanyA practical last stop for sleds, food and souvenirs.Sight · 1 mi awayWhite Sands National Park Entrance SignA quick photo stop at the visitor-center approach.Historic marker · 2.8 mi awayLife Thrives Roadside ExhibitA tiny world lives in the crust beneath the dunes.Sight · 3.5 mi awayRare Wonder Roadside ExhibitA compact bilingual guide to the dunes, from desert scrub inward.Sight · 4.5 mi awayGone with the Wind Roadside ExhibitA quick stop explaining how wind reshapes the dunes and roads.

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.

4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Download Parkwolf on the App StoreGet Parkwolf on Google Play