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Yucca Picnic Area in White Sands National Park

Picnic area · White Sands National Park

Yucca Picnic Area

A convenient picnic stop near two dune-hike parking areas.

Photo: National Park Service
Type
Picnic area
Nearest trail
0.3 mi
Audio stories
13 nearby
  • Parking
  • Picnic tables
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

The Kit Fox’s Big Ears

Overview

About Yucca Picnic Area

Why stop

  • Metal shade structures and an elevated grill at every table.

Map

Where it is

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Full map
Picnic areaYucca Picnic Area32.81417, -106.26669
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 Yucca Picnic Area, 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 Kit Fox’s Big Ears
0:00 / 0:30
“A kit fox’s big ears do two jobs: pick up faint sounds and help shed body heat. This small desert fox hunts mainly after sunset, listening for prey such as rodents and rabbits.”

Plays on the road 0.2 mi from Yucca Picnic Area in the Parkwolf White Sands Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Sunset Stroll: Walk with a Ranger
  • Clear Crystals, White Dunes
  • Roadrunner and Primrose: Picnic Shelters in the Dunes
  • White Sands Amphitheater: Programs among the Dunes
  • 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!!!!”
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Yucca Picnic Area

A useful lunch stopYucca Picnic Area is a small public picnic area off Dunes Drive, about 6.

Yucca Picnic Area is a small public picnic area off Dunes Drive, about 6.5 miles from the Visitor Center. It is one of the park’s three designated picnic areas and the nearest picnic stop to the Backcountry Camping Loop and Alkali Flat Trail parking areas. Keep it in mind for a meal break before or after either hike. Every table has a curved metal shade cover and its own elevated grill, and tables are first come, first served.

What to expectOne picnic shelter is designated accessible.

One picnic shelter is designated accessible. The adjacent restroom has two wheelchair-accessible vault toilets, but no running water. The area is small, so think of it as a practical break in the drive rather than another major stop to plan around.

Keep light trash containedWind can carry paper plates and napkins out toward the dunes, and white disposable tableware is…

Wind can carry paper plates and napkins out toward the dunes, and white disposable tableware is hard to spot on the sand. Bag lightweight trash as you go.

picnicshadegrilldunestrail

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 Yucca Picnic Area

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateBackcountry Camping Trail2 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.3 mi awayClimb loose gypsum dunes on a short, orange-marker loop.ChallengingAlkali Flat Trail5 mi · 3 hr · 0.6 mi awayFive sandy miles through gypsum dunes to an ancient lakebed edge.EasyInterdune Boardwalk0.4 mi · 24 min · 2.1 mi awayA short boardwalk through White Sands’ fragile interdune landscape.ModerateDune Life Nature Trail1 mi · 1 hr · 3.5 mi awayA short sand loop with blue markers, steep dunes, and wildlife signs.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.2 mi awaySunset Stroll Meeting AreaA ranger-led half-mile walk into the dunes at sunsetSight · 0.2 mi awayHorse Unloading AreaA designated trailer lot that also serves dune sledding.Restroom · 0.2 mi awayBalloon Area RestroomAccessible vault toilets and parking along Dunes Drive.Sight · 0.3 mi awaySledding Area - Backcountry Camping Parking LotA sledding stop beside White Sands' marked two-mile dune loop.Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayRoadrunner Picnic AreaA big shaded picnic stop with sledding dunes right at the lot.Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayPrimrose Picnic AreaShaded tables and built-in grills along Dunes Drive.Restroom · 0.4 mi awayHeart of the Sands RestroomTwo accessible vault toilets beside White Sands’ Dunes Drive.Picnic area · 0.4 mi awayWhite Sands Group Use AreaShaded, reservable pavilion for group picnics and gatherings.

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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