Great Sand Dunes National Park

When Zach and I were in Yellowstone, we purchased the annual national park pass. We wanted to try and get as much use out of it as possible. The American the Beautiful Pass is $80 and grants you unlimited entrance into national parks and recreation areas for the year. Entrance per vehicle into most parks averages around $30 per vehicle. So if you are planning on visiting at least 3 national parks in a year or going to the same park at least 3 times the annual pass is worth it! Plus we live right on the border to Montana and like to visit Glacier National Park when we can, so this pass really saves us money! 

On our way to Great Sand Dunes National Park, we took a detour to the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canon City, CO. This is America's highest suspension bridge! Unfortunately, it costs to walk across and it is NOT dog friendly. If we were going to walk it, we would have wanted to do it together, instead of having to take turns so someone could watch the dogs. We could still appreciate it from the parking lot though! 

When I heard about Great Sand Dunes National Park, I really didn't think that such an expansive area of sand dunes would be all that great, and really didn't think it would be as big as I had heard. WRONG. I was so wrong on both accounts. 

When we first caught a glimpse of the sand dunes below the Sange de Cristo Mountains from a distance, they looked like a mirage, and I was a little skeptical about their professed majesty, but the closer we got the more we were blown away by their magnificence. 

The sand dunes were formed by water and wind, and as water evaporated, sand was left behind. As the wind pushed the sand towards the mountains, it can to a stop and started accumulating.

During the warmer months Medano Creek forms from melted mountain snow, providing relief from the hot, dry conditions present during the summer. Unfortunately, it dries out as the summer heat prevails. 

This is one of the few National Parks that is dog friendly. We took Zoey and Kona out and started traversing the great sand dunes, until we were all too tired and hot to go any further. 

This may not look all that magnificent, but search for the little black dots at the base of the dune... those are people!

Hot dog

Sand tornado 

I promise Zoey comes on these adventures too. I normally walk Kona and Zach walks Zoe.

Doesn't the sand look fake!

After spending some time at Great Sand Dunes, we decided to go out in search of a hotel. Along the way, we kept seeing signs for Zapata Falls, so we decided to check it out. So the road up to Zapata falls is pretty awful. Like I feel like you should only be able to drive a truck or quad up this boulder scattered road. We took it super slow and I kept telling Zach that my awesome Explorer could handle it. I put the Explorer in Sand Terrain Management Mode and let the SUV work its magic. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but we made it to the top no problem. Ok slight problem- all the bumps caused Zach's throbbing headache to only get worse. 

This was the hiking trail, but just imagine the road looking like this with bigger rocks and a larger surface area. CRAZY!

View from the Zapata Falls hike

Since Zach stayed in the car with the dogs I had to run up the trail in search of the falls. Unfortunately, once you get up the trail you have to wade through some water and maneuver over slippery rocks in order to get an awesome view of the waterfall, which I didn't have time to do. It definitely made for quite the adventure! 
-S

Up Next: Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan! 

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods was a dream. If you like hiking and super cool rock formations that shoot high into the sky, then this is the place for you! It's also free to visit! Bonus! This park is also dog friendly as long as you keep your dogs on a 6 ft. leash. They even have an off the leash area here. 
Garden of the Gods is located in Colorado Springs, CO and was only a 15 minute drive from our hotel, regardless we woke up bright and early so we could get to the park before the crowds did. It was an absolutely beautiful day and aside from a few early morning bikers and runners we were there alone!
There is a scenic road that leads you through the rock formations and plenty of opportunities to pull off the road and take pictures or hit the trails! Which is exactly what we decided to do. 

The only ones on the trail! 

So pretty- almost prehistoric like

So happy to be out on the dog friendly trails.  

We love Colorado and feel like it is the perfect state for the outdoor adventurist. Garden of the Gods has a great Visitor Centre and provides the opportunity to mountain bike, hike, and rock climb. For more information check out their website here for park info and a map of all the trails. 

We will definitely be back to Colorado Springs, as we didn't even skim the surface of all there is to do here. 

-S

Up Next: Great Sand Dunes National Park