New Mexico, White Sands: Gleaming White Natural Wonder

White Sands National Monument was a unique geological treasure in the southern part of New Mexico
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On the road trip that we had planned across the southwestern part of the United States over the course of five weeks, we found ourselves in the state of New Mexico after travelling from Arkansas to Oklahoma and then to Texas. We spent a week in total in Oklahoma and Texas before moving on to the state where we visited White Sands National Monument.

White Sands National Monument was located at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert, 15 miles southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico, on US highway 70. At 275 square miles, the sand dunes were part of the largest gypsum dune field in the world. One of the reasons that they were so striking was due to the nature of the gypsum mineral that was the core element in the sand; it was blindingly white in colour. Gypsum was rare to find in sand because it was normally soluble in water; however, the Tularosa Basin, where the white sand dunes were located, did not offer the possibility for the sand to be carried out to sea, where it would dissolve. Instead, the gypsum remained sedentary in the basin and has built up over time.

At 275 square miles, the sand dunes were part of the largest gypsum dune field in the world

There was so much colour in the southwestern states in America, despite what we thought there would have been in the desert and arid places we visited
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The gypsum in Tularosa Basin was deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered the area 250 million years ago. The gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago (when the Rocky Mountains were formed) and thus were eventually turned into stone. The dome began to collapse 10 million years ago to create the Tularosa Basin. The remaining sides of the dome were what is now the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges.

The gypsum white sand dunes are ever-changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly, but relentlessly, the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved a white colouration that camouflages them in the gypsum sand.

The white sand dunes stretched on forever and we only wished that we had more time to explore the area when we visited there
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The White Sands National Monument portion of the sand dunes preserves the dunes as well as the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to the constantly changing environment, but part of the area is used for missile testing, the White Sands Missile Range. The missile range completely surrounds the park and was first used as a military proving ground after World War II, for testing rockets that were captured from the German armed forces. The 4000-square mile range continues to be an important testing site for experimental weaponry and space technology. During some tests, the park is closed to visitors whilst the government does their thing; we were fortunate that no blasts or tests hindered our visit to the white sand dunes when we went.

The adobe visitor centre was positioned at the entrance to White Sands National Monument and we went inside to see what we could do during the afternoon we had arrived there
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To get to White Sands National Monument, we travelled from the small, historic town of Lincoln, another national monument in New Mexico. The drive went by very quickly and we made it to the dunes in the late afternoon, with plenty of sun left to see the breathtaking white sands and to take some stunning photos. The visitor centre actually advised tourists to see the dunes in the morning or late afternoon, which would provide better light for photography. We hadn't thought that far ahead, but were happy that we made it there at a good time of the day.

The sand was such a bright white colour and so soft that it felt as though it should belong on a beach in the South Pacific rather than in the middle of New Mexico
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When we first arrived at the visitor centre, we could see the expanse of dunes in the distance but we had no idea that they stretched on for miles and miles. The fact that the main road through the protected dunes was a 14-mile loop was pretty impressive, knowing that we would be surrounded by dunes for miles when we made it to the end of the road, before turning back out of the park.

At the "dune front" section, we saw many different plants and evidence of wildlife, animal tracks across many places of the dunes. As we drove further into the heart of the dunes, we saw less variation of plants, but no less variation in animal tracks. The one plant that seemed to survive best in the white sand dunes was the soaptree yucca, which can elongate its stem to keep its leaves above the sand.

Dan stopped so Kyle could take this photo of him in the middle of the White Sands' dunes
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We found out that some of those yucca plants were well over 20 feet tall, having outgrown the moving and expanding dunes.The incredible plants can grow a foot in height every year and they can also anchor part of their roots in the sand to allow them to continue to grow on a pedestal of sand after the dune moves on. We have a photo of one of these pedestals, which was quite a spectacular sight!

The drive alone through the park was beautiful but there were several places to park our SUV so we could walk out on the sand. Most trails were signposted with paths marked in the sand, but one trail had a recycled plastic walkway that was constructed above the dunes. That wheelchair-accessible trail was a very good idea, offering handicapped people the same opportunity to enjoy the dunes as much as we could, but the materials used to construct the walkway were the worst anyone could have chosen. Each step we took created an electric shock that was waiting to explode with every touch, whether from brushing against the walkway railing or from bumping into each other. Shocks and sparks flew everywhere during our walk on that trail!

Kyle stopped so Dan could take this photo of him in the middle of the White Sands' dunes
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We didn't see any wildlife on the dunes, and we came to the conclusion that it was because we were on the main path that every other tourist took. Had we had more time, we would have ventured onto more of the designated wildlife trails inside the park, and we would have timed our visit so that we had evening or morning time to observe animals. The brochure to the national monument had photos of some of the animals, the cutest being a white kit fox that would have blended in extremely well with the white sand.

Wildflowers even grew in the white sand dunes, which truly amazed us, since some of the dunes were over 50 feet tall!
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As we drove further into the heart of the dunes, the dunes changed shape and we could tell that the centre area's dunes had been more recently formed; in some places, there was no vegetation at all. The expansive dunes with large mountain ranges on either side of them, and a slow setting of the sun, gave us a lasting impression of the place that we will carry with ourselves forever. We had absolutely no idea how beautiful the place would be when we were planning a visit there.

When we left the park, we headed to Silver City, where we would sleep before spending the next day in Gila National Forest, a large national forest in the southwest part of New Mexico with abundant wildlife, large mountains and the very well-known Gila Cliff Dwellings. During the drive, we passed through Las Cruces, a town really close to the US-Mexico border; we may have as well been in Mexico because the style of buildings and layout of the town looked similar to a Mexican one.

As the sun set over White Sands National Monument, we beheld a beautiful sight
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It was also fitting that we were stopped at a border control checkpoint a few miles outside of Las Cruces, where we were interrogated heavily because Kyle tried to give the guard photocopies of our passports. He asked if we were US citizens and, when Dan said that he wasn't, we both got a grilling about what we were doing in the area. Our SUV was inspected closely and, since we had everything in the back covered with a light-coloured sheet, we thought that they would pull us over to the side for a closer inspection. That didn't happen, though, and we were soon on our way, a little anxious over the whole ordeal. Once we made it to Silver City, we ended up finding a room in the Palace Hotel; we arrived there after 10:00pm and the manager gave us a good deal on a room for paying cash.

We left White Sands National Monument after spending a few hours in the park; during our drive to Silver City, New Mexico, where we were due to spend the evening before exploring Gila National Forest, we saw the sun set before our eyes as we drove west
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Of course, she gave us a room that she thought we would be used to, coming from Europe - the room was tiny, had no air conditioning and the bathroom was in the hall. We were used to that type of room from travelling in Asia for the first half of the year, but we thought it a little bit presumptious of her to think that all hotel rooms were like that in Europe.

That day of our road trip, we drove 350 miles to get from Roswell to Lincoln, from Lincoln to White Sands, and from White Sands to Silver City. It was another all-day affair and we loved it. The next day was again a full-on day of driving and a journey that we thoroughly enjoyed, so click the "next journal entry" link at the bottom of this one to read more about our time in the next part of New Mexico that we chose to explore.