White Sands National Monument

The White Sands National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Alamogordo in western Otero County and northeastern Doña Ana County in the state of New Mexico.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument encompasses 145,344 acres of the largest deposit of gypsum sand in the world, where shifting sand dunes reach 60 feet high. The monument, one of the few landforms recognizable from space, has displays in its visitor center that describe how the dunes were (and are continually) formed from gypsum crystals originating at a dry lake bed called Lake Lucero, where winds and erosion break down the crystals into fine particles of sand. A 17-minute introductory video at the visitor center is very helpful if you intend to hike among the dunes. There are also a gift shop, snack bar, and bookstore.

West of Alamogordo, a vast area of desert and mountain ranges 100 by 40 miles in extent is closed to public access and used by the military for various kinds of weapons testing; this includes the Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was detonated, in July 1945. Determined tourists may visit on two days each year, the first Saturdays of April and October, when accompanied tours are provided. The only other feature of interest in this otherwise desolate and unwelcoming land is 60 miles south in the flat Tularosa Basin, where for thousands of years the prevailing westerly winds have deposited gypsum powder - formerly eroded from the nearby San Andres Mountains, washed down by rainwater and deposited in the seasonal Lake Lucero, a few miles southwest - creating a huge area of white dunes covering 275 square miles. About half of the sands are within the boundaries of the White Sands National Monument, one of the most unusual and magical places in the Southwest.

The gypsum dunes support a limited range of wildlife, some of which has evolved white coloration to match the surroundings, and exist as species unique to this region, such as the white sands wood rat, the Apache pocket mouse, the white sands prairie lizard and the bleached earless lizard. The most prominent plant in the dunes is the soaptree yucca, a species with numerous thin narrow leaves and an extensive root system that can stabilize a mound of sand and remain in place after wind causes the surrounding dune to more away.