Exploring national parks has always been one of our family’s favorite vacation activities. You get to immerse yourself in awe-inspiring landscapes, hike scenic trails, see wildlife like bears and bison, eagles and prairie dogs, and just soak up the beauty of the land.

This spring my husband and I managed to cobble together 5 weeks of vacation time and set off on the mother of all road trips (for us, anyway), aiming to visit a bunch of national parks in a grand western circuit. We’d travel tortoise-style, towing our home-away-from-home in the form of a rented RV and camping in or near each park for convenience.

We planned a circuitous route that took us from Austin up through southern Colorado, over to Arizona and Utah (to beat the summer heat), crisscrossing over to the Dakotas, and finally — as late as possible to avoid wintry conditions and road closures — to Wyoming and Montana. And then home again. All told, including day drives without the camper, we’d cover 8,600 miles!

This summer I’ll be sharing about the incredible parks and other sights along the way. Maybe you’ll find these posts useful for planning your national park adventure, or you’ll share your own park experiences in the comments!

On Earth Day, April 22nd, we reached our first park, Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado. At an elevation of 8,000 feet, winter still held sway and fat snowflakes swirled lazily to earth.

The dunes, looming like distant mountains, were frosted with snow.

So why are there enormous sand dunes in decidedly non-coastal Colorado? The sand eroded from nearby mountain ranges and washed into a huge lake, which eventually dried up. Prevailing winds then picked up the exposed sand and carried it toward the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, which acted as a windbreak. The sand piled up below the mountains to become the gigantic dunes we see today.

Local flora in the tawny hues of winter

The sculpted dunes beckon those willing to get sand in every crevice and slog their way to the top.

To get there, you must cross a rippling, cold creek.

I watched people scamper across, some in galoshes, others in soggy sneakers. All part of the adventure!

I kept my feet dry and non-sandy and tracked others scaling the shifting mountain of sand. See the little black dots at the top? Those are triumphant summiters.

The tallest dunes in North America, I salute you!

Up next: The forbiddingly steep Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

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Digging Deeper

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