May 8-13 2022 – Great Sand Dunes National Park, Zapata Canyon, Colorado

We booked Cochiti Lake Campground, New Mexico – one of our favorite places. But because of the fires they had to evacuate and close the campground in all of May – and canceled our reservation. So on we booked some alternatives: first night we overnight at Santa Rosa State Lake State Park, New Mexico

Our campsite is very nice – but winds are pretty strong.

The Dam is constructed and maintained by the Army Corps – one of the major dams along the Pecos River.

Because of the drought the water level is very low – 10 % as a few years ago.

On the way to the Great Sand Dunes National Park we take a different route to avoid the fires.

… but even on the west route – the fires are very visible (and very scary)!!!

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. We have been here in 2015 … and they are again – super impressive !!

We got lucky with a great campsite on a short notice.

… super nice view …

… and sunset!

The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi (78 km²). Visitors must walk across the wide and shallow Medano Creek to reach the dunes in spring and summer.

… just get an idea how tall they are – 750 feet (230 m) tall on the eastern edge.

Because of the strong winds – we decided not to climb the dunes this time.

So beautiful and so different with the angle of the sun.

View from the overview trail

Right next to the mountains with snow ….

Our next stop is Zapata Falls. 3.9 miles gravel road to the location over 9,000 feet! Tough road and 3 mpg going up!! Zapata Campground is on BLM Land “public land” or “our land”. One eighth of America is public land – pretty impressive. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has some developed (simple) campgrounds – but most of the public land you can use for camping free of charge!