Whoa this is amazing place. You can see it for miles coming into the site coming south from Alamogordo about 15 miles or 54 miles east of Los Cruces. The park as limited backcountry camping and the rest is outside the park. It is not the largest park you will ever go to in the park system but what it lacks in total size is made up with the beauty of the area. The park has one road in/out and is a big loop. You can stop at the various trail heads along the way for a hike or if you care to try your inner child a sled ride down the dune on a saucer. I did not try the saucer but they are available for rental or bring your own device to sled down the dunes. Hiking in the park there are a few trails and they are well marked trails. I hiked two full trails and a partial of a third in the park today. I would recommend that you go to the Alkali Flat Trail first not last like I did as it is the longest and hardest trail. Additionally, make sure you have sunscreen and plenty of water. There is no water within the park but you can fill up with water at the visitor center.
Dune Life Nature Trail – is a 1 mile trail in the park and is a loop. There are two dunes you have to go up on this hike so it is not hard to make it up the dunes on this trail. The trail has some markers and points of interest along the way but be sure to stay on the trail and not venture off to far are there are some snakes in the area who may not like trespassers.
Interdune Boardwalk – as the name would lead you to believe you don’t touch the sand while on this trail. You do walk on a boardwalk and round trip is about 1/2 of a mile. The boardwalk has a few viewing points and informational signs along the way. It is good for a few minutes to rest your legs after a hike in the soft sand. The boardwalk is also handicap accessible.
Alkali Flat Trail – is anything but flat! The hike is 5 miles from start to finish and you hike up dunes over 50 feet. The soft sand makes these climbs up hard on you and down you just take big steps and down you come. Tip from me is when going up try and stay in someone else’s steps as they would have packed the sand down a bit to make it easier for you to go up. In all transparency, I only hiked 1 mile in and 1 mile out on this hike. I will also say it is really cool to be in the middle of the sand dunes and not see another person or hear another sound.
Olive Lee State Park – is the campground which I chose to stay. It is a great little state park here in NM with wonderful bathrooms that have nice showers. The camp host I talked to was very nice and the spots have a picnic table, fire ring (cooking and campfire) and a covering over the picnic table. It was quiet and the views of the sunrise and sunset were very cool. The rise is over the mountains and the set is also over mountains but those mountains are in the distance. Sunrise mountains are less than a 100 yards from my site!
