White Sands National Monument
White Sands National MonumentTo quote the White Sands NPS website, “Pets love White Sands!”. This is about as pet friendly as a national park gets.
Standard Rules apply:
- they must be leashed
- are nondestructive
- do not enter buildings
- their humans clean up after them
- do not leave them unattended, either tied to an object or in a vehicle
Otherwise they can go anywhere with you.
We took our Great Dane Selar there while visiting family at Christmas time. It turned out to be a great time to have the park to ourselves. Most people were hiding from the snow storm in the visitors center. We on the other hand, went out to explore as a light dusting of snow-covered the white sand. We were planning on sledding on the dunes so what would adding some snow hurt?
White sands is the largest gypsum dune field in the world and some of the more dynamic dunes can move up to 30’ per year. The only camping available is a 1 mile hike in and there are no trails. People and pets are free to wander the dunes as you like as long as you respect the local vegetation and animals. The park is located in southern New Mexico and is surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. Be sure to check with the park before heading out. Occasionally Highway 70 and the park road are closed for missile tests.
