Sometimes an RV can take you to another world, a landscape so unique that it seems to have been transported from a distant planet. For instance, of the pinnacles and spires of Utah’s Bryce Canyon, or maybe California’s incomprehensibly massive sequoia trees, or perhaps Arizona’s saguaro forests and South Dakota’s Badlands. Among this otherworldly grouping, there’s another stretch of wonder in southern New Mexico known as White Sands National Monument.
The city of Roswell, New Mexico, (about three hours from White Sands) calls itself the UFO Capital of the World. But if anything seems to have come from another planet, it’s a region consisting of 275 square miles of snow-white sand dunes. Located right off U.S. 70, about 50 miles northeast of Las Cruces and 15 miles southwest of Alamogordo (both of which have several fine RV campgrounds available), White Sands offers a stunning contrast of vivid blue sky and stark white dunes. Photographs don’t do it justice, usually making the sand look grayer than it is. Sunglasses are a must, even on a cloudy day. It feels like the Sahara Desert, but it looks like the North Pole.
The dunes are white because the gypsum that formed the sand had nowhere to go, being trapped within the Tularosa Basin with no river to drain it. It is a place remarkable for its lack of life. Only a handful of plants grow fast enough to survive a sandy burial at the whim of the winds, and a few animal residents have managed to evolve a white camouflage coloration. It almost feels as if nobody was supposed to find the place, which makes it such a fascinating find.
In fact, the park is so out there that it is completely surrounded by the 4,000-square-mile White Sands Missile Range, which includes the Trinity Site where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. The military still tests experimental weaponry there about twice a week – at which time the park is closed for up to three hours. That makes it all the more unique, of course.
When entering the park, be sure to stop by the visitor center, which offers a gift shop, a bookstore and exhibits explaining the origins of the dunes. From there, embark on a slow-speed cruise around eight-mile Dunes Drive. There are four marked footpaths along the Drive, including the Interdune Boardwalk, a wheelchair-accessible trail of just over a quarter-mile round-trip. But White Sands — much like a magical, meandering RV journey — was meant to be explored off the beaten path.
Deep into the Dunes Drive, you can claw your way to the top of the nearest dune. White Sands offers several options depending on your adventurousness. You can set up a blanket and feel as if you’re picnicking on an ocean turned to sand. You can navigate the peaks and valleys and wade deep into the gypsum waves. Or you can follow a ridge as far as it will go. But be careful. It’s easy to get lost amid the wondrous sameness.
White Sands National Monument: 505-479-6124, www.nps.gov/whsa/
