# white sands national park
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| White Sands National Park |
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| IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)^\[1\]^ |
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| Aerial view of dunefield |
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| Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap |
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| Interactive map of White Sands National Park |
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| Location | Otero County and Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States |
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| Nearest city | Alamogordo, New Mexico^\[2\]^ |
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| Coordinates | {height="17" |
| | width="17"}[32°46′45″N 106°10′19″W]{title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"} / [32.77917°N |
| | 106.17194°W]{title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"}^\[2\]^ |
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| Area | 145,762 acres (227.753 sq mi; 589.88 km^2^)^\[3\]+\[4\]^ |
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| Established | January 18, 1933\ |
| | (as a national monument)^\[3\]^\ |
| | December 20, 2019\ |
| | (as a national park)^\[4\]^ |
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| Visitors | 729,096 (in 2023)^\[5\]^ |
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| Governing body | National Park Service |
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| Website | Official website {file-width="20" |
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| White Sands National Monument Historic District |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places |
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| U.S. Historic district |
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| Former U.S. National Monument |
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| NM State Register of Cultural Properties |
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| Visitor center |
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| Built | 1936--38 (original NRHP buildings) |
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| Architect | Lyle E. Bennett, et al. |
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| Architectural style | Pueblo Revival |
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| NRHP reference [No.]{.abbr title="number"} | 88000751^\[6\]^ |
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| NMSRCP [No.]{.abbr title="Number"} | 1491 |
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| Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | June 23, 1988 |
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| Designated NMSRCP | September 9, 1988 |
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'White Sands National Park' is a national park of the United States
located in New Mexico and completely surrounded by White Sands Missile
Range. The park covers 145,762 acres (227.8 sq mi; 589.9 km^2^) in the
Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a 275 mi^2^ (710 km^2^)
field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. This gypsum
dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth,^\[7\]^ with a depth of
about 30 feet (9.1 m), dunes as tall as 60 feet (18 m), and about 4.5
billion short tons (4.1 billion metric tons) of gypsum sand.
Approximately 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin
featured large lakes, streams, grasslands, and Ice Age mammals. As the
climate warmed, rain and snowmelt dissolved gypsum from the surrounding
mountains and carried it into the basin. Further warming and drying
caused the lakes to evaporate and form selenite crystals. Strong winds
then broke up crystals and transported them eastward. A similar process
continues to produce gypsum sand today.^\[8\]^
Thousands of species of animal inhabit the park, a large portion of
which are invertebrates. Several animal species feature a white or
off-white coloration. At least 45 species are endemic, living only in
this park, with 40 of them being moth species. The Tularosa Basin has
also seen a number of human inhabitants, from Paleo-Indians tens of
millennia ago to modern farmers, ranchers, and miners.
White Sands National Park was originally designated White Sands National
Monument on January 18, 1933, by President Herbert Hoover. Since 1941,
the park has been completely surrounded by the military installations of
White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base. It was
redesignated as a national park by Congress and signed into law by
President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019. It is the most visited NPS
site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year.^\[9\]^ The
park features a drive from the visitor center to the heart of the dunes,
picnic areas, backcountry campground in the dunefield, marked hiking
trails, and sledding on the dunes. Ranger-guided orientation and nature
walks occur at various times and months throughout the year.
The potentially oldest known human footprints in North America were
found at White Sands by researchers who identified approximately 60
fossilized footprints buried in layers of gypsum soil on a large playa
in the Tularosa Basin.^\[10\]^ Multiple human footprints are
stratigraphically constrained and bracketed by layers containing seeds
of *Ruppia cirrhosa* that yield calibrated radiocarbon ages between
21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The present consensus for human arrival into North America is placed at
13--16,000 years ago.^\[11\]\[12\]^ Initially, these estimates were
questioned by other authors, who suggested that the dating could
potentially be erroneus, due to the fact that *Ruppia cirrhosa* intakes
carbon from the water in which it grows rather than the air, which may
introduce systematic error making the seeds seem older than they
actually are.^\[13\]^ However, the date was later supported by a variety
of methods, including radiocarbon dating of pollen and optically
stimulated luminescence dating of quartz grains within the footprint
layers.^\[14\]^ Other tracks are known for extinct megafauna, including
ground sloths (likely either *Nothrotheriops* or *Paramylodon*) and
Columbian mammoths, which appear to be contemporaneous to human
footprints.^\[15\]^
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Paleo-Indians inhabited the shoreline of Lake Otero, a large lake that
covered much of the Tularosa Basin. They used stone from the mountains
to create projectile points, known as Folsom and Plano points, and
attached them to spears for hunting mammoths, camels, ground sloths, and
bison. Projectile points and stone tools have been found in the basin
associated with ancient shorelines, streams, and hills. As the large ice
sheet that capped the North American continent receded, Lake Otero began
to evaporate, leaving behind Alkali Flat and Lake Lucero. The grassland
died and the basin became increasingly arid, slowly changing into desert
scrubland. The megafauna disappeared from the basin leaving behind
fossil footprints.^\[16\]^
The Archaic people improved upon the hand thrown spear used by
Paleo-Indians with the invention of the atlatl. After Lake Otero dried
out, wind carried large quantities of gypsum sand up from the basin
floor which accumulated into a large dunefield. Archaic people entered
the Tularosa Basin about 4,000 years ago, after the dunes had
stabilized, possibly attracted by a cereal grass called Indian
ricegrass. The first evidence of agriculture is found in the Archaic
period. Archaic peoples would tend to wild plants so they would produce
in a more reliable manner and in larger quantities than they did
naturally. Archaic people started living in small villages throughout
the year to tend their fields. Hearth mounds are found within the dunes,
which are the remains of prehistoric fires containing charcoal and ash.
When gypsum is heated to 300 °F (149 °C) it becomes a plaster that
hardens when moisture is added and subsequently evaporates. The plaster
cements these hearths in place, preserving them for thousands of
years.^\[17\]^
The Jornada Mogollon people made pottery, lived in permanent houses, and
farmed the Tularosa Basin. Evidence of their prehistoric presence dates
back to about 200 CE. The Jornada Mogollon inhabited the basin until
about 1350 CE when they moved away, leaving behind puddled adobe
structures and pottery sherds.^\[18\]^
![Two Mescalero Apache women and teepees, [c.]{.abbr title="circa"}
1890--1910](White%20Sands%20National%20Park%20-%20Wikipedia_files/Mescalero_tipis.jpg){.moz-reader-block-img
file-width="4002" file-height="2358" height="147" width="250"}
Over 700 years ago, bands of Apaches followed herds of bison from the
Great Plains to the Tularosa Basin.^\[18\]^ The Apaches were nomadic
hunters and gatherers who lived in temporary houses known as wickiups
and teepees. The Apaches had established a sizable territory in southern
New Mexico by the time European explorers arrived. They fiercely
defended the rights to their homeland against the encroachment of
colonial settlers. Apache groups, led by Victorio and Geronimo, fought
with settlers in the basin and engaged in military battles with Buffalo
Soldiers. The Battle of Hembrillo Basin in 1880 was a military
engagement between Victorio\'s warriors and the United States Army\'s
9th Cavalry Regiment of Buffalo Soldiers. The battleground, located on
White Sands Missile Range, is the closest archaeological evidence of the
Apache Wars (1849 to 1924). Conflict between the Apaches and the
American settlers over their conflicting interests in the basin
ultimately ended in the forceful removal of the Apaches from their
homelands to the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. The Mescalero
Apache maintain an active cultural affinity to the landscape of their
ancestors.^\[19\]^
While a Spanish colony was established to the north around Santa Fe, the
Tularosa Basin was generally avoided until the nineteenth century. The
basin lacked any reliable water sources and was the primary stronghold
of local Apaches who stole livestock from Pueblo and Spanish settlements
near the basin. When Spaniards did enter the basin, they traveled along
established trails to the salt pan north of Alkali Flat.^\[20\]^ Spanish
colonists had established the salt trails in 1647, to connect the salt
deposits with the Camino Real in El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad
Juárez) and silver mines in Durango, Mexico. Salt is a fundamental
element in the processing of silver ore. Expeditionary parties using
mule-drawn carts with military escorts would be formed a few times each
year for the journey to the salinas (salt pans).^\[21\]^
Hispanic populations throughout the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods
were allowed to gather salt from the salinas, which were considered
public property. Texan-American settlers made private claims to the land
to profit from mining of minerals on their property. James Magoffin held
a title to the salt flats north of Lake Lucero but had been unsuccessful
in collecting fees for salt gathering. In 1854, using military force, he
intercepted a salt gathering expedition of Hispanos from Doña Ana at the
salt flats and fatally wounded three members of the party. In response
to Magoffin\'s use of extreme force during the Magoffin Salt War, the
courts dissolved his property claim to the salt flats and established a
precedent for free public access to salt deposits.^\[21\]^
The first US Army exploration of south-central New Mexico was led by a
party of topographical engineering officers in 1849. They passed west of
the San Andres Mountains and Organ Mountains. A lieutenant was
dispatched east across the basin with a scouting party to map a
potential military wagon route to the Sierra
Blanca.^\[22\][: 6 ]{title="Page / location: 6"}^
Hispanic families started farming communities at Tularosa in 1861 and La
Luz in 1863. The villagers mixed water with gypsum sand from the
dunefield to create plaster for the adobe walls of their homes. The
white color was not only decorative but functional in deflecting the
rays of the summer sun.^\[22\][: 6 ]{title="Page / location: 6"}^
{.moz-reader-block-img
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In the 1880s, a brief period of heavy rainfall supported the return of
lush grasslands in the Tularosa Basin which attracted the attention of
goat, sheep, and cattle grazers, predominately from Texas. Large cattle
drives pushed into the basin, and ranching became the dominant economy
for the next sixty years. In 1897, the Lucero brothers, Jose, Felipe,
and Estevan, began ranching on the south shore of the lake that would
eventually bear their name. By 1940, Felipe consolidated the family\'s
ranches into a 20,000-acre (31 sq mi; 81 km^2^) property. Shortly
afterward, the National Park Service took over ownership of the Lucero
family properties with their appropriation of Lake Lucero and Alkali
Flat. The remnants of the Lucero family ranch include the stock pens,
watering trough, a water well, and a fallen windmill which visitors can
see on a ranger-led tour to Lake Lucero once each month, in the cooler
months of the year.^\[23\]^
At the turn of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil, coal,
silver, gold, and other precious mineral deposits inspired many settlers
to cover the Tularosa Basin in mining claims. By 1904, over 114 people
made mineral claims to more than 10,400 acres (16.3 sq mi; 42 km^2^) of
Lake Lucero; however, very few of the claims were developed. Eddy\'s
Soda Prospect, developed by the same Eddy brothers that had founded the
El Paso and Northeastern Railway and the town of Alamogordo, was a
mineral recovery operation for glauberite salt mining along the southern
shore of Lake Lucero. In 1907, J.R. Milner and Bill Fetz constructed a
plaster of Paris batching plant along the southern edge of the dunes.
The operation involved drilling long shafts into the dunes and
extracting gypsum to cook into plaster at night. Though successful, the
establishment of the national monument permanently shut down the
plant.^\[24\]^
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The idea of creating a national park to protect the white sands
formation dates to 1898 when a group from El Paso, Texas, proposed the
creation of Mescalero National Park. The plan failed as it included a
game hunting preserve that conflicted with the idea of preservation held
by the Department of the
Interior.^\[22\][: 17 ]{title="Page / location: 17"}\[25\][: 52--53 ]{title="Page / location: 52–53"}^
From 1912 to 1922, Albert B. Fall, a Senator from New Mexico---later
appointed Secretary of the Interior---and the owner of a large ranch in
Three Rivers northeast of the dune field, promoted four separate bills
in Congress for a national park in the Tularosa Basin. Fall\'s ultimate
plan was called the All-Year National Park as it would be open
throughout the year, unlike more northerly parks. The bill included four
geographically separate and diverse areas, to be administered as one
national park. The proposed areas included a 2,000-acre (3.1 sq mi;
8.1 km^2^) scenic portion of the Mescalero Indian reservation, 640 acres
(1.0 sq mi; 2.6 km^2^) of the dune field, 640 acres of a volcanic area
to the north named Carrizozo Malpais, and the shoreline of the Elephant
Butte Reservoir to the west, beyond the San Andres Mountains. Stephen
Mather, the director of the National Park Service, criticized the
proposal as having \"disjointed boundaries, lack of spectacular scenery,
and questionable usage\". The National Parks Association and the Indian
Rights Association campaigned against Fall\'s bill, mainly because of
the appropriation of Indian reservation land and that it might establish
a precedent of industrial usage within parks. The bill failed in
Congress, and Fall resigned in 1923 during the Teapot Dome
scandal.^\[22\][: 22--28 ]{title="Page / location: 22–28"}\[25\][: 61--70 ]{title="Page / location: 61–70"}^
During the 1920s, an Alamogordo businessman named Tom Charles promoted
the potential economic benefits of protecting the white sands formation.
Charles mobilized enough local support for the construction of an
improved state route between Las Cruces and Alamogordo (now U.S. Route
70), passing the southern edge of the dune field. He lobbied to have the
dunes declared a national park, but was advised by Senator Bronson M.
Cutting, who had influence with President Herbert Hoover, that national
monument status would be much easier to
obtain.^\[22\][: 28--32 ]{title="Page / location: 28–32"}\[25\][: 77--89 ]{title="Page / location: 77–89"}^
On January 18, 1933, President Hoover designated White Sands National
Monument, acting under the authority of the Antiquities Act of
1906.^\[22\][: 33 ]{title="Page / location: 33"}\[26\]^ The dedication
and grand opening was on April 29,
1934.^\[25\][: 102 ]{title="Page / location: 102"}^ Tom Charles became
the first custodian of the
monument,^\[22\][: 35 ]{title="Page / location: 35"}\[25\][: 99 ]{title="Page / location: 99"}^
and the first concessionaire in 1939, operating as White Sands Service
Company.^\[22\][: 72 ]{title="Page / location: 72"}\[25\][: 117 ]{title="Page / location: 117"}^
The visitor center and a nearby comfort station, three ranger
residences, as well as three maintenance buildings were constructed of
adobe bricks as a Works Progress Administration project starting in 1936
and completed in 1938.^\[27\]\[28\]^ The original eight adobe buildings
and other nearby structures were designated the White Sands National
Monument Historic District when they were added to the National Register
of Historic Places in 1988. The principal architects were Lyle E.
Bennett and Robert W. Albers, who also designed NPS buildings together
at Casa Grande and Bandelier national monuments.^\[29\]^ Bennett also
designed the picnic table shelters at White Sands, the Painted Desert
Inn at Petrified Forest, and buildings at Carlsbad Caverns and Mesa
Verde national parks.^\[28\]^
![F-117s flying over White Sands to a retirement ceremony in Ohio.
Holloman Air Force Base was its home base from 1992 to
2008.^\[30\]^](White%20Sands%20National%20Park%20-%20Wikipedia_files/F-117_Nighthawks_fly_on_one_of_their_last_missions.jpg){.moz-reader-block-img
file-width="3008" file-height="2000" height="166" width="250"}
The park is completely surrounded by the military installations of White
Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, and has always had an
uneasy relationship with the
military.^\[25\][: 131, 175 ]{title="Page / location: 131, 175"}^ The
missile range and air force base were established after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor in 1941, with continuing operations after World War II and
throughout the Cold War.^\[31\]^ Errant missiles often fell within the
park\'s boundaries, occasionally destroying some of the visitor
areas.^\[22\][: 145 ]{title="Page / location: 145"}^ Overflights from
Holloman disturbed the tranquility of the
area.^\[25\][: 149 ]{title="Page / location: 149"}^ Flight training
missions continue over the dunefield,^\[31\]^ and the park closes
temporarily for several hours during missile tests in the adjacent range
and cooperative use area on the west side of the park.^\[32\]^
Between 1969 and 1977, 95 oryx were released on the missile range and
adjacent areas of the Tularosa Basin by the New Mexico Department of
Game and Fish for hunting purposes. The oryx, having no natural
predators, entered the park and competed with native species for
forage.^\[22\][: 172 ]{title="Page / location: 172"}^ Thousands of oryx
reside on the missile range presently, though annual hunts have occurred
since 1974 to help control and stabilize the population. The National
Park Service, concerned about the negative effects on native plants and
animals within the park, erected a 67-mile (108 km) long boundary fence
in 1996 to prevent oryx from entering.^\[33\]^
Increasingly problematic alcohol abuse by students on spring break in
the 1990s led to a ban on the consumption of alcohol.^\[34\]^ The
possession of alcohol or alcohol containers is banned throughout the
park from February 1 to May 31.^\[35\]^
<div>
# # World Heritage Site controversy {#World_Heritage_Site_controversy}
</div>
White Sands was placed on a tentative list of potential World Heritage
Sites on January 22, 2008.^\[36\]^ The state\'s two U.S. Senators, Pete
Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, wrote letters of support of the
application.^\[37\]^ U.S. Representative Steve Pearce declined to
support the application, saying, \"I would guarantee that if White Sands
Monument receives this designation, that there will at some point be
international pressures exerted that could stop military operations as
we know them today.\"^\[38\]^
The WHS application generated much controversy in Otero County, most of
it taking place in meetings of the Otero County Commission. A petition
with 1,200 signatures opposing the application was presented to the
commission on August 16, 2007.^\[39\]^ The commission passed a
resolution of opposition to the application on August 23, 2007,^\[40\]^
and passed Ordinance 07-05 on October 18, 2007, relating to any
potential World Heritage Site designations within the county. The
ordinance requires coordination with the county in following its
environmental planning and review process through its Public Land Use
Advisory Council, and states that \"No world heritage site\...will be
located on or adjacent to any military land\...within or adjacent to the
boundaries of Otero County.\"^\[41\]^ On January 24, 2008, after the WHS
tentative list was announced, the commission instructed the county
attorney to write a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, demanding
that WSNM be taken off the list.^\[42\]^
In May 2018, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (Democrat, New Mexico)
introduced a bill to designate White Sands a national park.^\[43\]^
Heinrich consulted with monument officials, the National Park Service,
White Sands Missile Range, the U.S. Army and Holloman Air Force Base
before the bill was introduced in Congress. The bill was supported by
the Alamogordo City Commission; the Las Cruces City Council; the
Mescalero Apache Tribal Council; the Town of Mesilla Board of Trustees;
Alamogordo Mayor Richard Boss; New Mexico Senator Ron Griggs
(Republican); the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce; the Greater Las Cruces
Chamber of Commerce; the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce; the
National Parks Conservation Association and the Southern New Mexico
Public Lands Alliance. The bill was opposed, however, by Otero County
commissioners, who stated that the main argument in favor of national
park status was the potential for increased visitation, while also
noting that the monument is already the most-visited NPS site in the
state. The commissioners were also concerned that \"the change in status
will affect filmmaking here either from higher fees or increased
regulation\". The commissioners only supported boundary adjustments and
additional infrastructure, such as campgrounds and improved road
access.^\[44\]^ The Doña Ana County commissioners also opposed the
redesignation of White Sands as a national
park.^\[45\][: 5 ]{title="Page / location: 5"}^ The redesignation bill
was re-introduced on March 27, 2019.^\[46\]\[47\]^
On December 11, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes
legislation redesignating White Sands National Monument as White Sands
National Park.^\[48\]^ The Senate passed the act on December 16 and
President Donald Trump signed the bill on December 20. The act includes
the transfer of land management both to and from the missile range, as
well as the protection of additional land, adding a net 2,029 acres
(3.2 sq mi; 8.2 km^2^) to the park.^\[4\]\[49\]^
White Sands, during its period as a national monument, has been used as
a filming location for scenes in several westerns, including *Four Faces
West* (1948), *Hang \'Em High* (1968), *The Hired Hand* (1971), *My Name
Is Nobody* (1973), *Bite the Bullet* (1975), and *Young Guns II*
(1990).^\[50\]^ Additional feature-length films with location shooting
in the park include *King Solomon\'s Mines* (1950), *The Man Who Fell to
Earth* (1976), *White Sands* (1992), *Transformers*
(2007),^\[45\][: 4 ]{title="Page / location: 4"}^ *Transformers 2*
(2009), *The Men Who Stare at Goats* (2009), *Year One* (2009), and *The
Book of Eli* (2010).^\[51\]^ Wye Oak\'s title track for the album *The
Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs* (2018) was filmed at White
Sands.^\[52\]^ *Yoga Mind & Body* (1994), featuring yoga teacher Erich
Schiffmann and actress Ali MacGraw, was also filmed on the
dunes.^\[53\]^
{.moz-reader-block-img
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White Sands National Park is located in southern New Mexico, on the
north side of U.S. Route 70 approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of
Alamogordo and 52 miles (84 km) northeast of Las Cruces,^\[2\]^ in
western Otero County and northeastern Doña Ana County.^\[54\]^ The
closest commercial airport is in El Paso, Texas, about 85 miles (137 km)
away.^\[2\]^ The park is situated in the Tularosa Basin with elevations
ranging from 3,887 feet (1,185 m) at Lake Lucero, to 4,116 feet
(1,255 m) at a former military site called NE 30.^\[3\]^
The park\'s primary feature is the field of white sand dunes composed of
gypsum crystals. The gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on
Earth.^\[7\]^ The park protects 115 mi^2^ (300 km^2^) of the 275 mi^2^
(710 km^2^) dunefield, about 42%, while the remaining 160 mi^2^
(410 km^2^) are located to the north within White Sands Missile
Range.^\[3\]^ The depth of gypsum sand across the entire field is about
30 feet (9.1 m) below the interdunal surface, while the tallest dunes
are about 60 feet (18 m) high. About 4.5 billion short tons (4.1 billion
metric tons) of gypsum sand fill the dunefield,^\[3\]^ which formed
about 7,000--10,000 years ago.^\[26\]^
Total park acreage is 148,588 acres (232.2 sq mi; 601.3 km^2^) which
includes a net 4,855 acres (7.6 sq mi; 19.6 km^2^) added in 2019 when
the national park designation modified the boundaries between the park
and the missile range.^\[3\]\[4\]^ The missile range borders the park on
all sides, with a cooperative use area designated in the park\'s western
portion where public access is only allowed by permit. The cooperative
use area includes most of the Alkali Flat region in the park\'s
northwestern quadrant, as well as Lake Lucero and dome dunes in the
southwestern quadrant. The San Andres Mountains rise beyond the park\'s
western boundary, while Holloman Air Force Base is a short distance to
the east.^\[55\]^ A rock formation called the Twin Buttes is located to
the south on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.^\[3\]^
According to the Köppen climate classification system, White Sands
National Park has a continental or cold semi-arid climate
(*BSk*),^\[56\]^ bordering closely on a cold desert climate (*BWk*).
Daily means resemble those of a humid subtropical climate (*Cfa*),
though its relatively high elevation and low precipitation causes a
higher diurnal temperature variation and shorter growing season than
would be typical of such a climate. The growing season generally lasts
less than six months, from April 27 to October 19 on
average.^\[57\]\[58\]^
The warmest months are April through October when the average high
temperature reaches or exceeds 79 °F (26 °C) and the daily mean
temperature is in the range 60--81 °F (16--27 °C). Afternoon
temperatures in June and July average around 97 °F (36 °C). The highest
recorded temperature is 111 °F (44 °C), set on June 22, 1981. The cooler
months are November through March when the average low temperature is
below 32 °F (0 °C) and the daily mean temperature is in the range
39--52 °F (4--11 °C), with December and January being the coldest
months. The lowest recorded temperature is −25 °F (−32 °C), set on
January 11, 1962.^\[59\]^
The average annual precipitation is 9.81 inches (249 mm), with the
wettest month being August at 1.88 inches (48 mm). July through October
have the most rainy days, averaging four to seven days per month. The
remaining months have an average of two or three days with
precipitation. Snow may occur from November through March, with an
average accumulation of 1.6 inches (41 mm).
<div>
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| Climate data for White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 1991--2020 normals, extremes 1939--present |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Record high °F | 78\ | 85\ | 91\ | 97\ | 104\ | 111\ | 110\ | 110\ | 104\ | 97\ | 88\ | 84\ | 111\ |
| (°C) | (26) | (29) | (33) | (36) | (40) | (44) | (43) | (43) | (40) | (36) | (31) | (29) | (44) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Mean maximum °F | 70.4\ | 75.8\ | 84.5\ | 90.0\ | 98.8\ | 105.9\ | 105.8\ | 102.4\ | 98.3\ | 91.4\ | 79.7\ | 70.9\ | 107.1\ |
| (°C) | (21.3) | (24.3) | (29.2) | (32.2) | (37.1) | (41.1) | (41.0) | (39.1) | (36.8) | (33.0) | (26.5) | (21.6) | (41.7) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Mean daily | 57.0\ | 63.0\ | 71.1\ | 79.0\ | 88.0\ | 97.3\ | 97.0\ | 94.8\ | 88.8\ | 79.3\ | 66.6\ | 56.5\ | 78.2\ |
| maximum °F (°C) | (13.9) | (17.2) | (21.7) | (26.1) | (31.1) | (36.3) | (36.1) | (34.9) | (31.6) | (26.3) | (19.2) | (13.6) | (25.7) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Daily mean °F | 39.7\ | 44.9\ | 52.2\ | 59.9\ | 69.2\ | 78.8\ | 81.2\ | 79.2\ | 72.5\ | 60.8\ | 48.0\ | 39.4\ | 60.5\ |
| (°C) | (4.3) | (7.2) | (11.2) | (15.5) | (20.7) | (26.0) | (27.3) | (26.2) | (22.5) | (16.0) | (8.9) | (4.1) | (15.8) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Mean daily | 22.4\ | 26.7\ | 33.4\ | 40.9\ | 50.4\ | 60.4\ | 65.4\ | 63.5\ | 56.2\ | 42.4\ | 29.4\ | 22.3\ | 42.8\ |
| minimum °F (°C) | (−5.3) | (−2.9) | (0.8) | (4.9) | (10.2) | (15.8) | (18.6) | (17.5) | (13.4) | (5.8) | (−1.4) | (−5.4) | (6.0) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Mean minimum °F | 9.3\ | 12.4\ | 16.0\ | 25.6\ | 33.9\ | 47.5\ | 56.5\ | 55.2\ | 43.2\ | 26.8\ | 13.6\ | 8.1\ | 5.2\ |
| (°C) | (−12.6) | (−10.9) | (−8.9) | (−3.6) | (1.1) | (8.6) | (13.6) | (12.9) | (6.2) | (−2.9) | (−10.2) | (−13.3) | (−14.9) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Record low °F | −25\ | −14\ | 0\ | 11\ | 20\ | 36\ | 48\ | 45\ | 30\ | 13\ | −12\ | −8\ | −25\ |
| (°C) | (−32) | (−26) | (−18) | (−12) | (−7) | (2) | (9) | (7) | (−1) | (−11) | (−24) | (−22) | (−32) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Average | 0.50\ | 0.38\ | 0.24\ | 0.30\ | 0.45\ | 0.72\ | 1.64\ | 1.88\ | 1.46\ | 1.05\ | 0.45\ | 0.74\ | 9.81\ |
| precipitation | (13) | (9.7) | (6.1) | (7.6) | (11) | (18) | (42) | (48) | (37) | (27) | (11) | (19) | (249) |
| inches (mm) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Average snowfall | 0.8\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.0\ | 0.1\ | 0.0\ | 0.7\ | 1.6\ |
| inches (cm) | (2.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.25) | (0.0) | (1.8) | (4.1) |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Average | 3.3 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 6.9 | 6.8 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 43.6 |
| precipitation | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| days (≥ 0.01 in) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Average snowy | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
| days (≥ 0.1 in) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Source: NOAA^\[60\]\[61\]^ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
</div>
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file-width="2560" file-height="1920" height="188" width="250"}
During the Permian Period, shallow seas covered the area that today
forms White Sands National Park. The seas left behind gypsum (calcium
sulfate), and subsequent tectonic activity lifted areas of the
gypsum-rich seabed to form part of the San Andres and Sacramento
Mountains.^\[8\]^ Over time, rain dissolved the water-soluble gypsum in
the mountains, and rivers carried it to the Tularosa Basin, which has no
outlet to the sea. The trapped water sank into the ground or formed
shallow pools that subsequently dried out, leaving the gypsum on the
surface in a crystalline form called selenite. Groundwater that flows
out of the Tularosa Basin flows south into the Hueco Basin.^\[62\]^
During the last ice age, a 1,600-square-mile (4,144 km^2^) body of water
named Lake Otero covered much of the basin. When it dried out, a large
flat area of selenite crystals remained, which is named the Alkali
Flat.^\[8\]^
Lake Lucero is a dry lakebed in the southwest corner of the park, at one
of the lowest points in the basin. Rain and snowmelt from the
surrounding mountains and upwelling from deep groundwater within the
basin periodically fill Lake Lucero with water containing dissolved
gypsum.^\[8\]^ When filled, the lake covers about 10 square miles
(26 km^2^) at a depth of 2--3 ft (0.61--0.91 m).^\[3\]^ As the water
evaporates, small selenite crystals about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter
form on the surface of the lake. Most of the crystal formation occurs
when large floods concentrate the mineralized water every ten to
fourteen years. Wind and water break down the crystals into
progressively smaller particles until they are fine grains of white
gypsum sand.^\[8\]^
{.moz-reader-block-img
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The ground in the Alkali Flat and along Lake Lucero\'s shore is also
covered with selenite crystals that measure up to 3 ft (0.9 m) long.
Weathering and erosion eventually break the crystals into sand-size
grains that are carried away by the prevailing winds from the southwest,
forming the white dunes. The dunes constantly change shape and slowly
move downwind. Since gypsum is water-soluble, the sand that composes the
dunes may dissolve and cement together after rain, forming a layer of
sand that is more solid, which increases the wind resistance of the
dunes.^\[63\]^ The increased resistance does not prevent dunes from
quickly covering the plants in their path. Some species of plants can
grow fast enough to avoid being buried by the dunes, while others
utilize survival strategies such as the formation of a hardened pedestal
around their roots to stabilize the plant amid the moving dunes.^\[64\]^
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White Sands contains various forms of dunes. Dome dunes are found along
the southwest margins of the field, transverse and barchan dunes in the
center of the field, and parabolic dunes along the northern, southern,
and northeastern margins.^\[65\]^ Scientists have surveyed a 9.3-mile
(15 km) long strip of dunes with lasers; installed shallow water wells
across the dunefield; looked at the chemistry and age of the water below
the dunes; measured hundreds of thousands of individual sand grains from
across the dunes; and used satellites to see temperature and moisture
changes throughout the year.^\[66\]^
Toward the western side of the dunefield, the dunes are more than 50 ft
(15 m) tall, and they become progressively smaller toward the eastern
edge, until they come to an abrupt stop at the eastern boundary.
Throughout the dunes, water is only a few feet (a meter) from the
surface and very salty, but toward the western edge of the dunefield,
the water is older and even saltier. The depth to groundwater also
decreases from 5 ft (1.5 m) below the surface on the eastern end to only
1--2 ft (0.3--0.6 m) on the western end of the dunefield. The dunes at
the western end have very little vegetation and move very quickly, while
the dunes on the eastern end move very slowly and are very vegetated.
Toward the western edge, the sand grains become larger and have all
different shapes, while at the eastern edge they are all very small and
round. The dunefield is much cooler and wetter than the surrounding hot,
dry desert soils based on satellites images. Scientists have discovered
what appear to be old lakeshores beneath the dunes using laser scanning
technology. At each of these old lakeshore terraces, the dune movement
and type of dunes changes greatly.^\[66\]^
More than 600 invertebrates,^\[67\]^ 300 plants, 250 birds, 50 mammals,
30 reptiles, seven amphibians, and one fish species inhabit White Sands
National Park.^\[3\]^ Animal species that have a white, or off-white,
coloration include three mammals, three reptiles, one amphibian, and
numerous insects.^\[68\]^ At least 45 species are endemic, living only
in this park, with 40 of them being moth species, along with the Apache
pocket mouse (*Perognathus flavescens Apachii*), White Sands woodrat
(*Neotoma micropus leucophaea*), bleached earless lizard (*Holbrookia
maculata ruthveni*), and two camel crickets.^\[3\]^
![A skunkbush sumac growing on a gypsum plant stand, or
pedestal^\[64\]^](White%20Sands%20National%20Park%20-%20Wikipedia_files/Gypsum_plant_stand.jpg){.moz-reader-block-img
file-width="1944" file-height="1296" height="167" width="250"}
The plants at White Sands National Park stabilize the leading edges of
the dunes, providing both food and shelter for wildlife. Humans have
made extensive use of the dunefield\'s native plant life, using some for
food and others to create cloth and medicine. Native Americans wove mats
with the thicker blades of grass, and consumed some of the grass
seeds.^\[69\]^
The park\'s flora must be tough to live in the nutrient-poor alkaline
soil of the dunefield. Drought-tolerant plants are able to survive in
temperatures that range from sub-freezing to over 100 °F (38 °C),
depending on the season. Many of these plants also tolerate the high
concentrations of salt, while gypsophiles thrive in these
conditions.^\[69\]^
The cane cholla and other cacti, as well as desert succulents like the
soaptree yucca, are able to store water through the hot summers and dry
winters, blooming in the spring. Desert grasses have developed a
tolerance for the highly alkaline soil. Grass species like alkali
sacaton and Indian rice grass provide food for many tiny animals, such
as Apache pocket mice and kangaroo rats. Grass seeds produce a
protein-rich kernel that dries well and fills many rodents\' underground
granaries.^\[69\]^
Native Americans used many parts of the soaptree yucca. The young flower
stalks are rich in vitamin C, while the flower pods can be boiled or
roasted. The leaf fibers were used for the fabrication of rope, matting,
sandals, baskets, and coarse cloth. The roots were chopped and boiled to
produce soap to wash hair, blankets, and rugs.^\[70\]^
Other plants include skunkbush sumac, Rio Grande cottonwood (*Populus
deltoides wislizeni*), hoary rosemary mint, purple sand verbena
(*Abronia angustifolia*), Mormon tea (also known as longleaf jointfir),
and claret cup cactus whose fruit is among the sweetest of any desert
plant. American Indians used the hoary rosemary mint for seasoning
foods, and the purple sand verbena as a mild sedative. They used the
skunkbush sumac\'s berries to make a tart drink, while the flexible
stems were used for basketry and binding. The sumac\'s branches contain
tannin, which is useful in producing dyes, and its leaves were used as
an astringent to treat stings, bites, rashes, and sunburn. The cholla\'s
fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, while its flower buds were used as a
diuretic, and a hair tonic was made from its roots. Strips of the
cottonwood\'s branches and bark were woven into baskets. The tree\'s
buds and flowers are edible, and its bark was used for treating bruises,
strains, and sprains. A tea made from cottonwood bark is an
anti-inflammatory agent and mild diuretic. The Mormon tea plant contains
traces of ephedrine, which is a stimulant and decongestant effective in
countering symptoms of the common cold.^\[70\]^
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More than 800 animal species inhabit the park, many of them nocturnal.
Several species of animals have developed very specialized means of
survival in this harsh environment, enabling them to thrive in a place
with very little surface water and highly mineralized groundwater. Some
species that inhabit the dunes have gradually changed color through
centuries of evolution, becoming substantially lighter than their
cousins elsewhere. Many of these white species are endemic to the
park.^\[71\]^ The Apache pocket mouse, bleached earless lizard,
sand-treader camel cricket, sand wolf spider, and moth species including
*Protogygia whitesandsensis* and *Givira delindae* are among the white
animals inhabiting the dunefield. Lighter colored animals blend in with
their white surroundings better than darker animals, which helps them to
avoid predation, allowing them more time to reproduce.^\[72\]^
Invertebrates form the largest group with more than 600 species,
including varied species of spiders, wasps, beetles and moths.^\[71\]^
Spider species include Apache jumping spider, burrowing wolf spider,
funnel-web spider (*Agelenopsis longistylus*), tarantula, and western
black widow spider. Other arachnid species include sand scorpion
(*Paruroctonus utahensis*), and wind scorpion. Insect species include
white-lined sphinx moth, yucca moth, bleached skimmer dragonfly,
tarantula hawk wasp, minor ground mantis, toothpick grasshopper, walking
stick, Maricopa harvester ant, and darkling beetle.^\[67\]^ The Maricopa
harvester ant inhabits much of the Southwestern United States and is
believed to have the most toxic insect venom in the world. Humans may
experience up to four hours of intense pain, while the equivalent of
twelve ant stings is capable of killing a 4.4 lb (2 kg) rat.^\[73\]^
As of November 2019, 246 species of birds have been recorded, including
wrens, mockingbirds, and ravens, as well as larger species like
roadrunners and raptors. Fourteen species are listed as *common* meaning
they may be seen daily but not in large numbers, while the others are
seen only a few times each month, each year, or every few years. The
most commonly seen species are: mourning dove, turkey vulture,
Swainson\'s hawk, red-tailed hawk, ash-throated flycatcher, Chihuahuan
raven, common raven, northern mockingbird, house finch, Brewer\'s
sparrow, black-throated sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, and great-tailed
grackle. Cactus wrens have a long white streak over their eyes, a
cluster of black spots on their breast, and make a somewhat ratchety
call. They build their nests in cacti and feed by hopping under shrubs
hunting insects, or picking insects off the radiator grills of parked
cars. Birds are usually observed in vegetated areas of the park away
from the heart of the dunefield, mainly near the visitor center and the
edges of the dunefield, as well as Lake Lucero though it is open to the
public only once each month by guided tour.^\[74\]^
Most mammals of the Tularosa Basin have adapted to the hot summers by
staying in their dens until evening. Visitors may see footprints along
the dunes as evidence of the nightly hunting and foraging excursions of
nocturnal animals. Carnivorans include coyotes, bobcats, badgers, and
kit foxes. Rabbits include desert cottontails and black-tailed
jackrabbits, with the jackrabbit capable of speeds as high as 40 mph
(64 km/h). Rodents include porcupines, pocket gophers, Apache pocket
mice, and Merriam\'s kangaroo rats, the latter of which can jump up to
10 ft (3 m) high when frightened despite having only a 5 in (13 cm) body
and an 8 in (20 cm) tail. The pallid bat eats insects in the air like
other bats but locates most of its food on the ground while walking
around.^\[75\]^ Four other bat species have also been observed in the
park, though the pallid bat is the most commonly seen species, roosting
under the visitor center\'s eaves during the summer.^\[76\]^
Among reptiles, the most common lizards include the bleached earless
lizard, little white whiptail (*Aspidoscelis gypsi* -- a white species
that will detach its tail as an escape strategy), southwestern fence
lizard, and side-blotched lizard; while the most common snakes are the
coachwhip, Sonoran gopher snake, prairie rattlesnake, western
diamondback rattlesnake, and the massasauga which is another species of
rattlesnake, all of them venomous. The sole resident turtle species is
the desert box turtle.^\[77\]^
Seven species of amphibians inhabit the park, including three species of
toads: the Great Plains toad, the western toad, and the red-spotted
toad; three species of spadefoot toads: Couch\'s spadefoot toad, the
plains spadefoot toad, and the New Mexico spadefoot toad, all of which
have a single hard, dark spade on the underside of each hind foot that
is used to burrow into the ground to prevent water loss and hide from
predators; and one salamander species, the barred tiger
salamander.^\[78\]^
The White Sands pupfish is the only species of fish endemic to the
Tularosa Basin, and the only fish found in the park. The pupfish has
dark eyes, silver scales, and grows from 1.75--2.5 inches (44--64 mm) in
length.^\[71\]^
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Before the Pleistocene epoch ended about 12,000 years ago, the land
within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, and grasslands.
The climate was wetter and cooler, producing a lot more rain and snow
than in the present. Lake Otero was one of the largest lakes in the
southwest, covering 1,600 square miles (4,144 km^2^), which is an area
larger than the state of Rhode Island.^\[79\]^
The basin teemed with life, including large ice age mammals that lived
by the shores of Lake Otero and in the surrounding grasslands. Columbian
mammoths, ground sloths, ancient camels, dire wolves, lions, and
saber-toothed cats---also known as saber-toothed tigers, though not
closely related to tigers^\[80\]^---all crossed the Tularosa Basin where
the dunes lie presently. The animals left fossil footprints as they
walked the muddy shores of Lake Otero, their body weight compressing the
wet clay and gypsum. The fragile tracks are uncovered by the wind, then
rapidly erode away, with many tracks disappearing after only two
years.^\[79\]^
Scattered along the now dried lakebed are trackways of ancient camels
and Columbian mammoths. The fossilized footprints appear to gather
around ancient pools of water. For 80 years, only a small collection of
fossil footprints had been found in the park; however, a group of
scientists noticed dark spots dotting the expanse of the lakebed that
appeared to be footprints. During the 2010s, footprints of a dire wolf
were discovered beside ancient seeds dated to more than 18,000 years
ago. The fossil footprints of ground sloths have also been found in the
park. Paleolithic human footprints are sometimes found interacting with
Ice Age animals. One set of footprints shows the stalking of sloths. The
paleo-humans who lived in the Tularosa Basin left behind no other
evidence of their passage. Though stone flakes from toolmaking,
arrowheads, and spear points are found in surrounding areas, they are
the artifacts of humans who lived after the Ice Age. The lakebed is
nearly devoid of a single artifact from before the Spanish exploration
in the 1500s.^\[81\]^ In a study of exposed outcrops of Lake Otero in
2021, Bennett et al. reveal numerous human footprints dating to about
23,000 to 21,000 years ago which provide strong evidence of pre-Clovis
occupation of the American continents.^\[82\]^
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Dire wolves lived in North and South America during the Pleistocene.
Standing at about 2.6--2.8 feet (80--85 cm) tall and weighing 130--150
pounds (60--68 kg), they were about the same size as modern gray wolves,
but with a heavier, more muscular build. They had powerful jaws, with a
stronger bite than modern wolves, and probably hunted in packs, allowing
them to target larger prey such as horses and bison.^\[79\]^
During the Pleistocene, large cats lived throughout the world, including
lions in North America. About four feet (1.2 m) tall at the shoulder and
weighing over 500 pounds (230 kg), American lions had long, slender legs
for chasing down prey. They hunted by ambushing animals like deer,
camels, ground sloths, bison, and young mammoths.^\[79\]^
Saber-toothed cats are known for their oversized canine teeth, which
could reach seven to ten inches (17--20 cm) in length. Standing around 3
feet (one meter) tall and weighing up to 750 pounds (340 kg),
saber-toothed cats had a bulky, muscular build that allowed them to
subdue large prey, like sloths, bison, and young mammoths. Some fossil
evidence suggests that they may have hunted in packs.^\[79\]^
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Columbian mammoths stood up to 14 feet (over four meters) tall at the
shoulder and weighed 18,000--22,000 pounds (8,000--10,000 kilograms).
They had large tusks and ridged teeth for eating plants like modern
elephants. These giant herbivores probably did not have much hair,
unlike the woolly mammoths that evolved in colder regions. Columbian
mammoths inhabited a range from Canada to Nicaragua and
Honduras.^\[79\]^
Camels are commonly associated with Africa, though they originated in
North America. The ancient western camel probably resembled modern,
one-humped dromedary camels, but with longer legs, standing up to seven
feet (over two meters) tall at the shoulder. The camels were
opportunistic herbivores, grazing over large ranges, and leaving
distinctive footprints.^\[79\]^
Ground sloths are the ancient relatives of modern tree sloths,
armadillos, and anteaters. The Harlan\'s ground sloth dwarfed modern
relatives, standing 10 feet (three meters) tall when upright and
weighing over a ton (about 2,200--2,400 pounds or 1000--1090 kilograms).
These giant herbivores had a slow, waddling walk and left kidney-bean
shaped footprints, created as their back feet rotated inwards while
walking. Some ground sloth prints appear bipedal, possibly caused by the
large hind feet covering the tracks of the smaller front feet. Such
tracks have sometimes been mistaken for the tracks of a giant
human.^\[79\]^
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White Sands National Park is the most visited NPS site in New Mexico,
with about 600,000 visitors each year. In year two of the pandemic,
White Sands National Park saw more than 780,000 visitors from both
locals and visitors.^\[9\]^ Many visitors arrive during the warmer
months from March through August, but sledders and photographers can be
seen throughout the dunes year round. March and July are the two busiest
months with more than 60,000 visitors each, or about 2,000 per day,
while November through February have the fewest visitors with less than
30,000 each month, or fewer than 1,000 per day.^\[3\]^
The Dunes Drive leads 8 miles (13 km) into the dunes from the visitor
center at the park entrance.^\[83\]^ Three picnic areas are available,
as well as a backcountry campground with ten sites for overnight camping
in the dunefield. Five marked trails totaling 9 miles (14 km) allow
visitors to explore the dunes on foot.^\[3\]^ Ranger-guided orientation
and nature walks occur at various times and months throughout the year.
Sunset strolls are presented every evening of the year, while Lake
Lucero hikes are offered once a month, from November to April,^\[84\]^
and full moon guided hikes from April to October, on the night before
the full moon.^\[85\]^ The park participates in the Junior Ranger
Program, with various age-group-specific activities.^\[86\]^
Both the park and U.S. Route 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo are
subject to closure for safety reasons when tests are conducted at White
Sands Missile Range which completely surrounds the park. Dunes Drive may
be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests. Park
staff is usually notified two weeks in advance of scheduled tests;
however, notifications from White Sands Missile Range may be received as
little as 24 hours in advance of a test. All activity, including
horseback riding, backcountry camping, hiking, sledding, and driving on
Dunes Drive is prohibited during all missile tests that require road
closure.^\[32\]^ According to a National Park Service report, in 2020,
visitors spent roughly \$22.5 million in nearby communities with more
than 360,000 more guests in 2021, nearby towns felt the boost.^\[15\]^
<div>
{file-width="6690"
file-height="885" height="159" width="1200"}
<div>
Panorama of the dune field from the Alkali Flat trail
</div>
</div>
- List of national parks of the United States
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Otero County, New
Mexico
- Trinity Site -- world\'s first nuclear weapon test, at White Sands
Missile Range
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