The Story of the Dunes: Nxt to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes are a natural ecosystem of high mountain peaks, sparkling streams, forceful winds, and billions of sand grains.
These huge dunes are North America's tallest. A 330 square mile deposit of sand. Eroded from mountains by streams and winds.
Medano and Sand creeks are found at the edge of the dune field. They are swift, shallow and seasonal. These streams help to create biodiversity. The streams originate in the Sangre de Cristos (blood of Christ). High, cold mountains collect and hold snow from October into April. The creeks also feed the underground aquifers for the people in the San Luis Valley.
The Great Sand Dunes National Park is made up of seven life zones: alpine tundra, subalpine, montane forest, dunefield, sand sheet and grassland, salt-encrusted plain or sabkha, and stream sides and wetlands.
Medano and Sand Creeks are unusual in another way. This is one of the few places in the world where there is surge flow. A stream flowing in rhythmic waves on sand.
Storms looming!!!
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