 | Alamogordo Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 6 of 6 |  |
Popular Off the Beaten Path | Miscellaneous Off the Beaten Path Tips | All Tips (6) While on the way to Carlsbad, we passed by the town of Cloudcroft which has some wonderful sceneries. Due to its altitude, we spotted some snow on the mountains! Leave a Comment
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At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain ringed valley called the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico.
Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world's largest gypsum dune field. The brilliant white dunes are ever changing: growing, cresting, then slumping, but always advancing. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved a white coloration that camouflages them in the gypsum sand.
White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.
DUNES DRIVE
January 1 - May 27 7a.m to Sunset
May 28 - September 5 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
September 6 - December 31 (Closed December 25) 7 a.m. to Sunset
COST
$3 - 7 Days
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http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm Leave a Comment Website: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm
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Cloudcroft, although one of the most beautiful mountain spots in Southern New Mexico, is still relatively undiscovered as a tourist destination. The skiing is several miles away, although Cloudcroft has begun marketing itself to try to lure skiers into its motels.
This is a very small town, strung out along US 70 several thousand feet above Alamogordo in the Lincoln National Forest. The highlights of this place include the beauitful, natural setting, but also the historic lodge, built in 1899, which also features "Clue"-like "who-dunnit" experiences on some weekends. The National Solar Observatory, a must for geeks, is just down the road in Sunspot, which itself has no hotels.
The best time to come is in the winter when the snow is plentiful, although the road to Sunspot may be closed at that time. It's a huge contrast from the nearby basin and Alamogordo, and worth a trip. Leave a Comment Website: http://www.cloudcroft.net/
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on January 27, 2003
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