Be my guide: Sledding at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico

I had avoided many of the obvious tourist traps during my two-week cross-country road trip that concluded last week. When reader Dinh Lu suggested White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, I considered skipping it because of its touristy connotation — mainly because it has the words “national” and “monument” in its name.

But the tip came up again and again, with later suggestions from Rafael Delgado and @EvanWarner. So, on my drive from El Paso to Albuquerque, I decided to take the detour.

The stretch of land in the middle of New Mexico is next to a missile range (comforting, I know). Buried behind a $3-per-person toll collector is an incredible sight. Expansive white dunes roll on for miles. By appearances, you’d think you were in snow-covered Alaska — until you step out of your car and feel the sweltering heat.

Before entering the dunes, however, stop at the gift shop. You can skip the keychains and postcards, but pick up a bottle of water, a plastic sled and a brick of wax. Then prepare for a fun if very tiring experience.

On any given day (assuming they’re not launching test missiles nearby, which does happen, by the way), you can see kids and adults sliding down the dunes and screaming playfully with every race and wipeout. You can’t really pick up as much speed on sand as you can on snow — even with the wax — but you won’t risk frostbite when you fall and eat it.

— Mark Milian, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo and video: White Sands National Monument. Credit: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 12:04 pm by Mark Milian and is filed under Be My Guide, New Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.