Still Being Explored

East of the Dunes, towards the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and starting near the Piñon Flats Campground is the Medano Pass Primitive Road which takes you through the backside of the exceptional dunes. The road is 4WD past the Point of No Return on account of some creek crossings, rocky areas, and sand. On this beautiful road you’ll see the dunes from a side that most people don’t as you look westward towards the San Luis Valley instead of towards the mountains. You can picnic at various spots and even camp. In the height of summer, you can drive up into the mountains and hike to the Alpine Lake known as Medano Lake. There are various camping spots along the way too such as Indian Grove and Little Medano. There’s also a nice staging area at Castle Creek to hike to Hidden Dune, which is equally as tall as Star Dune. I have only made it to the Point of No Return in my wife’s Subaru but this summer we do expect to return in the Tacoma for some camping and hiking. You can even do some catch and release trout fishing for Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the mountains!

Medano Lake hike is 7.4 miles roundtrip with a 1,918 foot elevation gain.