A Dog-Friendly Trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park

This might be my favorite national park in Colorado. At the very least, it's the one we've taken the dogs to the most!

Similar to my Arches post, this is a combination of a few trip we've taken to the Dunes, rather than one trip. One of my favorite things about the Dunes is that every season has something different to offer – I'll include some information about that later on.

Is Great Sand Dunes National Park Dog Friendly?

Yes! Great Sand Dunes is the most dog-friendly national park in Colorado.

Where are dogs allowed?

• Preserve (including Mosca Pass Trail)
• Main use areas of the Park (including Piñon Flats Campground, Dunes Overlook Trail, and along the Medano Pass Primitive Road)

Where aren't dogs allowed?

• Inside the visitor center and bathrooms
• In the backcountry of the dunefield, beyond the first high ridge of dunes
• Off of the Dunes Overlook Trail

The Dunes

Dogs are allowed to join you on the Dunes. Now, I know some dogs love sand, but my dogs don't, particularly.

Hiking/Walking on the Dunes

One of the coolest things about the Dunes is that your dogs can join you as you walk across and up them. As I mentioned above, my dogs aren't really super interested in that. The sand is...well, sand, meaning it is loose and a bit hard to walk on. During one of our visits, Maya refused to walk more than a few steps before laying down, so we didn't exactly move at a fast pace.

One thing that can make exploring the dunes easier is visiting in winter, when there's a chance of some snow or ice to firm up the walk. I've also heard of people skiing/snowboarding on the snow during the winter. Of course, you can do some summer sandboarding as well (more on that later).

Dog (and Human) Gear

The first time we visited the Dunes, we got caught in a bit of a windstorm (I would recommend watching the weather before you go because this isn't unusual). We tried to cover our own faces and the dogs' faces as best we could, while also trying to get out of the windstorm as quickly as possible. Once you're out in the sand, there aren't a lot of good options for cover.

After that trip (and before we went back), we got the dogs some doggles for eye protection. They hate them very much, but we figured it was better than risking the health of their eyes!

Similarly, I'd recommend bringing face/eye covers for humans as well if you plan on hiking up the dunes. If you want to take advantage of the dark sky (which I would recommend), you should also bring some flashlights and/or headlamps. Walkie talkies or radios could also be a good idea if you happen to visit at night, because cell service is not great, and as we found out the hard way, it is pretty easy to lose each other in the dark.

Medano Creek

Some time in the spring/early summer, the Dunes offer an entirely different experience, the surge of snowmelt that creates a "beach." Now, if you live near a beach, you may not be that impressed with the amount of water in Medano Creek, but for those of us in a land-locked state, it's incredible!

The trickiest part of visiting the Medano Creek beach is timing; it's almost impossible to predict when exactly the water will start flowing. We were very lucky and timed our last visit well – showing up on a great weekend with plenty of water. We didn't plan this part out, but we got to the park pretty early (about 8 or 9 am), and we were very glad we did. By midday, there was no parking and the line into the park was massive.

If you can get into the park at the right time, it's a great experience. We set up some chairs and hung out for a couple of hours with the dogs, splashing in the water a bit, pretending we were at the beach. Maya definitely had a good time lounging in the water.

Mosca, Colorado

If you look at a map, you might notice that technically, the address for Great Sand Dunes is in Mosca. You might also notice that not much else is in Mosca. That said, there are a couple of really cool places next to the Dunes.

Great Sand Dunes Lodge

My favorite place to stay while visiting the Dunes is the Great Sand Dunes Lodge, which is dog friendly! They have a few accommodation options, but I've only stayed in the lodge, which I think is great.

Maybe my personal bar for what constitutes "rustic" is adjusted strangely, but I actually think the accommodations are pretty nice for being in such close proximity to a national park.

One of my favorite parts is the patio off the back of the room, where you can walk straight out (very convenient with dogs). The patio also gives you incredible views of the Dunes.

Great Sand Dunes Oasis

Also right next to the Dunes is the Great Sand Dunes Oasis, a shop with some essentials, food, and most fun of all, sandboards for rent. When we visited in May to hang out at the beach, Adam rented a sandboard from here. Once again, I'd highly recommend getting to the rental as early as you can during busy times. The line can get pretty long.

Alamosa, Colorado

If you're in need of food or more traditional accommodations while visiting the Dunes, you can look in nearby Alamosa. While still a fairly small town, Alamosa has things that Mosca does not, like restaurants, grocery stores, and chain hotels. Our first couple of visits, we stayed in Alamosa.

Best Western Alamosa Inn

This was a great spot to stay for close proximity to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Keep in mind, this is a dog-friendly, two-star hotel, not luxury accommodations. There is a nice grassy area in the middle to walk your dog. The room was pretty large and comfortable enough for a night or two.

I will note that they have the spiky metal stairs that Maya refuses to walk on, so she had to be carried up the stairs.

The Purple Pig Pizzeria & Pub

This is our go-to spot for dinner when visiting the Dunes/staying in Alamosa. In fact, we've gone from the lodge to Alamosa to grab dinner here a couple of times. The food and service have been good, and they have a nice outdoor seating area where your pup can sit with you.

Blanca Vista Dog Park

Alamosa also has a nice dog park with great views, water access, and plenty of room for the dogs to walk around. I have seen people note that you need to be careful in winter because the water can ice over and curious dogs may want to explore that.

On the Way

We've taken a few different routes to get from Denver to the Dunes, and I wanted to share a couple of fun stops along the way that we've particularly enjoyed...

UFO Watchtower - Center, Colorado

If you're into UFOs and you're in the area, I'd definitely suggest stopping through. I know this is a travel blog, so written descriptions are kind of the point, but this stop defies description. It's chaotic, interesting, weird – all things that to me, make a great road trip stop.

Dogs are allowed to walk around the "garden" with you, since it's outside, but we were also very kindly allowed inside the store when we were visiting! I'm not sure if this is the usual policy, but our dogs were about to get blown away in a windstorm (see the above section about gear), so the nice folks let us all inside. We had some good UFO-related conversation and the dogs checked out the artifacts, including the giant horse skeleton.

Dog Bar and Grill - La Veta, Colorado

"On the way" might be a bit of a stretch for this one, but on one of our trips, we drove through La Veta for lunch at Dog Bar and Grill. We definitely enjoyed our lunch at the super dog-friendly spot, but the drive probably would have been worth it on its own because of the beautiful mountain views.

La Veta is a very cute town and this place was set up for dogs to lounge outside on their deck (which ours did, of course).