How to Sandboard at Great Sand Dunes National Park

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Ready to snowboard without freezing temperatures? Sandboarding and sand sledding at the Great Sand Dunes offers exactly that—an adrenaline-pumping adventure where you trade snow for sand and still get all the thrills!

READ THE FULL SANDBOARDING GUIDE 👉 https://thebucketlistmermaid.com/sandboarding-the-great-sand-dunes-review-and-guide/

⌛️As someone who recently conquered these magnificent dunes, let me share everything you need to know before strapping in. 

🇺🇸The Great Sand Dunes National Park hosts North America's tallest sand dunes, creating the perfect playground for this unique activity. You don't need to be Shaun White to enjoy it—just basic balance, a willingness to learn, and most importantly, the acceptance that sand will become your closest companion (I'm still finding it everywhere!).

☀️Unlike traditional snow sports, sandboarding requires specific gear designed for sand, not snow. 

💸You can't rent equipment from the park directly, so plan ahead and secure your board or sled from nearby vendors like the Oasis or shops in Alamosa. 

📝The technique differs slightly too—you'll lead with your dominant foot, lean back more than in snowboarding, and need to wax your board after every run. 

😜While falling is inevitable (trust me, I emerged looking like a "sugar-coated donut"), the exhilaration of carving down massive dunes makes every grain of sand worth it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
But that's okay.
I came out of it looking like asugar-coated donut and that's
fine.
I accepted my fate.
Hello, adventurers, and welcomeback to Take it Before you Kick
it.
The podcast where we talk abouteverything that should be on
your adventure bucket list, andtoday we are hitting the sand,
literally.
That's right.
We are going to be talkingabout the Great Sand Dunes and,
more specifically, sandboardingand sand sledding.
If you've ever wanted tosnowboard without the cold or

(00:22):
you just wanted an adrenalinepumping activity in Great Sand
Dunes National Park, then thisis probably for you.
I recently hit the dunes myselfand let me tell you it was such
a fun experience and I cannotwait to talk about it so that
you can also check it off youradventure bucket list.
But before you grab a board andstart shredding that sand,
let's talk about what you needto know some tips and tricks and

(00:42):
my experience with sandsledding.
So, getting started, whatexactly is sandboarding?
Think about it as snowboarding,except you're on the sand.
It's a very, very hard conceptto grasp and instead of carving
down those powdery slopes, youare instead carving down sand.
Now, the Great Sand Dunes arehome to some of the tallest sand
dunes in North America.

(01:02):
So this makes it a prime spotto go sandboarding or sand
sledding.
Now, before we get startedanswering the question, no, you
do not need to be a snowboarder.
Trust me, I am not a Sean Whitemyself, but I still had fun.
Honestly, if you can balance,you can lean into some turns and
, most importantly, if you areokay with eating a lot of sand,

(01:23):
you will be a-okay.
Now, as an alternative, you canalso go sand sledding.
It is exactly what it soundslike.
It is sledding, but on the sand, where you kind of just sit on
a board, versus quote-unquotestrapping yourself into a board.
So we will be talking about thedifferences between this and
what is right for you.
Now, unlike snowboarding andskiing, you cannot rent it from

(01:43):
the park directly, and Iactually heard a lot of people
getting really mad about thisbecause they thought they could
rent a sandboard or a sand sled,but you actually have to rent
it before you enter the park.
There's a place in Alamo sothat you can go.
And then also, for me, I RVfull time, so I was staying at
the Oasis and I just rented allmy gear from there.
I would recommend it.
It was like five minutes awayfrom there.

(02:05):
I would recommend it.
It was like five minutes away.
Can you use a normal snowboardor a sled?
I did actually see this and Iwould not recommend it.
It will not cut it.
You need specific gear that ismade for letting you glide over
sand, not snow, because they arevery different.
So where do you go in the GreatSand Dunes National Park in
order to sand sled or sand board?
Now, honestly, you can kind ofjust go to the main area.
It is a little bit of a walkout there and there was a lot of

(02:27):
people going all around andsandboarding.
Now you can hike, although Imust tell you that hiking in the
sand is very, very hard.
I actually ended upspontaneously hiking all the way
up to the top and I thought Iwas no longer going to exist at
a few points.
It's hard, trust me, especiallyif you're going in the summer.
You can just hike to the littlearea.
You will see all the otherpeople sandboarding.

(02:47):
It's a very common activity andyou can just go there.
So here are the steps that Ilearned from sandboarding, and I
got this from the National Parkas well as the Oasis, like the
store that I rented from.
So step one.
You are going to climb up tothe dune that you want to
sandboard down.
Step two wax the board.
Now, unlike the other things, Iactually ended up waxing it

(03:08):
after every single run and hekind of explained it to me like
you do a crayon, so you likescribble a crayon all over
everything.
It was kind of fun.
I felt like a little kid.
But you have to wax your board.
Next, with the board pointeddown, you lead with your
dominant foot.
Now, this is kind of differentfrom snowboarding.
You, you lead with yourdominant foot.

(03:30):
Now, this is kind of differentfrom snowboarding.
You have to shift your weightin a different way, but you
actually lean your body weightback and then start to go down
and literally just stay on thereas far as you possibly can.
Now, if you are feeling extratalented in this, you can start
putting weight on your heels andyour toes and you can start to
carve like a snowboard.
However, it does feel a littlebit different, so keep that in.
Now, if you do start to feelunstable, start to bend your
knees and try to carve for aslong as you can until you
gracefully fall and get sandeverywhere.

(03:51):
Spoiler alert you will fall.
Just just accept it.
Sand will be everywhere.
I'm still finding sand fromthis it's.
It's just a part of theexperience and deal with it.
And if you are going to fall,try to aim to fall on your butt
versus your face.
Trust me, you'll thank me later.
I fell on my face and I againjust ate the sand.

(04:13):
I feel like the guy from StarWars who's like I don't like
sand, it's coarse and it getseverywhere.
I am that guy.
Now, sand sledding is a loteasier.
You literally just point itdown and you just go.
Now it is an absolute blast,but it is a workout For any epic
ride down.
You're gonna have to hike allthe way back up.

(04:34):
That's just how it goes.
It's like doing a stairmasterat the gym, except with way
better views.
At one point, I ended up takingthe sandboard, putting it into
the board and using it to pullmyself up on the sand and then
repeat Like I was literally justclimbing up this mountain.
Trust me, do not underestimateit.
Bring tons of water, bring sunprotection, because you're going

(04:56):
to need it Now.
Should you sandboard or sandsled?
I'd say, if you have anyexperience surfing,
skateboarding, snowboarding Ithink you would pick it up
faster than a person who's neverdone those things, or if you
just want to try something new.
Personally, I like sandboardingbetter than sand sledding
because I thought it was moreexhilarating.
However, if you're just lookingto just quickly check it off
your bucket list, do it.

(05:16):
I would recommend sand sledding, especially if you don't want
to fall as much.
Actually, that's a total lie.
I feel like I fell equalamounts on both, so you're gonna
fall either way, but that'sokay.
I came out of it looking like asugar coated donut and that's
fine.
I accepted my fate.
Now, if you are looking on whereto write gear, what time to go
and all the nitty-gritty detailsof sandboarding and sand

(05:39):
sledding at the Great Sand Dunes, I would highly recommend
checking out my blog postarticle.
I wrote an entire guide as wellas a vlog on my actual
experience with sandboarding, soif you are interested in
learning more, that guide isgoing to be a great resource for
you to check it off your bucketlist.
So would you try sandboardingat the Great Sand Dunes?
I want to hear your thoughts.
If you have already checked thisoff your bucket list, I would
love to see you doing it.

(06:00):
And again, if you are planningyour own sandboarding adventure.
Definitely make sure to checkout that guide on
thebucketlessmermaidcom for allof the information and, again,
if you do do this, definitelyshare it, tag me.
I would love to see your epicrides and those epic fails.
That's it for today's episodeof Ticket.
Before you Kick it, if you didenjoy this episode, it would
mean the world to this travelingmermaid if you left a review or

(06:21):
subscribed on your favoritepodcasting platform.
Until next time, keep chasingthose bucket list dreams.