Colorado Parkin’ Day 6 – Treasure Falls, Great Sand Dunes National Park, & Zapata Falls

May 25, 2023

Hands down I had the BEST night of sleep ever, sleeping about eleven hours as the East Fork San Juan River roared in my ears. I cannot remember the last time I awoke feeling this refreshed! I took the morning slow, preparing some breakfast and coffee, which I enjoyed in my hammock while reading a little. I had little reason to rush out of camp, as I only had two hours of driving to get to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Shortly after hitting the highway, I stopped at Treasure Falls, which has a large parking lot right off the road before you really start heading up Wolf Creek Pass. A short trail heads up to two viewing platforms, but the 105-foot waterfall on Falls Creek is also partially viewable from the parking lot.

Nothing like a good ol’ morning waterfall chase! I took off to the viewing platforms with zeal.

After a quick stop at the top of Wolf Creek Pass, I descended down to South Fork, where I popped into the visitor center for the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail passport stamp. Realizing I am a hiker, the visitor center employee offered me a PACT Lite Bathroom Kit that a local organization provides for free to help reduce human waste on the trails. Talk about a score! I was super excited for the dehydrate wipes the most. Sometimes the most unsuspecting stops turn out to be some of the best!

Next up was heading across the San Luis Valley, the world’s largest alpine valley with an average elevation of 7,664 feet. Agriculture (farming and grazing) dominates the landscape, which might seem weird given the average elevation, but the valley is an endorheic basic, which means that surface water does not exit the valley. Fun fact, the barley grown in the valley is the main supply for Coors! (The more you know!) Probably my favorite thing about crossing the San Luis Valley was driving with the view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, which include several peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation.

Alas, I was not in the San Luis Valley for barley or 14ers… I was here for probably the most famous feature – the Great Sand Dunes! The tallest sand dunes in North America are protected as the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, which was established originally as a national monument in 1932 (and received national park status in 2004).

The Great Sand Dunes were formed from sand that was left behind as prehistoric lakes receded. Southwesterly winds blow the sand towards the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and the sand accumulates against three mountain passes – Mosca, Medano, and Music. During storms, winds blow from the east back towards the valley, which causes the dunes to grow vertically. The combination of these opposing winds, all the sand, and sand that washes down Medano Creek create a loop that builds and maintains the dunes.

Let’s go play in what my cat would call the world’s largest litterbox!

After an entrance sign photo, I swung into the temporary visitor center for my normal passport stamping and souvenir acquiring activities. The area was crowded at 1pm, but I managed to parallel park into a tight spot and get my chores done. I think headed to the Montville Nature Loop Trailhead, where I fixed up some lunch before gearing up for a short hike.

I had visited Great Sand Dunes National Monument as a kid, so technically I had marked off the national park on my lists of being visited. There is a lot of debate in the traveling circles of how to handle national parks that have a national preserve attached to them, as it is considered a separate NPS unit. A lot of times, such as the Alaskan ones, it is quite difficult to reach both the park and preserve, so people will count visiting one as visiting both, and I lean towards this option. However, since all it would do is require me walking just a scooch up an easy hiking trail to reach Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, I decided I would do this for my 62nd NPS unit.

The Montville Nature Loop is a short, half-mile trail that is a friendly hike that does not involve sand. I was looking for a bit more hiking, so I wandered up Mosca Pass Trail a little bit before it lost my interest, and explored a bit of the Wellington Ditch Trail to get views of the sand dunes before returning to my car.

Since it was mid-afternoon and hot, I was not about to get near the actual sand dunes, and would return early the next morning to hike to the top of High Dune (which is not the tallest dune, that goes to Star Dune and Hidden Dune). I would’ve loved to explore Medano Pass, but proper 4WD is needed (apologies to my dear Subaru). So I decided to head towards my campsite at Zapata Falls Campground, which is located about twenty minutes from Great Sand Dunes National Park on BLM land.

After ascending the paved, but steep and winding road, I checked in with the campground host and made my way to my campsite, #7. I had reserved this site six months prior, and as a popular campground, this was a must. My site gave me great views over the San Luis Valley, though my three-person tent was a tight squeeze in this otherwise rocky and uneven site.

After setting up and getting caught up on “things that require phone service,” I set out on the short half-mile hike to Zapata Falls. This popular waterfall on South Zapata Creek towers thirty feet and is located in a rocky crevasse. Reaching the water requires getting wet feet and traversing wet rocks.

I don’t know how I managed it, but I got Zapata Falls to myself for about five minutes! I probably could’ve stayed a bit longer, but my feet and legs had gone numb.

I cooked my dinner, which was a comically large amount of potatoes and other fajita fixings. Sunset was amazing, and I kept getting out of my tent to grab photos of the clouds and mountains.

I was planning an early start the next morning to avoid hot sun, but alas, my campsite neighbors had other plans for me. As I was working on falling asleep in the quiet with distant howling coyotes, the neighbors arrived, music blaring and one of the girls announcing “It was peaceful here until we came!” For three more hours they proceeded to blast music and drunkenly carry on, even after complaints to the campground host. There goes a restful night of sleep…

Stats:

• 115 miles driven
• 11,768 steps / 5.9 miles walked
• 1 NPS unit
  • Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve – $25
  • **I have an annual America the Beautiful Pass, so no entry fees had to be paid
• Fuel stops
  • South Fork, CO ($3.49/gallon)
• Campsite
  • Zapata Falls Campground
    • Site #7
    • $15
    • Can be reserved six months in advance (and highly recommended as this is a popular campground in the high season)