Easily mistaken for snow, these brilliantly white rolling drifts are actually the world’s largest gypsum dunefield.
The 275 square mile New Mexico desert, known as White Sands National Monument, is a remarkable place both for its beauty and its improbability. Gypsum dissolves in water and normally is washed out to sea before it can grow into such large dunes. In White Sands, however, gypsum washed down from the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains remains trapped in the Tularosa Basin, where it accumulates into a snow white desert.
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Wow—this place looks amazing! Adding it to my bucket list.
Thanks for posting… Made the mistake of watching sunset out there… and then having to try and find the car park in the dark…
That is amazing. Thank you.
I’ve been there and they are remarkable. Thanks for prompting some good memories and sharing.
What a beautiful shot!
I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Go to my blog to find out about it.
One of my favourite places. Glad to see you made it there. Nice photo
We were there on Christmas Day 2010, and it was amazing (and not very crowded!). My kids posed by the entry sign the same way my brother and I had over 30 years ago – yes, I was a kid then! We went back several days later, and it was incredibly windy. Similar to you, we keep a blog on our family adventures and this certainly made the cut (see the 12/26/2010 and 12/31/2010 posts).
Hiw beautiful is the white sand against the blue sky! Great photo and thanks for sharing.
Incredible!