Day 5 - Southwest National Parks Adventure

9/28/2025

Today we explored Great Sand Dunes National Park. We started with a hike up the Dunes Overlook Trail. It was a great trail that ended with spectacular views of the dune field. We saw a couple of mule deer in the campground. One seemed to be peeking into the tent of the campers in the site next to us.

After the overlook trail we headed to Zapata Falls. The trailhead is a couple miles outside the park. It was featured in a book Andy read so we decided to check it out. Sadly, we were a little disappointed and glad the hike was only a mile, round trip so we hadn’t wasted too much time on it. The trail to the falls was rocky and not well designed, basically straight up. To see the falls you had to walk in the water on slippery rocks and through narrow rock outcroppings. Sounds cool, but it was very busy with lots of people, many with dogs on long leashes. Navigating the water and rocks didn’t look fun in a crowd so we passed. Here’s a picture, the actual falls are around the corner. (We looked up a picture, we didn’t miss much, we have spectacular falls in the UP of Michigan and you don’t have to get wet to see them.)

Zapata falls creek

After a rest back at the camper we decided to drive the 4WD trail that traverses part of the dunes. We packed a lunch and headed out. The truck was great and managed the winding, sandy trail no problem. We ate our picnic lunch at a pullout with views of the dunes. At the end of the trail we walked up into the dunes for more views and sand in our shoes.

It was time to say goodbye to Great Sand Dunes and head to Mesa Verde. It was a 4+ hour. We enjoyed a quick stop on Wolf Creek pass. The road through the pass was beautiful. Andy remembered going through that pass in their family station wagon pulling there Airstream trailer. It must have been around 1972 and his Mom telling people at a roadside stop to turn on their cars heater to cool the engine.