White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo

Really exceeded my expectations. Went on New Years Eve in really really cold weather... Found it was like a winter wonder land except you don't get wet. The sand was super soft and powdery and a lot of fun to sled on. There is lots of room to explore without feeling crowded. The roads are suitable for an RV and there is generally ample parking. You really have to hike a way to get to clean dunes with no foot prints. Sleds are available for free when the park opens (people drop them off the previous day). Really unique and fun day activity. If you enjoy photography, evening golden hours have the sun setting behind the western mountain range so go out where there aren't any prints and wait. You will likely find other photographers on the horizon doing the same thing as you. Lastly, even on crowded days it doesn't feel crowded, you get lots of space. Have fun.

Such a beautiful park! It was chilly when we came and the sand was cold but we bought a used sled at the visitor centor for $10 and a cube of wax for I believe $2. You get $4 back for returning your sled. It was not easy to wax the sled with the cube at all. I think it was just too cold. My daughter was able to sled though. We didn't find any super huge dunes but I guess that would have been more of a pain to get back up. You can drive around and try different dunes. They have lots of places to pull off and park. I saw picnic shelters as well. I would recommend going when it's not super cold or super hot. 3 hours is plenty of sledding time but an hour and a half was not quite enough. I would say give yourself at least 2 hours.