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Free audio tour5 stories

High Dune on First Ridge, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

A narrated hike from the Dunes Parking Area across the bed of Medano Creek and up the dunes to High Dune on First Ridge: how wind and water built the tallest dunes in North America, the creek that flows in waves, the people who hunted here at the end of the Ice Age, the first written description of the dunes, and the local women who got them protected.

10 min of audio · 1 miles · Read the transcript

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    Getting started

    1. Start in the right placeThis tour begins at The view from the parking area. Start at the trailhead; the first story plays when you arrive.
    2. Let's hear itUse headphones or the phone speaker at a comfortable volume. Download the tour while you still have signal.
    3. Stories meet you thereYour phone's location starts each story automatically. Music flows straight into the narration. Keep this page open; it keeps the screen awake for GPS.
    4. You're ready to exploreOpen 24 hours, all year; an entrance fee applies. Park at the main Dunes Parking Area, download the tour first, and press Start at the edge of the lot by the picnic area. There are no trails on the sand: High Dune is about 1.25 miles each way and 688 feet up, at over 8,000 feet elevation, so allow 2 to 4 hours. In summer the sand can reach 150°F by afternoon and lightning is a real danger: go early or late, wear closed-toe shoes and carry water. Medano Creek usually flows past the lot only in late spring (check the park's creek page). Leashed pets may go as far as the first ridge.

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    Facts from the National Park Service (Great Sand Dunes hiking, Medano Creek, geology, hydrology, dune types, sand system, magnetite sand, safety, sandboarding, pets, paleo and archaic cultures, affiliated tribes, Zebulon Pike, the Ladies' P.E.O., national monument and national park status, and night sky pages). Trail geometry © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Music: Borodin, Notturno from String Quartet No. 2, Musopen String Quartet via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Narration is AI-generated. Not an official National Park Service product.