White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument in Southern-Central New Mexico is inside the Tularosa basin; a flat desert surrounded by mountains. Fields of huge white sand dunes grind imperceptibly across the desert. As the wind piles sand up one side of a dune, forming a steep peak, the opposite side slumps forward, and the dune undulates forward, like a caterpillar. The dunes are pure gypsum grains. It feels like beach sand, but is dazzling white. The gypsum is dissolved by rainwater in the surrounding mountains, and carried into the Tularosa valley. It collects in the valleys because the mountains block any drainage to the sea.

The dunes are bleak, and hot. The salty surface acts as a reflector to casts any the sun back into your face. Some of the plants have evolved to survive in the dunes by growing quickly enough to avoid being buried by an advancing dune. You can "sand surf" down the dunes, or like some people bring your beach umbrellas, blankets, lawn chairs, and coolers, and pretend there's a ocean nearby.