"White sands" a White Sands Travel Page by lashr1999

White sands is at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert at the Tularosa Basin.. Here, there are soft pure white sands. You should get a plastic cover, sled or cardboard to slide down the sand dunes and have some fun. The sands come from the erosion over time of the San Andreas Mountains with rainwater.

The rare white sands brilliant color come from gypsum. Gypsum is water soluble and is usually carried by rivers into the sea. However, in this region there is no river feeding into the sea. As a result, the gypsum becomes sand that is trapped within the Tularosa Basin. The sand dunes grow and change based on the winds. There are a few plants and animals who survive in the harsh conditions of this desert. There are white colored animals such as lizards who have evolved to camouflage themselves here. Plants have a hard time surviving here due to a lack of water, the heat and since the wind may pile sand on top of the plants. There are a few plants that have adapted to this environment such as the soap tree yucca. This plant elongates its stems to keep its leaves above the sand.

Much of the information about the white sands park we learned from the visitor’s center. The visitor’s center was in the form of a pueblo and was pretty cool to see. They had much information about the White Sands Park and the national parks in the New Mexico area. They even give you a free map of New Mexico and the National parks. One thing to note is that the park is surrounded by the White Sands Missile Testing Center. So the park is closed at certain times. You have to check the national park website to see when it is open and closed. In addition there is a tour which goes to the Trinity site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated in July 1945 twice a year in April and October