• The dunes in soft light

    White Sands

    National Monument New Mexico

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  • Closures and Missile Tests

    Upcoming Missile Tests: From time to time the missile range that surrounds us performs missile testing that may require the closure of the park or Highway 70. Please follow the link below for up to date information on closures More »

Stargazing

The night sky at White Sands National Monument is perfect for stargazing. There is very little light pollution from Alamogordo thanks to the city's dark sky ordinance. The ordinance was put into place to reduce light pollution for the various observatories that overlook the city, such as Sun Spot and Apache Point.

Photographers, families and amateur astronomers are welcome to come on out to the dunes to watch the skies.

 

Star Party at White Sands National Monument

As of right now, no star parties are scheduled for 2012. We will update this information should that change.

 
White Sands' entrance sign at night
The monument's entrance sign at night with luminarias and stars

Did You Know?

Photo of hiker on the dunes

Only the top few inches of the gypsum dunes are made of loose sand. Rainwater falling on the dunes dissolves some of the gypsum and cements the sand grains together, creating a crude form of plaster of Paris. This makes the white sand dunes easy to walk on.