Decades of Dunes Test2

 

This is the first know photograph taken of Great Sand Dunes area. In the image is a man and a white house/ cabin in the bottom left corner. Jackson, 1873.

NPS Photo

The first known photograph of the Great Sand Dunes area was taken in 1873. For almost 150 years, locals, rangers, and visitors to this landscape have documented their experiences with their cameras. Below are just a few of the images taken.

Do you have photographs of you, your friends, and your family visiting Great Sand Dunes? If so, share your images on social media and use #DecadesOfDunes.

The 2020s

 

Park Ranger Melinda M. greets visitors from inside the park's entrance station in early March of 2020.

NPS / Sydney Stover

 

The starry night sky over the Great Sand Dunes

Photo: Chris Wheeler, 2014

The 2010s

Milestone memories of the decade:
2019- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve recieves International Dark-Sky Association Gold-Tier Certification. Viewing the stars above the darkest place in the state of Colorado is now protected for decades to come.
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A rare visit to the Trujillo Homestead during a special guided tour in 2017.

NPS Photo

 

Visitors enjoying a rare guided hike to Twin Lakes in 2014.

NPS Photo

 

The Crestone Eagle newspaper clipping from 2004.

Photo Courtesy of The Crestone Eagle

The 2000s

Milestone memories of the decade:
2004- An Act of Congress changes Great Sand Dunes National Monument into Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in September of 2004. The preserve added 41,661 acres while the park expanded to 107,503 acres making the entire area of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve a sum total of 149,164 acres.

“Today we dedicate and proclaim a new national park, to forever preserve a landscape sculpted by wind and water, and we introduce what now becomes the largest wildlife refuge in the state of Colorado. This area is a haven for wildlife and a wonder for modern day visitors.” —Gale Norton, Secretary, US Department of the Interior.

 

Park Scientists survey the dunes in May of 2003

NPS Photo

 

A family makes a sand sculpture of Jabba the Hutt along the Medano Creek bed at the base on the dunes in 2003.

NPS Photo

 

The 1990s

 

This temporary information booth (located at the Dunes Parking Lot in the 1990s) was staffed by park rangers.

NPS Photo

 

The 1980s

 

Entrance station to Great Sand Dunes National Monument, circa 1980s

NPS Photo

 

The 1970s

Milestone memories of the decade:
1976- the U.S. Congress designated the Great Sand Dunes Wilderness—a wilderness area encompassing 32,643 acres (51 sq mi; 132 km²)- within the monument. This wilderness is the only one in the U.S. that protects a saltbush-greasewood ecosystem and includes the entire dunefield as well as much of the area west of the dunes.

 

Campers enjoying Great Sand Dunes National Monument in 1976.

NPS Photo

 

The 1960s

 

The 1950s

 

Visitors picnic at Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Circa 1950s.

NPS Photo

 

The 1940s

 

Three women race down the dunes while sitting in cooking pots in the 1940s.

NPS Photo

 

Linger Family picnic at the dunes in 1935.

NPS Photo

The 1930s

Milestone memories of the decade:
1932- The park was designated Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932 by President Herbert Hoover. The original boundaries protected an area of 35,528 acres.

 

A newspaper clipping shows people attempt to climb the sand dunes in 1932.

 

Park Ranger and visitors walk along a dry Medano Creek bed, circa 1930s

NPS Photo

 

The 1920s

 

Mining shake on the Medano Creek in the 1920s

NPS Photo

 

Two women stand on the banks of Medano Creek, circa 1925.

NPS Photo

 

The 1910s

 

The 1900s

 

Julia, Mary, and Ruth sit under a tree near the Great Sand Dunes where their families homesteaded in 1907.

NPS Photo

 

The 1800s

 

Julia Virginia Herard stands near her family's homestead near the Great Sand Dunes in 1892.

NPS Photo

 

Sketch of a canoe at the base of the dunes in 1872 by Charles Samuel Richardson

NPS Photo