White Sands National Park guide · 2 min read
No Overnight Stays: Planning Around Closures
Backcountry camping is closed for now while the camping sites are rehabilitated. No reopening date has been announced, so there is currently no way to spend a night in the park.
If an overnight stay is part of your plans, book lodging or a campground outside the park before you arrive.
The park offers no hotel rooms and no camping for recreational vehicles or cars within its boundaries. Alamogordo, about 15 miles east of the park along Highway 70, has plenty of places to stay. Nearby campgrounds run by federal, state, and private operators are another option. Las Cruces, about 52 miles west of the park, is a longer drive but can work as a base.
White Sands is not open around the clock like many national parks, and its hours shift through the year. Spaces near the visitor center are in short supply. The front lot, south of the visitor center, has limited room for recreational and oversized vehicles. If it is full, passenger vehicles should head to the back lot, north of the visitor center, which has no room for oversized vehicles.
Testing at the neighboring White Sands Missile Range can bring closures of a few hours, and the schedule can change. Parts of the park may also be shut to the public for safety, and some activities or evening programs may be canceled. If you use a navigation device, enter the full street address, 19955 Highway 70 West in Alamogordo, because typing only white sands may send you toward the missile range, about 25 miles west of the park.
The White Sands Visitor Center makes a good first stop. Inside, you can take in the exhibits, watch the park film A Land in Motion, and join a pop-up ranger program. Outside, the gypsum dunefield covers about 275 square miles, the largest of its kind in the world. Wind has shaped its fine white sand into long ridges.
