Travel tip: New Mexico's White Sands now a national park

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Travel tip: New Mexico's White Sands now a national park

Shirley McMarlin | Sunday, January 19, 2020 12:01 a.m.

Susan Montoya Bryan/AP

This 2011 photo shows visitors hiking the shifting dunes of White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, N.M. The world’s largest gypsum dunes area was designated a national park on Dec. 20, 2019.

Travelers who like to visit America’s national parks now have an added destination — White Sands National Park near Alamogordo, N.M. Previously a national monument, the world’s largest gypsum dunes area — covering 275 square miles — was designated the nation’s 62nd national park on Dec. 20, 2019.

Visitors will find hiking, cycling and sledding opportunities, along with a visitor center, nature programs, native plants garden and small back-country, primitive campground (permit required). White Sands also has the world’s largest collection of Ice Age fossilized footprints.

Winter temperatures average 30-60 degrees F; summer temps can top 100 degrees. Spring days are often windy, and white-out conditions can result from blowing sand and dust.

Details: nps.gov

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