page_title: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
section_title: Settler exploration
hierarchical_section_title: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve / History / Settler exploration
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of John C. Fremont taken from book of Fremont's expeditions
context_page_description: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is an American national park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to 750 feet tall on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in south-central Colorado, United States. The park was originally 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 boundary change and redesignation as a national park and preserve was authorized on November 22, 2000, and then established by an act of Congress on September 24, 2004. The park encompasses 107,342 acres while the preserve protects an additional 41,686 acres for a total of 149,028 acres. The recreational visitor total was 527,546 in 2019.
  The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi and are estimated to contain over 1.2 cubic miles of sand. Sediments from the surrounding mountains filled the valley over geologic time periods.
context_section_description: In 1694, Don Diego de Vargas became the first European known to have entered the San Luis Valley, although herders and hunters from the Spanish colonies in present-day northern New Mexico probably entered the valley as early as 1598. De Vargas and his men hunted a herd of 500 bison in the southern part of the valley before returning to Santa Fe. In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza and an entourage of men and livestock probably passed near the dunes as they returned from a punitive raid against a group of Comanches. At this time, the valley was a travel route between the High Plains and Santa Fe for Comanches, Utes, and Spanish soldiers. The dunes were likely a visible landmark for travelers along the trail.
  The first known writings about Great Sand Dunes appear in Zebulon Pike's journals of 1807. As Lewis and Clark's expedition was returning east, U.S. Army Lt. Pike was commissioned to explore as far west as the Arkansas and Red Rivers. By the end of November 1806, Pike and his men had reached the site of today's Pueblo, Colorado. Still pushing southwest, and confused about the location of the Arkansas River, Pike crossed the Sangre de Cristos just above the Great Sand Dunes.
  After marching some miles, we discovered ... at the foot of the White Mountains [today's Sangre de Cristos] which we were then descending, sandy hills ... When we encamped, I ascended one of the largest hills of sand, and with my glass could discover a large river [the Rio Grande] ... The sand-hills extended up and down the foot of the White Mountains about 15 miles [24 km], and appeared to be about 5 miles [8 km] in width. Their appearance was exactly that of the sea in a storm, except as to color, not the least sign of vegetation existing thereon.
  — Zebulon Pike, January 28th, 1807
  In 1848, John C. Frémont was hired to find a railroad route from St. Louis to California. He crossed the Sangre de Cristos into the San Luis Valley in winter, courting disaster but proving that a winter crossing of this range was possible. He was followed in 1853 by Captain John Gunnison of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Gunnison's party crossed the dunefield on horseback.
caption: John C. Frémont
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