When we decided to go to Great Sand Dunes National Park, we knew we’d have to drive  for close to 3 hours from where we were in Colorado Springs, but we willingly chose to drive an extra 35 minutes to Kristi  Mountain Sports to rent sand sleds. We are so glad that we did.

Many people make the mistake of trying to bring their own snow sleds to Great Sand Dunes National Park but they do not work on the sand. Special wooden sand sleds are needed and they also need to be waxed with a small chunk of wax provided with each rental.

The staff at Kristi Mountain Sports was extremely nice and helpful. They have adult sleds, junior sleds (for up to 70 lbs) and sand boards for rent.  At first we were just going to rent sleds but the salesperson at Kristi’s advised us that it is easy to learn to use the sandboard so we took one of those too. The sandboards are used while in a standing position similar to snowboarding (though not as quick). Sandboards  go down faster the hills faster than the sleds. I wasn’t brave enough to try the sand board but I had a lot of fun on the sand sled.  My children tried the sand board and loved it. We found the sleds went down quicker if we used a “path” made by a sled before ours. Although we had to climb back up the hill each time we wanted to sled down it was worth it for the remarkable experience of sledding down the dunes.

Sledding down the Great Sand Dunes is a unique and amazing experience.

Posted: November 14, 2020

Information, prices and hours posted here are current as of the posted or updated date. It is advisable to call ahead or check online to confirm hours and prices.