White Sands National Park had been on our list since we picked Rooster up. We had visited before with Mav and Goose and spent two full days there, including a ranger-led sunset program that we still talk about. We loved it so much that when we were planning this stretch of the trip, bringing Rooster was basically the whole reason we stopped.
Mav and Goose stayed in the van. They’re our nervous ones and a giant open expanse of white sand is not really their thing. This was Rooster’s trip.
Getting there early
We pulled up right at 7am when the park opens. We had a long drive to Flagstaff ahead of us, about seven hours, so the plan was to get Rooster some real exercise before a full day in the van. Early is the way to go at White Sands anyway. Barely anyone there, the sand is cooler, and the light is really pretty. We pretty much had the dunes to ourselves.
White Sands has standard NPS leash rules so Rooster was on leash the whole time. We started with a shorter one and once we were clear of other people switched to the long leash. Ethan ran around with him through the dunes and it was so fun to watch. Rooster had no idea what gypsum was and absolutely did not care. He just ran, nose going, tail going, happy as could be.
We only had about an hour but it was enough.
What makes White Sands worth the stop
If you have never been, it is unlike any other national park. The dunes are made of gypsum crystals which stay bright white and actually stay cool even in the heat because gypsum does not absorb heat the way regular sand does. Walking on it feels so strange in the best way. The contrast against the blue New Mexico sky is wild.
Honest recommendation: go at sunrise or stay for the sunset program. The ranger-led program we did on our first visit was one of the coolest things we have done at any national park. If you have time, plan for at least two days. There is a lot more to it than a quick stop.
Where we camped to get to White Sands
The spot we stayed at on our first visit was temporarily closed so we ended up at a different site, about 45 minutes from the park off the main road toward Alamogordo. We got there right at sunset the day before and it was absolutely beautiful. The sky out there is huge. Totally worth the extra drive.
After White Sands we made a quick stop in Alamogordo for the usual, groceries, gas, all that, and then headed toward Flagstaff. And then somewhere on the Plains of San Agustin we just stumbled upon the Very Large Array. If you have never heard of it, it is a massive radio astronomy observatory made up of giant satellite dishes spread across the New Mexico desert, and it is honestly wild to just come across it on the side of the road. Ethan has wanted to see it since he was a kid because of the movie Contact, so that was a pretty cool surprise. That is one of our favorite things about van life, you just run into stuff like this. No plan, just driving, and suddenly there is something incredible right in front of you.
Seven hours of driving total, one very tired Brittany passed out in the back, and we got in pretty late but landed a really great spot. More on that next!
Have you been to White Sands or taken your dog to a national park? Tell us about it in the comments, we would love to hear about your experience.
Wandering with Charlotte 
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