White Sands Sledding Tips and Tricks: Fun for the Family!
Don’t miss out on a moment of fun with these White Sands sledding tips!
While visiting the incredible White Sands National Park near Alamogordo, NM, you don’t want to sit in your car the entire time.
The best way to experience the park is by getting your feet into that beautiful gypsum sand.
And, if you’re walking out into the dune field, you’ll also want to go sledding for even more fun.
While on our New Mexico road trip, we knew we had to experience White Sands National Park. It didn’t disappoint!
Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about sledding in White Sands from the best areas for sledding to what to wear while sledding.
This post contains affiliates. If you purchase through the links, I will receive a commission at no cost to you
The Best Sleds for White Sands National Park
The younger Camping Kiddo with his rented saucer from the nearby KOA
You can’t use just anything for sand sledding and expect to go somewhere.
We saw many people attempting to sled on pieces of cardboard, toboggan-style sleds, and even a boogie board!
While you might go a few feet down the dunes in these options, what you really want is a sledding saucer.
These essentially look like a shallow bowl, and they allow you to slide down the dunes very easily.
Where do I get a sled?
The gift shop at the back of the White Sands National Park visitors center sells these saucers in both red and blue.
The new sleds are $24.99 at the time of this writing, while used ones are $19.99.
If you’re not feeling too precious about your sled, go for a used one if they have one available. There’s not much wear and tear on these, so they’re nearly brand new.
INSIDER TIP: If you’re staying at the Alamogordo/White Sands KOA, you can get one of these same saucers for free!
Sandy, one of the KOA owners and an all around nice person, has a pile of these for her campers.
Simply go into the office the morning of your White Sands visit and check one out by giving your site number to her.
You can also rent one of their bars of wax for a $1, but you get that back when you return the wax and saucer. (More on the wax below.)
In general, we loved staying at the Alamogordo/White Sands KOA, and I think it is one of the best campgrounds in New Mexico.
How do I make my sled go faster in the sand?
PIN ME!
There are 3 things you can do to speed up your sand sledding experience.
1) Use wax on the bottom of your sled.
If you’ve ever surfed, you’ve seen this wax before.
It comes in a small puck or stick, and you then scrap it back and forth across the bottom of your surfboard (or sand sled, in this case).
Remember that you want to swipe the wax in the direction that you’ll be sledding.
Doing so creates channels on the bottom of your otherwise smooth sled and allows you to scoot down the sand more easily.
[For more on the science behind why you should wax your sand sled, check out this article.]
Where to Get Sandboarding Wax
-You can buy sandboard wax ahead of time on Amazon.
-You can buy it at the gift shop inside of the White Sands National Park visitors center.
-You can rent some if you’re staying at the Alamogordo/White Sands KOA.
2) Choose one of the east facing dunes.
These dune faces are the ones looking back towards Holloman Air Force Base and Alamogordo.
If you’re on Dunes Drive with your back to the entrance station, you’ll find the east facing dune slopes to your right.
This side of the dunes is steeper, thanks to the west to east direction that the wind blows from the San Andres Mountains across the Tularosa Basin.
And steeper means longer, faster rides.
You can see the great path we’ve carved out in the sand here.
We also found the east side of the dunes to be filled with loosely packed sand, again the product of the prevailing wind direction.
The waxed saucer glides much more easily down the loosely packed sand.
3) Pick a spot and stick to it.
When we first started sandboarding at White Sands, my kids struggled as they jumped from spot to spot.
We didn’t really hit our stride until we found a great slope (see suggested locations below), and we really wore a path down in the sand.
Committing to one run means that you’ll be flying down the dunes in no time!
See what else you can do in our one day at White Sands National Park itinerary!
Best areas for Sledding in White Sands National Park
My dad gets ready to try sand sledding for the first time.
In general, anywhere between miles 6 and 8 on Dunes Drive offers great sand sledding.
However, there are some hidden gems if you know where to look.
It might be tempting to pull over at the first parking lot you see along Dunes Drive, but keep going further into the park!
The dunes have small plants on them towards the front of the park—and nothing spoils a good sledding session like plowing into a yucca plant.
The dunes lose much of this vegetation around mile 4, and they are pure sand by mile 6.
NOTE: Keep in mind that the dunes are ever shifting in the park as they are actually still in the process of growing.
Favorite Sledding Areas in White Sands National Park
These were our favorite sledding spots, and my children literally could’ve spent days here.
1) Dune to the right at the picnic area turn-off.
This sand dune is located just off of Dunes Drive around mile marker 6. Look for the sign that notes the Primrose and Roadrunner Picnic Areas.
When you turn right off of Dunes Drive to get to those picnic areas, pull into the parking lot that is immediately back to your right.
The dune that is to the right of the vault toilet is the one you’re looking for.
(It will be the big one sandwiched between the parking area and Dunes Drive.)
This dune is tall and steep, but not so steep that beginners will fall over themselves.
We’d tried several spots across Dunes Drive from this area, and the angle of the slopes just weren’t right for a good ride.
Plus, there were fewer people here as they didn’t think to get off of the main road in search of a sledding spot.
2) Primrose Picnic Area near the closed off access road.
For another spot that won’t have a lot of people, drive deeper into the Primrose Picnic Area.
You’ll want to go as far as you can before you have to make a left turn into the Roadrunner Picnic Area.
Park here and look for the closed off road that has a vault toilet. This is one of the group access areas, but isn’t open all of the time.
The east facing dunes here aren’t as steep as our first choice (noted above), but that makes it excellent for young kids or those who don’t want too much height.
The older Camping Kiddo sledding near Alkali Flats trailhead
3) The dunes between the Alkali Flats Trailhead and the Ampitheatre on Dunes Drive.
It seems that most people wear themselves out from sledding long before they get to mile 8 on Dunes Drive.
Because of these, you’ll want to head all the way to the back of the park so you can find some solitude in your sledding.
Dunes Drive loops back on itself at mile 8, and this is your destination.
At the northeastern point of that loop, you’ll want to find a place to park and then head east into the dunes.
There’s nothing out here until you hit the Air Force Base several miles away, which means that it’s highly unlikely that anyone else will be out here.
My kids found a super steep dune that emptied into a small bowl, which ended up giving some of the fastest rides of the day.
What to Bring Sledding in White Sands
White Sands National Park has no shade. None. Not even one scrawny tree in the entire park.
That means you need to bring your own shade, as well as hydration.
You’ll want to wear loose, comfortable clothing while sledding.
Climbing back up the dunes is hard work!
I dressed my kids in breathable cotton shorts/skorts and added a sun shirt with a UPF of 50.
Add to that a cute sun hat with breathable panels, and the kids were ready to head out for a day of fun in the dunes.
I also put sunscreen on their faces, hands, feet, and legs.
None of us ended up keeping our shoes on, but we did start out with our Keens Newport H2s, one of our favorite hiking shoes for toddlers, kids, and adults!
While the sand here is much finer than what you find at most beaches, you’ll still find that it will stick to you.
It does come off more easily than beach sand, but I’d recommend bringing a few towels and a bottle of baby powder.
The baby powder is like magic—you shake it on top of any sticky sand, and the sand just falls off.
This way, you can get back in the car without having to worry that you’re bringing an entire sand dune with you.
Don’t forget to pack plenty of water. Aim to bring more than you think you’ll need as you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll get thirsty in the dry, hot climate.
We brought 2 gallons of water for our day out sledding for 2 adults and 2 kids, and we ended up going through about half of it.
If you need to refill any bottles, the only place to do so on property is back at the visitors center.
The park also doesn’t offer any onsite food or beverages, so you’ll want to pack snacks, or even an entire picnic.
Keep the New Mexico adventure going with a Santa Fe to White Sands road trip or a New Mexico National Parks road trip!
