This was our first decent view of the dunes. We knew in advance what awaited us, but can you imagine what the early travelers must have thought as they gradually came in to view of this site? In very simple terms, the dunes are formed as the result of the prevailing SW winds scouring the San Luis valley, picking up sand, and then dropping it here when the winds slow upon striking the mountains in the NE corner of the valley. The San Luis valley is the world’s largest alpine valley (roughly 150 miles long and 45 miles wide) and stretches from southern Colorado into New Mexico. This area sits atop the Rio Grande rift.
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