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stargazing at Great Sand Dunes National ParK

updated April 18, 2021

If you want to step inside some seriously strange and other-worldly topography, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado is the place to explore. Visitors travel here from all across the globe to trek its steep slopes—the tallest in North America—some of them sliding from peak to base on curious sand sleds or surfboards.

Hiking at Great Sand Dunes is an outright workout. Imagine a normal hike with all of its heart-pumping, breathless intensity, except your feet are weighed down with what feels like enormous sandbags ballooning heavier with each step. And as you drag them along, stopping every 25 feet or so to let your lungs recover, a sudden wind gust blasts your skin with a torrent of stinging granular bits.

We’ve been here before. We’ve experienced this pain. And despite the challenges, the reward is most decidedly worth it. This time, however, we did wise up and bring sand goggles.

Plastic bags are also recommended for protecting any camera equipment. Trust us on this one. Sand is going to impact every inch of your body. As much as that can be uncomfortable, a camera is less forgiving.

Night Hiking at Great Sand Dunes

Hiking at sunset and staying to stargaze is one of the most Fun and Unique Things to do at Great Sand Dunes National Park.

One of the oddest aspects of visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park is how vastly different the appearance is from the outset versus when you’re actually inside the dune field hiking from peak to peak. Without trees or vegetation of any kind to break up the landscape, the soaring crests and subsequent drops start to feel a lot more extreme. And they are. According to the park’s website, elevation within the entire preserve ranges from 7,520 feet to 13,604 feet, which is a difference of 6,084 feet. For my New England pals out there, that’s almost an entire Mt. Washington. The highest peak in the Northeast, Mt. Washington itself is 6,288 feet.

Rest assured, you won’t have to climb a sandy Mt. Washington to get to the highest point of the dunes. The trek to the summit of Star Dune, the tallest in the park, is a relatively modest 750 feet gain from its base.

Whether you’re planning to hike the dunes or not, if you haven’t experienced the night sky here, you’re missing an incredible sight. Great Sand Dunes was officially designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2019, which has much to do with its low light pollution and remote, high altitude location. This makes it a perfect spot for viewing stars… or maybe even UFOs. The nearby UFO Watchtower is one of Colorado’s most unusual attractions, and more than a few hundred UFO sightings have been recorded there.

tips for watching the stars at Great Sand Dunes

To fully enjoy your stargazing experience, arrive at least 1 hour before sunset to allow for parking at walking out to the dune field. In the summer months, the main parking lots can remain full throughout the day, but as sunset approaches, you’ll find more availability. Park in the main dune field lot and head out to your desired spot. If you’re arriving in mid to late Spring, you may have to cross Medano Creek which flows along the base of the dunes. For more information on Medano Creek, see our article on all the Fun and Unique Things to do at Great Sand Dunes National Park, which also includes where to stay and camp nearby.

night photography at great sand dunes

There are many opportunities to experiment with long exposures and night photography at Great Sand Dunes. For starters, this is one of the best places to stargaze in Colorado as there’s so little light pollution. And with no building or tall structures to obscure your view, it’s also another great place to photograph the Milky Way. More on that below. In addition, you can play around with other fun things like long exposure light trails from hikers descending the dunes with their headlamps on (as seen above).

A few tips. Without question, you’ll need a tripod of some sort. Any tripod will do, and to be honest, the cheaper the better. Why? It can be a bit tricky already to stabilize a tripod in the sinking sands of the dunes, and without question, the legs of your tripod are going to get sand in them. Sand is pretty much impossible to fully remove from the sliding joints of tripod legs, and after this experience, they may be gritty and slightly harder to slide up and down. It will still work, and after a while, this will lessen somewhat. But if you’ve got an el-cheapo tripod, this is the perfect place to bring it.

photographing stars at great sand dunes

You can photograph stars using any Mirrorless Camera, DSLR or 35mm film camera. I’m a complete beginner when it comes to night sky photography. I spent most of my career working as a documentary photojournalist, and I haven’t experimented much with ultra-long exposures of celestial objects.

In late 2019, Canon released its EOS Ra full-frame mirrorless camera dedicated to deep sky and night sky photography, and ever since it came out I’ve been dying to get my hands on it. At $2499.00 for the body on its own, this camera might be a tough sell for many photographers, especially non-Canon users. But I found it to be amazingly fun to play with, and after trying it, I can’t wait to own one.

Due to rainy weather, I had limited options to work with the Ra during my rental period. And considering the constant stream of clouds rolling through the sky at the dunes, I’m pretty happy with my first-time results.

EQUIPMENT: Canon EOS Ra + RF 15-35mm f2.8 L IS USM lens + 3 Legged Thing Leo2 Tripod

EXPOSURE: 3200 ISO | 20 seconds | f2.8

I did some research before this trip, and several photographers who have used the Canon EOS Ra shared that the sweet spot with this camera is a 20-second exposure at 3200 ISO. Leaving the shutter open longer than 20 seconds will result in the stars starting to drag because of the Earth’s rotation. That in itself can be its own fun experiment, but it’s not what I was going for on this shoot.

A few other notes. I found this camera extremely intuitive. I’ve used Canon before. It’s pretty much what I grew up on, starting with the AE-1 35mm back in the early ‘90s. Still, you wouldn’t have to be experienced with Canon to quickly adjust to using the Ra.

First, it’s extremely lightweight (as most modern mirrorless are), even with the RF 15-35 f2.8 lens mounted on the front. Also, it’s important to note the lens options for this camera. You can either use Canon’s dedicated RF lenses, or you can use your EF or EF-S lenses with an EF-EOS R lens mount adapter. The latter would be a great option if you’ve already got some fast EF lenses laying around.

In case you’re curious, Canon’s EOS Ra contains a 30.3 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor.

One of the things I loved most about this camera is the multi-directional LCD screen with touch-screen autofocus and a 30X live view mode. When you’re crouched in the sand, it’s just infinitely easier to tap a focus point on the screen versus contorting your neck into an impossible position to line up the shot via the literal viewfinder. Thanks, Canon, I much appreciate this and so does my neck.

rent the eos canon ra

We rented the Canon Ra and Canon RF 15-35mm f2.8 L IS USM lens from Lensrentals. If you’re not familiar with Lensrentals, they are the largest online rental provider for photography, videography, and lighting equipment and accessories in the United States.

Everything about the Lensrentals experience is amazing, from the ease of shipping and insurance options to the packaging of the gear and the return process. The toughest thing for us was not buying the Canon Ra and having to send it back instead. Sad moment indeed because we loved it so much. Try it and want to buy it? Lensrentals gives you a credit toward the purchase price, so it’s a great, risk-free way to try gear.

We are a Lensrentals affiliate! Take advantage of a 15% discount with our unique code: TAC15

best stargazing books and fun stargazing gifts

What else is there to do at Great Sand Dunes?

In addition to our complete guide on Fun and Unique Things to do at Great Sand Dunes National Park, check out these amazing side trip options to add to your South Colorado road trip bucket list!

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Image Credits:

From top: marknortona - stock.adobe.com; Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities, Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities; Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities; Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities; Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities; kellyvandellen - stock.adobe.com; UFO Watchtower - Elaine Skylar Neal/Travels and Curiosities; Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings - cbdusty - stock.adobe.com; Galyna Andrushko - stock.adobe.com; for Pinterest pin credits, click on the Pin image.