White Sands National Park ⓘ

In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S. military established a permanent presence in the Tularosa Basin during World War II creating the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, known today as Holloman Air Force Base, and White Sands Proving Grounds, now White Sands Missile Range. It was at White Sands Missile Range that some of the German scientists, including Werner Von Braun, who were instrumental in the conception and development of the V-2 rocket, relocated after World War II.

Have you ever heard a window-rattling sonic boom from a passing jet? If you visit the park and hear one, do not be alarmed. Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands National Park share a boundary. The 49th Wing -- host wing at Holloman Air Force Base -- supports national security objectives by deploying worldwide to support peacetime and wartime contingencies.

The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, 65-miles north of White Sands. The detonation site is known as the Trinity Site and is one of the key places associated with the Manhattan Project.

The park’s visitor center, as well as three of the living quarters to the east of it, and the adobe fence between the visitor center and the living quarters are all considered historical. These buildings are an excellent example of the Pueblo Revival architecture modeled after the Pueblos and Spanish missions in early New Mexico.

People have been traversing the Tularosa Basin for over 10,000 years. Evidence of their roads and trails cross the basin floor, but who traveled these roads? Where were they going? And what were they doing?

On January 18, 1933, President Herbert Hoover established White Sands National Monument to protect a portion of the world’s largest gypsum dunefield and additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest.

Approximately 23,000 years ago, when the basin was covered in lush grasslands. Ancient indigenous groups left the very first evidence of their existence. Scientists are still discovering the mysteries of their origins, with very little being known about the culture of these groups. However, we do know they were nomadic people who hunted ancient megafauna such as the Harlan's Ground Sloth and Columbian Mammoth. Ongoing research is helping to tell us more about the daily lives and origins of these groups.

The Archaic period spans over 6,000 years. During this time ice sheets melted, and the megafauna went extinct causing the hunters of larger animals to adapt to survive. It was during this period that the first people of the Tularosa Basin watched the winds form the dunefield and were the first to walk on the gypsum dunes. One of the most archaeologically significant districts in the monument today is composed of the remnants of their fires.

The people who made pottery, lived in permanent houses, and farmed the Tularosa Basin are known as the Jornada Mogollon, a name given to them by archeologists. Evidence of their prehistoric presence dates back to about 200 C.E. (Common Era), over 1800 years ago. For 1,200 years, the Jornada Mogollon inhabited the Tularosa Basin, but then something changed. By 1350 C.E. the Jornada Mogollon moved away from the Tularosa Basin, leaving behind puddled adobe and broken pottery sherds.

Due to Apache resistance, Europeans did not settle the basin until the 1850s when the first settlements were founded at the mouths of the La Luz and the Tularosa canyons. Before then Spanish expeditions occasionally entered the basin to mine salt north of what is now Lake Lucero.

Salt is a priceless mineral, both for the health of people and their livestock. There are salt deposits, just north of Lake Lucero within the park. Since their first documentation by Spanish settlers in 1824, conflicting interests have merged at the salt flats, sometimes violently.

By the 1940s the wild, western ranches had been tamed. At the end of WWII, most of the Tularosa Basin had become an active missile range and the expansive grasslands were no longer safe for cattle ranchers.

The white sands have attracted visitors and entrepreneurs alike. Two major tourist destinations predating the park’s establishment, White Sands Motel and Gas Station, as well as Lester Garton’s Hot Springs Resort, sought to cater to the visiting tourists.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil, silver, coal, gold, and other precious mineral deposits inspired many settlers to cover the Tularosa Basin in mining claims. While prospect mining was initially successful and prosperous within the Tularosa Basin, full mining ventures were not as lucrative in the park’s boundaries.

Since the 1940s, cutting-edge military research and testing have been conducted in the Tularosa Basin. With the start of the Space Race after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into the Earth’s atmosphere, White Sands has been the backdrop for amazing extraterrestrial research and testing. Rockets first tested in the White Sands Missile Range’s dunefield, just north of the park, were the precursors of rockets that carried humans into space.

The missile range was founded in 1945 to support research, development, testing, and evaluation of weapons and space systems. It covers 2.2 million acres, and is the largest installation of its kind in the western hemisphere.

White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), our next-door neighbor, has had a historic past and an impressive mission for today’s security. The bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II took place on December 7 th , 1941. This caused the United States Government to respond. The U.S. military established a permanent presence in the Tularosa Basin during World War II, creating White Sands Proving Grounds, which is now called White Sands Missile Range, as well as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, known today as Holloman Air Force Base.

White Sands Missile Range was also one of the key locations of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb during World War II. The testing of the first atomic bomb took place in 1945 at the Trinity site on WSMR, 65 miles north of White Sands National Monument.

After World War II, White Sands Missile Range became home of some of the German scientists, including Werner Von Braun, who were instrumental in the conception and development of the V-2 rocket. Managed by the U.S. Army, WSMR has supported and continues to support essential defense and space exploration programs for all branches of the military services and NASA, as well as other forms of scientific research.

You may wish to visit the WSMR Museum and Missile Park or to sign up for the annual public visit to the Trinity site. Details on these opportunities and information on scheduled safety closures of Highway 70 and White Sands National Monument due to rocket launches please visit their website at www.wsmr.army.mil .

Additional Resources: White Sands Missile Range and Trinity Site , Launch Complex 33 , The Monument and the Military

On July 16, 1945, one week after the establishment of White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated in the north-central portion of the missile range, approximately 60 miles north of White Sands National Park.

For the Project Trinity test, the bomb was placed atop a 100-foot steel tower that was designated Zero. Ground Zero was at the foot of the tower. Equipment, instruments, and observation points were established at varying distances from Ground Zero. The wooden observation shelters were protected by concrete and earthen barricades, and the nearest observation point was 5.7 miles from Ground Zero.

At 5:30 a.m. on July 16, the nuclear device, known as “Gadget,” was successfully detonated. To most observers—watching through dark glasses—the brilliance of the light from the explosion overshadowed the shock wave and sound that arrived some seconds later. A multi-colored cloud surged 38,000 feet into the air within seven minutes. Where the tower had been was a crater one-half mile across and eight feet deep. Sand in the crater was fused by the intense heat into a glass-like solid, the color of green jade. This material was given the name trinitite. The explosion point was named Trinity Site.

Although no information on the test was released until after the atomic bomb had been used as a weapon, the flash of light and shock wave made a vivid impression over an area with a radius of at least 160 miles.

The world’s second atomic bomb, codenamed “Little Boy,” was exploded over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Three days later, a third bomb codenamed “Fat Man,” devastated the city of Nagasaki. The Hiroshima bombing was the second artificial nuclear explosion in history, after the Trinity test, and the first uranium-based detonation. The bombs exploded at Trinity Site and Nagasaki had plutonium cores. A “Fat Man” bomb casing is on display in front of the WSMR visitor center.

After the explosion, Trinity Site was encircled with more than a mile of chain-link fencing, and signs were posted to warn people of radioactivity. The site was closed to both WSMR personnel and the general public. By 1953, much of the radioactivity had subsided, and the first Trinity Site open house was held in September of that year.

In 1965, Army officials erected a monument on Ground Zero. In 1975, the National Park Service designated Trinity Site as a National Historic Landmark. The landmark includes base camp, where the scientists and support group lived; the McDonald ranch house, where the plutonium core was assembled; as well as Ground Zero.

Today, visits to the site are sponsored by WSMR and occur on the third Saturday of October. The rest of the year the site is closed to the public because it lies within the impact zone of military testing activities in the northern part of WSMR. Up to date information about Trinity Site open houses can be found at the White Sands Missile Range Trinity Site Open House page.

The Visitor Center building complex at White Sands National Park is an excellent example of Spanish pueblo-adobe (“Pueblo-Revival”) architecture constructed during the years of the Great Depression. Construction was begun in 1936 and completed in 1938 by various government agencies including the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at a cost of $31,600. Wall construction of the Visitor Center is of adobe mud bricks throughout. Adobe bricks are usually sixteen inches long, ten inches wide and four inches thick. Ordinarily, two men can mix and mold over one hundred bricks in a day, sufficient to build about one foot of wall. There are various “recipes” for making adobe and most include straw to prevent the adobes from cracking as they dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are not particularly durable unless regularly maintained. If the stucco facing covering the adobe bricks is damaged, the erosive forces of wind and rain quickly destroy the exposed mud bricks. Also, annual rainfall in excess of twenty inches (White Sands averages about eight inches) will endanger the adobe structure since dampness tends to permeate and weaken the base of the walls. Are adobe buildings cooler than other types of buildings? Research indicates that adobe is inferior to modern insulation materials, yet adobe structures seem cooler than other buildings.

The interior of the Visitor Center presents various examples of artistry in construction and furnishings. The ceiling in the main room is of viga and savina construction. The vigas are the large pine logs that form the basis for support of the roof. The decorative carved scrolls on which the vigas rest are called corbels, which serve to distribute the weight of the roof to the walls and to provide decoration.

Running at right angles on top of the vigas are groups of three aspen poles called savinas. On top of the savinas is a split wood covering. For complete authenticity the roof would be made of brush and several feet of compacted dirt—the Visitor Center roof is of modern tar and gravel.

Benches and chairs are typical Indian-Spanish design, being heavily constructed to resist splitting and loosening due to humidity or dryness. Decorative carving on the furniture is modest but typical.

The lighting fixtures are made of tinware. Tin was a poor man’s substitute for silver on the Spanish-Mexican frontier. Each village had at least one tinsmith and often individuals crafted their own tinware since all that was needed was a nail to punch holes and something to cut the sheet of tin. Designs on the tinware in New Mexico show a strong New England influence, probably due to the trade with the United States over the Santa Fe Trail.

One of the most prized articles of trade to reach frontier New Mexico was glass, which was so valuable that it was seldom used for windows. It was used instead for covering pictures of saints or was decorated with painted designs and famed with tin. One of the most common methods of decorating glass was to paint one side of the glass and draw a common hair comb over the painted surface before it dried, thus creating “combed glass”. Examples of combed glass can be seen in the lighting fixtures near the front entrance.

In 1990, the Visitor Center and adjacent seven buildings, also built between 1936 and 1940, were officially designated as the White Sands National Park Historic district. Set in a landscape of native plants, the historic district preserves this unique architectural style and is a tribute to the plans of the architects and the fine craftsmanship of the WPA workers.

Lyle Bennett, the principal architect for the White Sands Visitor Center, began doing architectural work for the National Park Service in the 1930s. He became a master of the “Pueblo-Revival” style, as demonstrated at White Sands. He also designed the Painted Desert Inn at Petrified Forest National Park, the historic district at Bandelier National Monument, and buildings at Carlsbad Caverns and Mesa Verde National Parks. Bennett’s design of the picnic table shelters at White Sands reflects his preference for the modern architectural style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Learn more about the historic buildings of White Sands and the fascinating stories behind them by taking this virtual tour .

Long before Europeans arrived in the Americas, American Indians traveled through the Tularosa Basin and the white sand dunefield. Archaeologists do not have much evidence of their walking paths. Oral histories passed down from Mescelaro Apaches tell of the place names they had for places in the basin and the routes they would take to travel from place to place. As nomads, the Apache would have had a large territory that they considered home. Their landscape would have been several hundred square miles overlain by trail systems. Two Apache trails pass through White Sands. One trail from the Sacramento to the San Andres Mountains passes between the northern boundary of the White Sands and the southern extension of the Malpais lava flows. The Mescalero call the second trail the Tse Yahnka Trail, or Lower Edge of Sand Trail, that used to follow the southern edge of the sands. The Apaches place name Tse-Hika is the specific place name they use for the white sand dunefield within White Sands National Monument and White Sands Missile Range.

When Spaniards began colonizing New Mexico, they mostly avoided the Tularosa Basin. However, there were salt beds that attracted settlers. While there is evidence that salt was being mined from the area, there are no clear place names, geographic landmarks, or maps to connect these trails and salinas with contemporary locations. The Lake Lucero salinas , located in White Sands National Monument, were first officially documented as a discovery by west Texas Hispanos in 1824 during the Mexican Period. The Salt Trail was a wagon road that connected El Paso del Norte to Salina de San Andres and followed the eastern slopes of the Organ and San Andres Mountains. After 1824, the Salt Trail is documented on maps with three stops noted: Ojo de Soledad, San Augustin, and Ojo San Nicholas. According to documentation, large expeditionary parties using mule drawn carts with military escorts would be formed a few times a year to make the long journey to the salinas .

Wagon roads were the primary roadways throughout the Tularosa Basin in the early twentieth century. One early wagon road connected Tularosa to Mesilla for migration across the Tularosa Basin. It is associated with local memory of the founding of Tularosa during the territorial period history of New Mexico. It is also associated with the death of Albert Fountain, Nana’s raid, and the Ninth Calvary. Two segments of this road are preserved in the monument. Portions of the wagon road has deep ruts and high berms from long-term use, which are still visible today. You see portions of the road, and an abundance of historic artifacts are strewn along its side that date from the 1860s to the 1920s. This historic wagon road may have followed the route of a "service road" built by the U.S. Army from Fort Stanton (1855) south of White Sands through San Augustin Pass in the Organ Mountains. In the late 1800s, the Mesilla–Tularosa Wagon Road crossed St. Augustin Pass from Mesilla following along the southern edge of the dunes. It is believed that this route mirrored a similar route south of the dunes prehistorically and possibly the Mescalero, Tse Yahnka Trail. There was a historic wagon road stop on the monument near a well. The exact location of this well and wagon stop is still unclear and is likely covered by active dunes.

Take a virtual tour of the these historic sites and more as you watch the transformation of transportation from wagons and trains to cars, aircraft and even space craft.

Pre-monument Days Although the dunefield has been here for 7,000-10,000 years, the dunes have not always been protected as a national monument. It took thirty-five years and numerous attempts to protect this national treasure. In the early twentieth century, multiple commercial interests attempted to mine these gypsum dunes; however, none of these attempts were successful due to the low market value of unprocessed gypsum sand. In the 1920's, locals began to understand the uniqueness of the dunes and viewed the dunefield as profitable in another way.

Monument Designation The White Sands dunefield fits the description of what the National Park Service sought in prospective sites: "economic worthlessness and monumentalism." The area had already sparked scientific interest with the first published research occurring in scientific journals in 1870. However, the formation of White Sands National Monument took time and support from many people. The most famous supporter and local "father" of White Sands was Tom Charles, an Alamogordo resident and businessman. Mr. Charles was not the first to suggest including White Sands in the National Park system; however, he enthusiastically supported the idea and wrote to National Park Service officials and congressmen. Mr. Charles got his wish in 1933, during the last days of President Herbert Hoover's administration, Hoover declared White Sands a national monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Presidential Proclamation No 2025 (47 Stat. 2551) established the monument and set aside 142,987 acres for its "additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest."

A Growing Attraction Even before White Sands was declared a national monument, the area was a popular picnicking location. It was no surprise when there were over 4,000 people in attendance at the opening day ceremony on April 29, 1934. Visitation continued to increase, with an estimated 34,000 people visiting in the first year. It was clear White Sands needed facilities to accommodate visitors' requests for restrooms, water, and information on the history and formation of the dunes. Plans for the construction of a visitor center with a museum, restrooms, residences for park staff, an administration building, and maintenance shed began in 1935. Funding and labor for the construction came from the largest agency of President Roosevelt's New Deal, the Works Progress Administration (WPA). These facilities, which are still in use today, were completed in 1938.

A New Neighbor Beginning in 1942, only months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9029, which created the 1,243,000 acre Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range. Follwing the order, soldiers were even allowed to practice tank maneuvers inside the monument's boundary. By 1945 the military had begun to test missiles and ask for the first park closures, a practice that continues today. The Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range (Alamagordo Army Air Base) closed at the end of World War II and re-opened in 1958 as Holloman Air Force Base. The White Sands Proving Ground was established in 1945 and was later renamed White Sands Missle Range. Both military areas still operate around the park boundaries and in the cooperative use area in the western part of the park. This cooperation mutually benefits both the military by providing them additional space and the park by insuring the lack of development on the surrounding lands. Conversion into a Park On Friday, December 20, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes a provision that re-designates White Sands National Monument as White Sands National Park, making it the 62 nd designated national park in the National Park System. The Park’s re-designation recognizes the added significance of the park for its natural and cultural resources. In addition to containing the world’s largest gypsum dunefield, including gypsum hearthmounds found nowhere else on earth, the park is home to the globe’s largest collection of Ice-Age fossilized footprints and tells more than 20,000 years of human presence, all while providing memorable recreational opportunities.

White Sands Today Throughout the park's history the National Park Service has improved visitor access to the dunefield, and continues to strive for this today. The historic visitor center is still in use; however, the museum has been updated numerous times. The most recent renovation took place in the spring of 2011 and focused on creating exhibits that visitors of all ages can enjoy. From the first scheduled event, "Play Day" in 1935, the National Park Service has continued to offer programs and events that interest all ages. While these first events focused mainly on recreation in the dunes, programs today offer both recreation and information about the park. Topics range from the Tularosa Basin's human history to desert survival and just about everything in between!

At the end of the ice age, 20,000 years ago, Asiatic hunters and gatherers crossed the Bering Land Bridge into Alaska. These early cultures pursued dwindling herds of Pleistocene mammoth, camel, horse, bison and other now-extinct species into most of North and South America. Fossil footprints left by these huge animals can still be found on the alkali flats along the edges of Lake Lucero.

By 10,000 years ago, early peoples reached the margins of Lake Lucero, then a permanent salt lake. For 1,000 years, these ancient hunters stalked bison throughout the basin grasslands. Chipped stone lance points and other traces of "Folsom" technology are found on the shorelines of ancient lakes and throughout the lowlands of the Tularosa Basin.

Lush grasslands and lakes gradually disappeared as the climate became more and more arid. "Scottsbluff-Eden" tools date to 7,000 to 8,000 years ago, and suggest a more generalized life-style relying on smaller game. Scottsbluff-Eden camps and hunting sites are often found near the more reliable springs on the lower basin floor.

Aridity continued to increase; ancient lakes dried up, except during the summer monsoon season. Interior basins and river valleys were less affected, and hosted slow population growth, resulting in the "Archaic" traditions that spread throughout the west and lasted for the next 4,000 to 5,000 years.

Beginning 6,000 to 7,000 years ago, the generalized hunting and gathering lifestyle of the "Archaic" relied on a variety of "life zones", throughout the Basin and Range. By 5,000 years ago, this adaptation focused on the systematic use of productive ecological zones on a seasonal basis. Indian ricegrass, the first edible plant to mature in the region, was harvested along the edges of the White Sands by Archaic and subsequent populations, leaving burned gypsum hearths scattered throughout the dunes. Approximately 4,000 years ago the accelerating drought began to stabilize. The earliest appearance of maize agriculture in the region dates to this period.

Evidence preserved in Late Archaic rock shelters and caves shows that wild foods continued to dominate the prehistoric diet. Domesticated maize and beans played only a minor role. During this time, human populations remained more concerned with exploiting wild native resources, like deer, mesquite, agave, and yucca.

Preserved deposits at Fresnal Shelter in the Sacremento Mountains suggest a slow, gradual increase in the use of agricultural products. Domesticated species became a major contributor to the prehistoric diet at least 2,000 years ago.

Dry conditions returned 1,900 years ago (A.D. 100) and lasted 400 to 600 years (A.D. 500-700). Local cultures became dependent upon domesticated crops. Greated numbers of people gathered at locations of higher agricultural potential, forming semisedentary villages. By A.D. 400, small, "Hueco Phase" pithouse villages occupied some of these areas.

About A.D. 700, wetter conditions returned. Small, pottery-producing pithouse villages, identified as the "Mesilla Phase" of the Jornada Mogollon, were established at the mouths of canyons and on the alluvial terraces along the margins of the basin, where both dryland or floodland agriculture were possible. By A.D. 1000, most of the diet consumed by early villagers came from agriculture.

By A.D. 1100, populations concentrated at larger villages near major permanent water sources. New technologies improved agricultural production. Solar calendars, irrigation, and new religious practices helped to strengthen and focus community efforts. Two of the largest villages built during this period, the Lake Lucero and Huntington sites, lie along the margins of Lake Lucero, on the western boundary of White Sands National Monument.

A major drought, from A.D. 1276 to 1299, occurred throughout the Southwest. For a short period, villages concentrated at more reliable water sources. Within the next 100 years, for reasons as yet unknown, all major village locations in the basin area were abandoned. By about A.D. 1350, the Tularosa Basin was empty after an occupation which had lasted nearly 10,000 years.

Little is known about the 250 years between the abandonment of these large agricultural villages and the Spanish Entrada. Jornada Mogollon peoples may have remained in the area, altering their life style and relying on wild native products.

These populations may have been seen by the Spanish in the region of El Paso. Spanish chroniclers tell of small groups of hunters and gatherers farming on a limited basis in the vicinity of small villages of grass or thatched houses.

Mescalero Apaches are the only Native Americans who occupy the Basin today. No evidence indicates that hostile Athabascan groups (ancestral to the modern Apache) were present to force the abandonment of agricultural villages before A.D. 1400. However, by the time of Spanish colonization in the mid-seventeenth century, nomadic groups of Athabascan speakers were well established in the local mountains.

Until the nineteenth century, frequent raiding on Spanish settlements in northern Mexico and the Territory of New Mexico was credited to the Apache. European colonization in the Tularosa Basin was delayed by Apache resistance until the mid-1800s, although salt expeditions to the Lake Lucero alkali flats occasionally ventured north from El Paso del Norte during the late 18th and early 19th century, leaving broken "caretta" parts scattered along the trail.

During the 1860s, hispanic New Mexicans succeeded in founding settlements at the mouths of La Luz and Tularosa Canyons on the eastern edge of the basin floor. After the Mescalero Reservation was established in 1873, the rapidly expanding Western Frontier brought populations from the eastern U.S. and western Texas to the area.

Long abandoned agricultural lands were replowed, and sheep, angora goat, and cattle ranching were introduced. Homesteads were established to control permanent water sources and agricultural and grazing lands. Livestock was free to range as far and wide as the owners could maintain control. Several families in the basin owned literally thousands of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses.

The two Lucero brothers, Jose R. and Filipe, who alternated as sheriffs of Doña Ana county, built neighboring ranches on the west side of the old salt lake , giving it its modern name. Many other notable historic figures homesteaded and ranched this newly opened Tularosa country, including Pat Garrett, cowboy poet Eugene Rhodes, and Oliver M. Lee, whose Circle Cross Ranch became the largest in New Mexico.

This "open range" disappeared shortly after the turn of the twentieth century with the new public land laws. The leasing of specific tracts of public lands to individuals brought an end to free grazing lands and was the first major step in a shift to a cash-based economy. The development of mining and timber industries, and construction of railroads and other communication and transportation systems, followed rapidly.

The ancient salt deposits of Lake Lucero once again attracted attention, and dozens of claims were staked, in hopes of a new gypsum industry, which never materialized. Only one house was ever built with "White Sands Block" in nearby Alamogordo.

The Great Depression and droughts of the 1930s brought the frontier era to a close. In the late 1930s, the U.S. Government set aside tracts of land in the central and western portions of the basin, and the National Monument was established. By the end of the 1940s, vast areas were designated for defense systems testing as part of present-day White Sands Missle Range.

Without the meat and resources from hunting large game animals, the Archaic peoples had to expand the types of food they ate, as well as the ways they hunted and gathered. As a result, we find Archaic sites everywhere in the Tularosa Basin, from the mountain slopes, to the basin floor, and in the dunes. The Archaic people improved upon the hand thrown spear used by Paleoindians with the invention of the atlatl. The atlatl is essentially a wooden stick with a handle on one end and a hook or socket on the other, in which a dart shaft would sit. The atlatl acts as an extension of the human arm increasing leverage against the thrust of the object, allowing the operator to propel a lighter spear faster and farther than a hand-thrown spear.

After Lake Otero dried out, fierce winds scoured the dry lake bed. These winds carried large quantities of gypsum sand up from the basin floor and accumulated into a large dunefield. Wind and flying gypsum sand particles dominated the basin for almost 3,000 years. Sites that correspond to this time have not been found, which makes sense. Who would want to live in a dust bowl? Even if some brave individuals attempted it, any sign of their visit would be buried under thirty feet of gypsum. Approximately 4,000 years ago the dunes stabilized and Archaic people ventured back into the Tularosa Basin to stay. Perhaps they were attracted by the Indian ricegrass, a cereal grass that produces grains similar to wheat which still grows along the dunes’ edges today.

Many people do not realize that the first evidence of agriculture began in the Archaic period. When most people think of agriculture they think of farm fields, straight rows of tended plants, and tractors. In reality, agriculture is just an improved adaptation to foraging practices by hunting and gathering groups. At first, Archaic peoples would tend to wild plants to encourage them to produce in a more reliable manner and in larger quantities than they did naturally. This developed a more direct relationship between people and the plants they harvested. It wasn’t long before plants began to change in response to human intervention. When domesticated crops, such as corn, beans, and squash, were first imported into the Tularosa Basin from Central America over 3,000 years ago, Archaic groups, already tending their wild plants, began to deliberately plant seeds to grow food they could eat. This is when people started regularly living in small villages throughout the year to tend their fields.

The most amazing archaeological evidence of human occupation at White Sands National Park is the unique sites known as “hearth mounds” found within the dunes. These hearth mounds are the remains of prehistoric fires, containing charcoal and ash, which are often surrounded by other artifacts. The park's dune hearth mounds, unlike any other hearth features in the world, are the result of a chemical relationship between gypsum, heat, and moisture. When gypsum is heated to 300̊ F, it becomes a powdered calcium sulfate hemihydrate plaster, commonly known as Plaster of Paris. This gypsum plaster quickly hardens when moisture is added and subsequently evaporates. This process cements these hearth features in place, preserving them for thousands of years, like time capsules in the dunes. Charcoal taken from some of these hearth mounds were dated using radiocarbon dating methods. The hearth mounds in the park date from the middle of the Archaic period all the way to recent history.

During the last ice age, the environment of the Tularosa Basin was dramatically different than it is today. Long before the modern gypsum dunefield formed, a large lake, Lake Otero, covered much of the Tularosa Basin. Lake Otero supported grasslands and a variety of large game, such as mammoths, camels, giant sloths, and later, bison. By 10,000 years ago, Paleoindian groups had reached the shoreline of Lake Otero. Little is known about these first people because so much of their culture was not preserved in the archaeological record. However, we do know that the first groups to enter the Tularosa Basin were exceptional stone tool makers and hunters. They used stone from the nearby mountains craft intricate spear, projectile points, known as the Folsom and Plano traditions. Evidence of Paleoindian occupation in the form of projectile points and other stone tools have been found in the Tularosa Basin associated with ancient shorelines, streams, and hill top rises above playas where they could track the movements of game animals drinking from watering holes below.

For 2,000 years, until the end of the most recent glacial period, Paleoindian groups hunted big game through the lush grasslands, using hand-thrown spears. As the large ice sheet that capped the North American continent receded, Lake Otero began to dry up, eventually leaving behind Alkali Flat and Lake Lucero. After Lake Otero dried up, the lush grassland died and the Tularosa Basin became increasingly arid, slowly changing into the desert scrubland that we see today. The megafauna of the Ice Age, such as mammoths, camels, and giant sloths, disappeared from the basin leaving behind fossil foot prints. Not suited for the new environment of a desert scrubland, they became extinct and herds of bison relocated to more suitable grazing areas. The people who made the Tularosa Basin their home had to adapt to survive. This desert adaptation is known as the Archaic period.

The Jornada Mogollon is the name archaeologists use to identify the people who lived in the Tularosa Basin after the Archaic period, which ended almost 2,000 years ago. The Jornada Mogollon was a group of farmers living in houses in small villages throughout the southwest. At first, they lived in pithouses. Pithouses are circular houses dug out of the ground and framed with wood beams. Later, Jornada Mogollon peoples began to build square houses using adobe mud to construct walls. Being a farmer in the Tularosa Basin desert must have been hard. There was little rainfall to rely on and the desert sun was harsh. The Jornada Mogollon in the Tularosa Basin farmed, but they still had to hunt and gather local resources to make sure they could survive. The most significant technological difference in the archaeological record between the Archaic to the Jornada Mogollon is the switch from woven fiber baskets to clay pottery. Identifying broken pieces of pottery is one of the ways archaeologists are able to identify Jornada Mogollon sites. The second technological advancement was the introduction of the bow and arrow. Arrows were even lighter and thinner than spears from the Paleoindian and Archaic periods. Bows could propel these arrows with greater accuracy and speed over long distances. Speed, distance, and accuracy are especially important in relationship to the primary game animals the Jornada Mogollon hunted: deer, rabbits, and birds.

We currently know of several Jornada Mogollon villages that existed throughout the Tularosa Basin, including two on White Sands National Park: Lake Lucero and Huntington Site. The sheer number of artifacts surrounding these sites suggests that these were incredibly important villages. They are strategically situated along Lake Lucero’s shoreline and the Alkali Flat. This would position them to be near fresh water, as water flows down from the San Andres Mountains especially during heavy rainfall. This area is also near the salt and gypsum deposits left behind from Lake Otero. Salt is an incredibly important mineral for a healthy diet. It can also be used as a preservative to keep foods from spoiling. There is some evidence that the rich gypsum dunefield was used as a source of plaster for the walls of adobe houses, much like gypsum sheet rock is used to construct houses across the United States today. In addition, the large, gypsum crystals like those found at Lake Lucero were used as window panes in some Pueblo villages in the Tularosa Basin and northern New Mexico.

Can you imagine a life before modern conveniences, like refrigerators and air conditioning? The Jornada Mogollon people faced the same types of issues as we do today causing them to be creative and use all of the resources around them. They built homes to protect themselves from the elements. The thick, adobe walls were particularly helpful as insulation against the heat and cold. The salt around them helped to keep meat fresh and their bodies healthy. Their creativeness is seen even in their painted pottery, which they sometimes traded for beautiful shell and turquoise beads to wear as jewelry.

While the landscape of White Sands National Park has not changed significantly since the large dunefields formed, the ways humans interact with that landscape has changed quite dramatically. Today, visitors to the park enjoy the sands as a recreation area, perfect for sledding, hiking, and building sand castles. However, 2,000 years ago people traveled this expansive landscape to harvest plants and hunt animals, collect salt and water, and possibly to process gypsum plaster. Approximately 600 to 700 years ago, the Jornada Mogollon moved out of their villages in the Tularosa Basin, perhaps in response to poor crop yields or insufficient rain, and they did not return.

The Apaches were nomadic hunters and gatherers, distantly related to Athabascan speakers in Alaska and Canada. They were constantly on the move, enlarging the territory that they called home and the ranges that supported their subsistence. About 700 years ago, bands of Apaches moved into southern New Mexico and made the Tularosa Basin their home. Their homeland encompassed the Tularosa Basin and all the land surrounding their four sacred mountains: Sierra Blanca, Three Sisters Mountains, Oscura Mountain Peak and the Guadalupe Mountains. They lived in temporary houses known as wickiups , round brush huts. They also lived in teepees covered in animal hides. By their own accounts, the Apache traversed the Tularosa Basin to hunt and gather. There are two historic Apache trails that cross the White Sands, one of which passes through tsetosayanela tuseka , a salt lake located just south of the malpais lava flows, indicating they also gathered salt from the basin floor. We know the Apache utilized the dunes throughout history because of the reference to the dunes in their oral histories as well as by Apache pottery and datable charcoal that has been found at hearth features within the dunes.

The Apaches' had established a sizable territory in southern New Mexico by the time European explorers arrived. They fiercely defended the rights to their homeland against the encroachment of colonial settlers. Fear of Apache warriors engaging in raids and warfare on colonial settlements insulated local tribes against colonial control far longer than the rest of the Southwest. Apache groups, led by Victorio and Geronimo, began to fight with settlers in the Tularosa Basin and engage in military battles with Buffalo Soldiers. The Apache were fighting against forceful reinstatement to reservations. The Battle of Hembrillo Basin in 1880 was a military engagement between Victorio's warriors and the United States Army's 9th Calvary of Buffalo Soldiers. The battle ground, located on present-day White Sands Missile Range, is the closest archaeological evidence to the park of the Apache Wars (1849 to 1924). Archaeologists discovered over 800 cartridges discharged during the battle, which they were able to determine were fired from 39 pistols and 147 rifles. Conflict between the Apaches and the American settlers over their conflicting interests in the Tularosa Basin ultimately ended in the forceful removal of the Apaches from the full extent of their ancestral homelands and their instatement on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. The Mescalero Apache are the living descendants of the first Apache to settle here, and they maintain an active cultural affinity to the landscape of their ancestors.

Spanish explorers first landed on the shores of North America in 1492, but their exploratory trips into the interior of the American continents did not reach New Mexico for another fifty years. By 1598, Juan de Oñate, the first Spanish governor of New Mexico, and his entourage of Spanish settlers traveled the Rio Grande as a northern extension of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of the Interior Land) to colonize the Santa Fe area. The Camino Real entered New Mexico through El Paso. While a Spanish colony was established to the north around Santa Fe, the general sentiment about the Tularosa Basin, named the “Land without Water,” was one of general avoidance until the nineteenth century. Its lack of reliable water resources was a primary deterrent which caused traveling parties to prefer to brave the a deadly section of the Camino Real through La Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the dead one) on the western slopes of the San Andres and Organ Mountains, than to enter the Tularosa Basin. It was also the primary stronghold of local Apaches who would routinely exploit the livestock of Pueblo and Spanish settlements during raids. These raids were costly and fatal to the settlers and bred tense and often adversarial relations between the Apaches and settlers.

When Spaniards did enter the Tularosa Basin it was along established salt trails that led to the salt flats north of Alkali Flat. Although prominent in the basin today, there is little mention of the “Great White Dunes” in Spanish records, but physical proof of their presence can be found in the material they left behind. A Spanish carreta (cart) was discovered eroding out of a sand dune on Watson Ritch’s ranch which is within the park’s boundaries. This artifact indicates a traveling group entered the basin with an oxen cart at some point during the Spanish influence. The carreta is currently on display at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In 1647, the Spanish colonists established salt trails into the interior of the Tularosa Basin connecting the salt deposits north of Lake Lucero with the Camino Real in El Paso del Norte and the silver mining operations in Durango, Mexico. Salt is an invaluable mineral, both for the health of people and their livestock, but also as a fundamental element in the processing of silver ore. The Apache presence in the Tularosa Basin continued to be a deterrent for salt gathering. The Guadalupe salinas, southwest of the Guadalupe Mountains in the eastern Tularosa Basin, were discovered by the Spanish in 1691, and both the Guadalupe and Lake Lucero deposits supplied the Spanish-operated silver mines in Mexico.

While there is evidence that salt was being mined from the area, there are no clear place names, geographic landmarks, or maps to connect these trails and the salinas with contemporary locations. The Lake Lucero salinas, located on White Sands National Park, were first officially documented as a discovery by West Texas Hispanos in 1824 during the Mexican Period. The salt trail was a wagon road that connected El Paso del Norte to Salina de San Andres, and followed the eastern slopes of the Organ and San Andres Mountains. After 1824, the salt trail is documented on maps with three stops noted: Ojo de Soledad, San Augustin, and Ojo San Nicholas. According to documentation, large expeditionary parties using mule-drawn carts with military escorts would be formed a few times a year to make the long journey to the salinas.

It is entirely possible that these salt deposits were just as important during the prehistoric period, although we currently have very little evidence to validate this claim. A concept of gathering salt and trading it to distant pueblo communities could be modeled on our understanding of the salt trade at the Salinas Pueblos . These traders would gather salt from deposits in the Estancia Basin for personal use as well as a trade good over a vast network to distant pueblo communities.

Hispanic populations throughout the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods were allowed to gather salt from the salinas, which were considered public property. Texan American settlers made private claims to the land, under the provision that they would receive profit from mining of minerals on their property. James Magoffin held a title to the salt flats north of Lake Lucero but had been unsuccessful in turning a profit from levying fees for salt gathering. In 1854, he received word that a salt gathering expedition of Hispanos from Doña Ana was headed to Lake Lucero. Using military force, he intercepted them at the salt flats and fatally wounded three members of the party. In response to Magoffin’s use of extreme force during the Magoffin Salt War, the courts dissolved his property claim to the salt flats and established a precedent for free public access to salt deposits.

In the 1800s, New Mexico became part of the American Frontier, famously romanticized as the Wild West. While there are stories of famous outlaws and the sheriffs that shot them, most of the Tularosa Basin was settled by homesteading families. This does not mean that elements of the cowboy culture of the Wild West are not found within the park. In fact, spent bullet casings, horseshoes, and empty glass bottles are sometimes found hiding under a dune. However, the story of the Tularosa Basin is better told, not by the lore of the Wild West, but in the lives of the people who settled the land and raised their families.

In the 1880s, a brief period of heavy rainfall supported the return of lush grasslands in the Tularosa Basin. These grasslands attracted the attention of goat, sheep, and cattle grazers, predominately from Texas, seeking to make their fortune in livestock. Large cattle drives pushed into the Tularosa Basin, and family homesteaders were establishing ranches throughout the basin. For sixty years, ranching was the dominant economy of the Tularosa Basin. Several ranches were homesteaded on White Sands National Park before it was established, including Walters Ranch, Watson Ritch Ranch and the Lucero family ranches on the Lake Lucero shoreline.

In 1897, the Lucero brothers, Jose, Felipe, and Estevan, began ranching on the south shore of the lake that would eventually come to bear their name. The Lucero family ranch homesteads were staples on the western shorelines of Lake Lucero in the early twentieth century. By 1940, Felipe consolidated the family’s ranches into a 20,000 acre property. Shortly afterward, the National Park Service took over ownership of the Lucero family properties with their appropriation of Lake Lucero and Alkali Flat. The remnants of the Lucero family legacy are still evident on the landscape such as the stock pens, watering trough, a water well, and a fallen windmill which visitors can experience on a ranger-led tour to Lake Lucero during the year’s cooler months.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil, silver, coal, gold, and other precious mineral deposits inspired many settlers to cover the Tularosa Basin in mining claims. By 1904, over 114 people made mineral claims to more than 10,400 acres of Lake Lucero. However, very few of these claims were developed. No legitimate mining activity was carried out at Lake Lucero with one exception, Eddy’s Soda Prospect. Developed by the same Eddy brothers that built the railroad and established Alamogordo, Eddy’s Soda Prospect was a mineral recovery operation for glauberite salt mining along the southern shore of Lake Lucero.

While prospect mining was initially successful and prosperous, the activity was conducted primarily on the periphery of the Tularosa Basin. Small cities developed around mining districts, like Orogrande and White Oaks. Only a few operations were successfully conducted on White Sands National Park. In 1907, J.R. Milner and Bill Fetz constructed a plaster of Paris batching plant along the southern edge of the dunes. Fetz and his employees would drill long shafts into the dunes extracting gypsum to cook into plaster at night to avoid the daytime desert heat. The next morning they would drive blocks of prepared gypsum plaster by oxen-carts to Alamogordo. They had a successful business, but the establishment of the park and poor roadways for transport eventually shut the plant down permanently.

As World War II came to a close, a new conflict, now known as the Cold War, arose. This conflict exacerbated tensions between the two world super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, engaged in an arms race of military defense. The conflict was fought through the advancement of military technology. Each party sought to, at the very least, maintain the balance of shared power, if not to achieve supremacy as the sole super power. By the late 1950s, space would become another arena for this rivalry.

Wernher von Braun, a German scientist transplanted to the American Southwest during Operation Paperclip, was initially only used as a resource for his work in developing the deadly V-2 rockets. The United States continued to test and develop the first generation of rockets: Corporal, Atlas, Redstone, Nike, and Aerobee. White Sands Missile Range Launch Complex 33 represents the first generation of rocket testing facilities that allowed for the United States’ exploration of space. The first generation of rockets was only tested for earthbound missions, until 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. Immediately concerns about the capability of space warfare forced the United States to realize the urgency in converting their terrestrial energies into space.

Variations of the Redstone rocket family were developed out of V-2 rockets technology first tested by the United States from the blockhouse at Launch Complex 33 at White Sands Missile Range. These went on to carry our first astronauts to outer space in 1961.

In 1963, six years before the U.S. landed on the moon, NASA established White Sands Test Facility on White Sands Missile Range. White Sands Test Facility is a U.S. government rocket-engine test facility and operates White Sands Space Harbor, a space shuttle runway, located north of White Sands National Park in the dunefield on White Sands Missile Range. This is the primary training area for NASA space shuttle pilots, a test site for rocket research, as well as an alternative space shuttle landing location. The runway has only been activated once in 1982, when the Space Shuttle Columbia returning from orbit was rerouted due to poor weather conditions at alternate landing locations.

Beginning in the 1540s with the first Spanish exploration into New Mexico’s interior, there has been a military presence in what we know today as the “Land of Enchantment.” However, the Tularosa Basin, labeled the “Land without Water,” was almost completely ignored by European settlers until the nineteenth century. It lacked a permanent water resource, and traveling parties preferred to brave the Jornada del Muerto, on the western slopes of the San Andres and Organ Mountains, rather than enter the Tularosa Basin. It was also the home of local Apaches, whose fierce martial presence often deterred anyone from trying to settle in the basin. When European settlers did enter the basin, it was typically a military retaliation against Apache raiding parties.

After the United States’ successful engagement in the Mexican-American War, the U.S .Army established military posts, often on the sites of previously occupied Spanish presidios ( fortresses ) in the area. During the Civil War, these military forts and the soldiers dispatched from them helped with the defense against invading confederate forces from Texas. After the Civil War, the United States looked to expand westward, and the U.S. Army again became responsible for those moving into the western frontier.

During this period, several Army forts in New Mexico were manned with Buffalo Soldiers. These African American soldiers were responsible for protecting the frontier from lawlessness and American Indian incursions. Not far from White Sands National Park, in Hembrillo Canyon, the 9 th Calvary under Colonel Hatch fought an offensive battle against Victorio’s, which may have been one of the largest battles of the Victorio campaign carried out by the U.S. Calvary.

At the end of World War II, a new conflict, known as the Cold War, arose and encompassed nearly half of the twentieth century. Throughout the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union, engaged in an arms race of military defense. Development of the atomic bomb and guided, missile defense systems during and after WWII was spurred by the need for military readiness against surprise military attacks. The Soviet Union and the United States both sought to maintain parity, or achieve supremacy, by advancing their military technology. The military installations of White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, and Fort Bliss were actively engaged in military defense readiness and development throughout the Cold War. Evidence of the Cold War period can be found at the park. A double Askania cinetheodolite structure, now known as Northeast 30, was constructed in the joint use area shared by White Sands National Park and White Sands Missile Range in 1953. Since the beginning, the operations of the park's military neighbors have been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and experimentation. Visitors to the park can experience a piece of this military history as the flight paths of fighter jets during mission training pass over the dunefield.

Towering mountains, spectacular white dunes, crystal blue skies, stunning sunsets, and magical moonlit nights—all of these unique features form the amazing landscape at White Sands National Park. Half a million visitors from all over the world enjoy this beautiful place every year. If you watch TV, it is likely that you have seen White Sands! Hollywood has filmed more than 20 major movies here since 1950. Hundreds of commercials, music videos, TV shows, and documentaries have also been filmed here. Researchers from all over the world come here to investigate the unusual animals and geology here.

History of Filming Since the early days of film on the silver screen, national parks have been popular destinations for photographers, videographers, and cinematographers. The rolling bright white sand dunes of White Sands National Park have set the scene for westerns, science fiction, and apocalyptic films. They have also provided a spectacular entourage for still photography of dawn and dusk, as well as for commercials featuring Rolls Royce, the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, Energizer Bunny, and Marlboro Man. Well known directors Steven Spielberg, Transformers, and Harold Ramus, Year One ; actors Denzel Washington, Book of Eli, and Willem Defoe, White Sands: The Movie ; and music performers Boyz II Men, Water Runs Dry , and Sara Evans, I Could Not Ask for More , have all spent time at White Sands capturing the dunes in their creative work.

From Yosemite to Yellowstone, Chamizal to Chickasaw, and Gettysburg to the Grand Canyon, the parks managed by the National Park Service (NPS) shine across the United States of America. Today, the NPS manages almost 400 sites and employs more than 30,000 rangers at its peak season during the summer. Yet like the small seeds of a California Coastal Redwood that ultimately grows to a height of 350 feet or higher, the NPS has evolved and grown over a long period of time.

While living with American Indians of the Great Plains in 1832, artist George Catlin had an epiphany. He realized that “Indians, wildlife, and wilderness” could be preserved “by some great protecting policy of government . . . in a magnificent park . . . a nation’s park, containing man and beast.” With this statement, Catlin has been credited with initiating the national park idea.

Throughout the 19th century, vast tracts of land were exploited by the miner’s shovel, the farmer’s plow, and the lumberman’s axe. However, these natural resource users and over-users were not bad people. Many of them pursued the same aspirations as many of us do today: living a good life and making good profit. Fortunately, some citizens began to understand that nature was a necessity for the survival and wellbeing of the human race.

As a result of this new way of thinking, in 1864 the Yosemite Grant was set aside by the state of California. In 1872, Yellowstone became the world’s first national park. Sequoia, General Grant, and Yosemite followed suit in 1890. Although these first national parks continued to allow grazing and hunting, they did not allow wide-scale exploitation and development. This means that in reality, these were the first federal lands in the U.S.—indeed in the world—set aside for public enjoyment and preservation.

Slowly, but steadily, more national parks were established. From 1906 to 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt began to proclaim national monuments. Whereas Congress establishes national parks, the Antiquities Act of 1906 permits the president to proclaim national monuments. Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to establish 18 new monuments, including Mesa Verde and Gila Cliff Dwellings. These monuments were important because for the first time in U.S. history, American-Indian cultural sites were being remembered and preserved rather than vandalized and looted.

The early national parks and monuments were not all gold and glory. Specifically, there were three big problems. First, Congress gave meager appropriations to the parks. This meant that the parks remained underfunded, understaffed, and underappreciated by the public. Second, the parks were administered not only by one government agency but by three. Third, the parks were exploited. A prime example of this came in 1913 when the Hetch Hetchy Valley of Yosemite National Park became Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to serve the water needs of the San Francisco Bay area. However, the NPS has slowly become the organization that it is today. Its main goal always being to preserve America’s national treasures for generations to come.

America’s National Park Service (NPS) will observe its 100th Birthday on August 25, 2016, exactly a century after President Woodrow Wilson signed the act that created it as a new federal agency within the Department of the Interior. Its mission was defined, in part, “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” When first formed, some 40 national parks and monuments were assembled under the management of the NPS. Now 100 years later, we celebrate the creation of this dedicated service which has managed America’s incredible wealth of scenic, historic, geologic, cultural and recreational resources ever since, becoming a model for similar efforts worldwide. A multitude of special centennial events are being planned to attract all Americans into these parklands and historic sites, in order to familiarize them personally with and build their pride in these diverse treasures, of which we are all part owners. Similarly, we will welcome countless international visitors to show them firsthand the best that America has to offer.

It is important to recognize that these and other initiatives are not just about a one-day, or even a one-year birthday celebration, but about the development of an even greater emphasis on and commitment to conservation, preservation, and stewardship of our national wonders and heritage for the next century and beyond. There is most definitely a place for you to participate, personally, in assuring the success of these efforts.

Over 10,000 years ago the first people came to White Sands National Park in search of food, water, and shelter. In more recent times, Spanish explorers and miners came to the basin in pursuit of salt, gypsum, and other resources. Ranchers also took advantage of the expansive grasslands in the basin until the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II, which caused the U.S. Military to see the value of using the basin for scientific research and technological development.

Each generation of visitors to the Tularosa Basin and White Sands National Park have left their mark. Today visitors can experience some of the most iconic historic places associated with the basin’s rich history. These places include the park’s historic district, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as well as the historic Lucero Ranch on the western shoreline of Lake Lucero. Visitors interested in learning more about the Tularosa Basin’s military history can also visit the White Sands Missile Range Museum and Trinity Site, the place where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1945.

Stories passed down from one generation to the next capture the park’s rich history and the many accounts of people who have worked here. These stories include firsthand accounts of what ranching life was like on the range in the early 1900s. Park rangers also tell their stories about being employees for the National Park Service and what it is like to work at White Sands National Park.

Scenery that is never the same twice, colorful sunsets, and the brilliant night sky is an inspiration to many different artists worldwide. Did you know that White Sands National Park has been the backdrop for many feature films, music videos, and commercials? The bright white sands, blue skies, and picturesque mountains provide the perfect setting for commercial filming, photography, and various other art forms.

White Sands National Park has unusually harsh environmental conditions, even for the desert. But that hasn’t stopped animal species from adapting, surviving, and even thriving here. If you look closely, you can see their tracks in the sand to remind yourself of their presence. And while it may be hard to imagine, there are over 800 species of animals that call White Sands their home.

One of the most outstanding features of White Sands National Park is its unique geology. Without it, the white sands of New Mexico would not be here!

To the untrained eye, White Sands National Park can appear as a stark and desolate place, but in reality the park is composed of complex, interconnected ecosystems. Even the soil is teeming with life. Tiny organisms called cyanobacterium layer themselves into a woven mat that forms the top surface of the soil in the areas between dunes. Step lightly and keep your eyes open! You never know what you might see.

Thousands of years ago, giant animals roamed the shores of an ancient lake that covered what is now White Sands National Park. Columbian mammoths, giant sloths, and dire wolves stepped in the muddy banks of Lake Otero, leaving behind their footprints. Today evidence of the path they walked is preserved in the sediments of Alkali flat. Prints made of gypsum crystals, dolomite and sand are visible at the surface, and some tracks go on for two miles!

Plants play a critical role in the ecosystems of White Sands National Park, stabilizing the leading edges of the dunes and providing both food and shelter for wildlife. But it isn't easy eking out a living here in this harsh landscape!

Every spring, the visitor center at White Sands National Park becomes a nesting destination for considerable numbers of freshly-molted barn swallows. Returning from their winter insect hunting grounds of Central and South America, they arrive in droves.

Recognizing a barn swallow is easy as they are small with a slender body, long, narrow, pointed wings, and a prominent forked tail. Both males and females have bluish-black upper body parts and wing coloring. Their chests and throats are reddish-orange. In younger birds, the coloring of the throat, chest, and belly is less vivid.

Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly forwards, backwards, up, down, and sideways. They can also hover! Their wings can flap 80 times per second. They eat tiny insects and nectar from plants. Their tiny nests can hold two, sometimes three, eggs that about the size of peanut M&Ms. The smallest of all birds, hummingbirds are also the smallest animals with a backbone.

Burrowing owls nest in burrows on the ground, a unique trait that sets them apart from most other birds. It is also what gives burrowing owls their name. Small and ground-dwelling, these birds usually weigh only about half a pound and can live to be nine years old. They eat beetles, grasshoppers, rodents, cottontails, and bats. Burrowing owls are vocal, with different noises for breeding and protecting their territory.

The largest wren species in the United States, the cactus wren is a year-round resident of both the dunefield and desert scrub. It has long white “eyebrows,” a cluster of black spots on its breast, and makes a somewhat ratchety call. The intelligent bird is known for building its nests in cacti, which provides protection from predators. The cactus wren is likely to be spotted hopping under shrubs, hunting insects, but it has even been seen picking insects off the radiator grills of parked cars!

This large, black bird with a long, stout bill is a common sight in desert settings, including the White Sands area. Chihuahuan ravens are often seen in pairs or small groups soaring, playing in the wind, or perched on bushes and utility poles. The Chihuahuan raven can be identified by white feathers on the back of the neck when ruffled. Their diet includes roadkill, rodents, young birds, lizards, insects, seeds, and fruits. Although smaller than the common raven, the Chihuahuan raven is still an impressive sight, with a wingspan of up to three and a half feet!

Great horned owls are nicknamed ‘hoot owls’ since they make the kinds of sounds that we associate with owls. They are excellent hunters, using their strong low-light vision, keen hearing, and sharp talons to locate and capture prey. These owls typically prey on small or medium-sized mammals, like rodents and even kit foxes. Great horned owls are also cautious and experts at detecting danger. Humans are their greatest predator, but crows and other owls may also attempt to kill a great horned owl. Great horned owls can fly great distances but are not migratory.

New Mexico’s state bird, the roadrunner, is a member of the cuckoo family and a year-round resident of the park. It is a large, long-tailed bird with a shaggy, streaked appearance, and a short, ragged crest, which is often raised. Its preferred prey includes lizards, snakes, and rodents. You may see this solitary bird darting across a desert road, reaching speeds of about 15 mph! Despite the roadrunner’s incredible ability to run, the roadrunner can fly to and from elevated perches, which help the roadrunner spot its prey from up high.

Plants play a critical role in the ecosystem of White Sands National Park. They stabilize the leading edges of the dunes and provide both food and shelter for wildlife. Humans too have made extensive use of the dunefield's native plant life, using some for food and others to create things like cloth and medicine. However, it isn't easy eking out a living here in this harsh landscape.

In order to live in the nutrient-poor alkaline soil of the dunefield, the flora here must be tough—only the hardiest plant species of the Chihuahuan Desert grow here. They are drought tolerant and able to survive in temperatures that range from sub-freezing to over 100ºF (38ºC), depending on the season. Many of these plants can tolerate the high soil concentrations of salt present in the park, while others (known as gypsophiles) absolutely thrive in these conditions.

Cacti are known for their sharp spines. Respect for their defenses should extend to their ability to survive with very little water. Cacti and other desert succulents are able to store precious water through the hot summers and dry winters, and still put on colorful shows of springtime blossoms.

Desert grasses have developed a tolerance for the highly alkaline soils. Grass species like alkali sacaton and Indian rice grass provide for many tiny animals, such as Apache pocket mice and kangaroo rats. Grass seeds produce a protein-rich kernel that dries well and fills many rodents’ underground granaries. Native Americans wove mats with the thicker blades of grass and gathered and ate some grass seeds.

It’s not all white sand and drab desert landscape. Cacti and other desert plants provide dashes of bright blooms from spring through fall.

Life as a plant in the dune fields of White Sands is really quite rough! Plants must be able to withstand the climatic conditions of the Chihuahuan Desert, adapt to a constantly shifting landscape, and must be successful in finding sources of water and nutrients in the sterile, gypsum sand.

Many species of mammals make their home in White Sands National Park. Learn about their unique behaviors and adaptations to survive.

White Sands provides the perfect opportunity to discover wildlife tracks. Keep an eye out of tracks scattered throughout the dunes.

White Sands National Park has recorded over 220 recorded species of birds, including wrens, mockingbirds, raptors, and roadrunners.

There are seven species of frogs and one species of salamander at White Sands National Park. Learn about these ecological sensitive species.

By far, the largest group in the park is the invertebrates with over 600 different species, including endemic moths only found in the park.

The White Sands pupfish is the only species of fish endemic to the Tularosa Basin, and it is the only fish found in White Sands.

There are a large variety of reptiles living within the park including snakes, lizards and turtles. Learn about these fascinating reptiles.

Learn about many of the white species of animals that have quickly evolved to match the white sand dunes of the park.

The coldest and wettest desert in North America, the Chihuahuan Desert covers a vast area, one third larger than all of New Mexico. This desert is located in three U.S. states and five Mexican states.

Out of the expansive landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert rise two of the world’s two largest gypsum dunefields and an international partnership that strives to protect, understand, and share this collective story of intrigue, resilience, and beauty.

How can there be an oasis in a desert? You will find the answer underground. White Sands is at the bottom of an enormous basin that gathers water from the surrounding mountains. This water has nowhere to go, so it just sits a few feet beneath the dry desert surface. With summer rains, the underground water level rises. It fills in playas—places slightly lower than their surroundings.

Sandwiched between the gypsum sand dunes of White Sands National Park and the San Andres Mountains to the west stretches a vast area known as the Alkali Flat. Lake Lucero lies in its southwest corner. Together, they make up the source of the dunes.

Air, water, and soil are the three natural resources that are vital to life on Earth. Most of us easily recognize the importance of air and water in our daily lives. Each time we take a breath or a sip of water the importance of both are apparent, but how often do we think of the soil beneath our feet as vital to our existence? Here at White Sands, our food web starts with our soil, and our ecosystem wouldn’t exist without it.

As stewards of our nation’s natural and cultural resources, it is incredibly important that we know the impact of environmental factors that contribute to or threaten the integrity of this landscape. Understanding the complex and interconnected relationships between climate change, stabilized environmental conditions, native and non-native species, and pollution can provide the tools necessary for the preservation and protection of natural and cultural protected within White Sands National Park. It is critical to understand the natural systems within the park in order to identify threats to the resources. Continue reading to understand how the unique environment here at White Sands has equally unique contributing environmental factors.

Climate Change The White Sands' Dune Field is a sensitive system that will be negatively impacted by changes in climate and sustained drought because it is a wet dune system that requires moisture. Learn more about the ongoing research at the park that is helping resource managers better understand the relationship between climate and the dunes in order to plan for the future.

While visiting White Sands National Park, it is very unlikely that you will see any of our resident mammals, but you will see evidence of their comings and goings. They have adapted to the hot summers of the Tularosa Basin by hiding in their dens until it cools down, leaving behind only their footprints from their nightly hunting.

The badger is in the same family as the weasel. These nocturnal animals are found along the outer edges of the dunefield where there is more vegetation. Badgers have a strong sense of smell that helps them locate their prey. They use their huge claws, which can be up to two inches long, to dig burrows and unearth their prey. Rodents, reptiles, and insects are mainstays of the badger diet. Badgers are quite aggressive, but some have been observed hunting and even playing with coyotes!

Named for the fur-lined pockets in its cheeks, the Apache pocket mouse prefers sandy, loose soils with little vegetation. Nocturnal by nature, they scour the interdunal areas looking for seeds to eat but will eat insects if seeds are scarce. They are efficient gatherers and will store food to feed on during the winter when they periodically awaken from hibernation. Also, due to their highly efficient kidneys, they can go for months without water.

The black-tailed jackrabbit is so named because it has a large black line running from the top of its tail to its rump. Here at White Sands, it can be found where the dunes meet the desert. It can outrun predators at speeds of up to 40 mph, but sometimes it still becomes a meal for the coyote. This is because the black-tailed jackrabbit cannot endure a long flight, and since it does not burrow, it must depend on its speed to outdistance predators. Jackrabbit kits are born fully formed and are able to forage for themselves in about two weeks.

The bobcat can be found on the outskirts of the dunefield at White Sands. The bobcat’s nocturnal lifestyle allows it to depend on stealth, and not pursuit, to catch its prey. Its meal of choice is small rodents, but it will also eat ground nesting birds and even insects. It looks larger and furrier than domestic cats but is no match for the mountain lion. Bobcats are solitary by nature and have a range that extends several miles.

This furry fella is as iconic of the southwest as his larger cousin the wolf is of the northwest. Coyotes can be found on the fringes of the dunefield among the Chihuahuan Desert scrub. They are active in the early evenings and mornings, but are occasionally spotted during the day. Coyotes eat anything from rodents to roadkill. This canine is very successful and highly adaptable to different environments, much like the other mammals found at White Sands.

The desert cottontail can be found around the visitor center and in the desert scrub habitats of the park. In the summer, they are usually found shading themselves from the heat and are active at night. In the cooler months, they can be seen at all hours of the day. The desert cottontail can run half as fast as the jackrabbit (20 mph) but has the comfort of a burrow to hide from predators. They are strictly vegetarians and eat grasses and leaves.

The Chihuahua-sized kit fox is the largest animal that lives in the White Sands dunefield, weighing in at about five pounds. Unlike other canines, it is not a pack animal. This nocturnal animal eats mostly small prey such as kangaroo rats, Apache pocket mice, insects, lizards, and snakes. It has large ears for listening and for dissipating heat. Kit foxes at White Sands also have fur in between their toes to help give them traction in the sand. Great horned owls prey on the kit fox.

The kangaroo rat has a few tricks to escape from predators. It can use its long hind legs to distance itself from threats. While running, the kangaroo rat can also use its long tail as a rudder to change direction suddenly. Mainly found in vegetated areas of the park, the kangaroo rat is 13 inches in length, eight of which are its tail. This amazing animal is also able to jump up to ten feet high if scared. That is like a three foot child leaping over a six story building!

Pallid bats can be found roosting in many areas, such as the visitor center. They are identified by their large ears and light-colored fur. These winged mammals can eat insects in the air like other bats, but they locate most of their food on the ground while walking around. Their large ears help them to hear their prey’s footsteps. They eat arthropods like scorpions, centipedes, and crickets, but also lizards and rodents.

Pocket gophers at White Sands are found in areas that are sparsely vegetated. They spend most of their life in burrows, occasionally coming out to find a mate or forage. Their diet consists of plants such as fourwing saltbush and Indian rice grass. They fall prey to predators who know to look for gopher mounds, such as badgers and coyotes. At White Sands, their coat can range from reddish to sandy brown to yellowish-white.

The porcupine is North America’s second largest rodent and lives in a variety of habitats. At White Sands, the porcupine lives in the highly vegetated areas at the edges of the dunefield. Porcupines are the only mammal in North America with antibiotics in their skin. This helps the porcupine heal after it falls out of a tree, trying to reach for tender buds, and is poked with its own quills. They eat buds, roots, and bark. The porcupine is not as commonly seen at White Sands today as it was a few decades ago.

Characterized by the small, black tufts on its head, the horned lark is a year-round resident of the dunefield and dune margins, where you are likely to see its delicate tracks. Horned larks are ground foragers, primarily eating seeds and feeding small insects to their young. Their nests tend to lay within depressions at ground level and are made of grasses and other plants. The horned lark is one of the most resilient birds of North America, inhabiting and flourishing in arid, alpine, and Arctic regions.

The loggerhead shrike is distinguished by a black mask around the eyes, and a short powerful bill. Although small in size, the loggerhead shrike feeds on insects, rodents, lizards, and other small birds. This bird often impales its prey on sharp thorns or barbed wire for a future meal, giving it the nickname “butcher bird.” At White Sands, the bird may leave lizards and insects harpooned on the sharp leaves of the yucca. The solitary shrike is a fierce predator and is the only songbird that commonly hunts other vertebrate animals! This species is in decline due to pesticides and loss of habitat.

This slender, long-winged, long-tailed hawk is often identified by its distinctive white rump patch. Since the northern harrier hunts by sound as well as sight, it is likely to be seen flying low over the dunefield margins and visitor center, searching for prey. It hunts small rodents, lizards, and birds, but will occasionally eat larger prey such as rabbits. The northern harrier nests and often perches on the ground. One of the other distinctive characteristics that the bird has is its owl-like face. The feathers around its head allow sounds to be focused and channeled directly into its ears.

Noted for its ability to imitate the songs of other birds, this highly territorial year-round resident may be heard before it is seen. The mockingbird is 10 inches long and has gray coloration with conspicuous white wing patches. The mockingbird’s diet consists of prickly pear cactus, fruits, and other plants. This bird also likes to prey on ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. The northern mockingbird is important to many ecosystems as a seed disperser. The bird also controls insect populations by feeding on them.

Red-tailed hawks are the most numerous and commonly seen hawks of North America. Look for them perched on utility poles or soaring in circles high above! The red-tailed hawk is found in many color variations, but most show the rust-colored tail feathers for which it is named. The red-tailed hawk’s voice is often used in movies. It is a rasping, whistled “cheeeeeew” that gradually falls in pitch and intensity. The red-tailed hawk is found in a wide range of habitats. They feed on small mammals and reptiles. Like the Swainson’s hawk, the red-tailed hawk’s wingspan can be over four and a half feet!

This versatile hawk can hunt from a perch, while soaring, or while walking on the ground. Its diet consists of rodents, snakes, grasshoppers, and other insects. Usually solitary, like other hawks, it joins large flocks while migrating. During migration, Swainson’s hawks fly about 125 miles per day until reaching their destination in South America. Similar to the red-tailed hawk, it occurs in a range of color morphs. In its light morph it has a dark bib ring that stands out against its pale underside. Their wingspan averages about four and a half feet!

The western kingbird is a member of the flycatcher family. It has a pale grey breast and head, yellow belly, and a black tail with narrow, white sides. The western kingbird mainly feeds on flying insects but can also feed on seeds and small fruit. The bird is usually solitary but may also be found in pairs. In some instances several of these birds may be spotted fending off larger birds of prey from their nests. This bird is referred to as “king” because of its defensive attacks towards much larger birds of prey, such as hawks, crows, and ravens.