{"id":570,"date":"2016-08-28T21:37:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T21:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/?p=570"},"modified":"2016-08-28T21:38:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-28T21:38:08","slug":"great-sand-dunes-national-park-colorado-camping-trip-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/28\/great-sand-dunes-national-park-colorado-camping-trip-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado — Camping Trip #5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve — what a great place to visit and camp!<\/h2>\n
\"Great
Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had a great time camping in the San Luis Valley. \u00a0We stayed at Mosca Campground in the San Luis Valley, Colorado State Park<\/a>. \u00a0It was about 10 minutes from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and about 30 minutes from the historic town of Alamosa, Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\"Mosca
Mosca Campgound, San Luis Valley State Park<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\"Mosca<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Mosca
Mosca campground looking east across the preserve<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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\"Horseshoe
Horseshoe pit, Mosca Campground, San Luis State Park<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Truth be told, I was not over thrilled with the looks of the Mosca Campground…… just a bunch of sage bushes and RV’s looking like they were abandoned in some random fashion. \u00a0However, the sites are well defined, very clean and very well maintained! And because it’s so high, it was not hot. \u00a0That is a great thing to know in our book! \u00a0For the record, we were there over the 4th of July.<\/p>\n

There is a volley ball net and a horseshoe pit if you are looking for something to do within the campground.<\/p>\n

\"They
They have a bunch of birds on the preserve and small boats are allowed on the water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Volley
Volley Ball anyone? Mosca campground, San Luis State Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The San Luis Valley is filled with history. \u00a0There are pullouts and informational signs all over. \u00a0Be on the lookout! \u00a0Some of them just pop up on you without much warning!<\/p>\n

\"John
John learning about the San Luis Valley and the settlement of the area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Historical
Historical information is all around this area – San Luis Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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We took a half a day jaunt down to Alamosa, Colorado. \u00a0I couldn’t do a better job encouraging you to take some time in this friendly small town than this site.<\/a> \u00a0If you are a train lover, definitely consider putting Alamosa on your places to see list! \u00a0I’ll just put up some images….. and you can walk your way through them!<\/p>\n

\"Alamosa,
Alamosa, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Railroads
Railroads and Alamosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Being
Being restored, Alamosa, CO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Being
Being restored, Alamosa Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Inside
Inside the passenger carrier – being restored, Alamosa, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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And then we HAD to stop in downtown….<\/p>\n

\"Toll
Toll House, Alamosa, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"San
San Luis Valley Brewing Company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"JC
JC Penneys, Alamosa Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Great Sand Dunes! \u00a0Go there! \u00a0 Go there in May or June or early July when the creek is running. \u00a0Gorgeous, unbelievable, centering, grounding…… \u00a0It’s an awesome place!<\/p>\n

There is camping within the Park but it’s mostly for tents and small campers. \u00a0We only saw a handful of spots that would accommodate our 26 ft beauty. \u00a0There is a campground right outside the park and there is the San Luis State Park we stayed in which is not too far away. Enjoy these images of our visit…..<\/p>\n

\"Great
10,000 Steps, Great Sand Dunes, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Great
Great Sand Dunes, just after sunrise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Great
Medano Creek, Great Sand Dunes, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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If the creek is still running, then bring your sand castle building tools. \u00a0We were there early in the morning so the kids weren’t out in it yet but I can only imagine how I would have loved to play in the moving water, diverting the stream, and building in the wet, heavy sand.<\/p>\n

You can bring your own or rent sleds to slide down the sand dunes. \u00a0We didn’t but I have friends who have spent hours climbing up and sliding down over and over again. \u00a0Try to plan for this in the early morning or later in the afternoon\/evening as the temperature of the sand can get quite high.<\/p>\n

Zapata Falls is nearby — we started up there but the road was very rough. And if you want something different, there’s an alligator farm near the highway!<\/p>\n

I was pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed this trek. Just far enough off the beaten path to not be a hassle and yet you are close enough to fun and interesting sights all around you.<\/p>\n

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Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve — what a great place to visit and camp! We had a great time camping in the San Luis Valley. \u00a0We stayed at Mosca Campground in the San Luis Valley, Colorado State Park. \u00a0It was about 10 minutes from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and about 30 minutes from the historic town of Alamosa, Colorado.                   Truth be told, I was not over thrilled with the looks of the Mosca Campground…… just a bunch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,37],"tags":[38,39,36,33],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-history-lessions","tag-campgrounds","tag-history","tag-pictures","tag-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/littlehouseofbig.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}