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New Mexico
2 ft
Gain
No conditions check on file for this trail yet — always verify current conditions before you go.
Why you'll love it
Playa Trail
AI-suggested draft · review before you go
No permit or access details on file for this trail — check with the local land manager before you go.
<p>The Playa Trail is an easy, 0.5 mile (800m) round-trip, level trail with outdoor exhibits along the way to help you learn and explore this trail and the characteristics that make it special. Follow the green trail markers with a heart symbol that lead to a small playa. On this self-guided trail, you will discover the importance of a playa undergoing constant change. Learn how this change creates habitats for plants and animals. It may be brown, white, filled with water, or have growing crystals. See what the playa looks like today! At the end of the trail, you have the opportunity to travel back in time and see what this area looked like 10,000 years ago and learn about the giants that once roamed this land. Please stay on the trail. Footprints destroy the biological soil crust that is vital to White Sands. The average completion time is 30 minutes.<br /> <br /> <strong>Length:</strong> 0.5 mile (800m), round-trip<br /> <strong>Trail Marker Color:</strong> Green<br /> <span style="display: none;"> </span><strong>Trail Marker Symbol:</strong> Heart<br /> <strong>Average Completion Time:</strong> 30 minutes<br /> <strong>Difficulty:</strong> Easy<br /> <span style="display: none;"> </span><strong>Distance from Visitor Center: </strong>2.5 miles (4 km)<br /> <strong>Restroom:</strong> No restroom facility is available</p> <p>Before setting out on foot at White Sands National Park, please view our <a href="https:///www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/hiking-safety-tips.htm">Hiking Safety Tips.</a></p>
A Desert Oasis Interpretive Sign
~0 min drive
<p>Water is the focus of this interpretive sign on the Playa Trail. It describes how water is trapped in the basin and helps create the dried lakebed that is highlighted on this trail.</p>
"Just Add Water" Interpretive Sign
~0 min drive
<p>This interpretive sign on the Playa Trail showcases how water and the changing seasons create a hidden world that is waiting to come to life.</p>
Dune Life Nature Trail Restroom
~0 min drive
<p>The Dune Life Nature Trail restroom has two separate wheelchair-accessible vault toilets with no running water, a trash bin, and is adjacent to a parking area with plenty of space to park automobiles and RVs. There are accessible parking spaces directly in front of the rest…
Dune Life Nature Trail
~0 min drive
<p>The Dune Life Nature Trail is a moderate, one-mile (1.6 km) self-guided loop hike. Though not difficult, this hike does require hikers to climb two steep dunes with loose sand. Follow the blue trail markers with a club symbol. Meet Katie the Kit Fox and learn about her frie…
"Wetter, Bigger, Badder" Interpretive Sign
~0 min drive
<p>This interpretive sign on the Playa Trail highlights some of the larger-than-life creatures that you would've seen along this trail if you were here over ten thousand years ago.</p>
"Finding Footprints" Interpretive Sign
~0 min drive
<p>This interpretive exhibit at the Playa Trail showcases some of the tracks found at White Sands.</p>
Interdune Boardwalk
~3 min drive
<p>The Interdune Boardwalk is fully accessible for people using wheelchairs and strollers. Take an easy 0.4 mile (650m) round trip stroll through the dunes and learn about the science, geology, plants, and animals that make White Sands an unequaled natural wonder. The boardwal…
Pets at White Sands
~4 min drive
<p>Pets love White Sands! To them, it's full of new scents, sights, cool, soft sand, and excitement! You'll love bringing your furry companions with you to the park, too.as long as they are non-disruptive, on a leash no longer than six feet, and are under physical control at a…
Backcountry Camping Loop Trail Restroom
~5 min drive
<p>The Backcountry Camping Loop Trail restroom has two separate wheelchair-accessible vault toilets with no running water, a dumpster, and trash and recycling bins. It is within a parking area with plenty of space to park automobiles and RVs, and there are accessible parking s…
First Stop of Backcountry Camping Loop Trail Tour
~6 min drive
<p>Welcome to White Sands National Park’s digital self-guided tour! If you see the Backcountry Camping Loop Trailhead in front of you, you’re in the right place.<br /> <br /> White Sands is far more than just a sandbox. Over time, this land has been home to countless creatures…
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