We were headed home from Carlsbad caverns and passed this
park, so of course, we had to check it out. We had visited White Sands National
Monument two days earlier and I was curious how Monahans Sandhills State Park would compare.
The sand dunes in this park are much smaller than White Sands, but I kinda liked that. The sand is also darker in color.
Monahans Sandhills State Park is located in located in Western Texas near Odessa. It consists of 3,840 acres of sand dunes, some reaching heights of 70 feet.
The park encompasses only a small portion of a dune field
that is about 200 miles wide. Most of the dunes within the 200-mile area are
stabilized by vegetation. The dunes located in park are still active, changing
shape and size constantly from the wind.
It is best to go early in the morning during the summer. The disk and sleds do not slide easily when the sand is hot. Sleds and disk can be rented from the park visitor center.
Monahans Sandhills State Park:
- is around 6 hours from the Dallas/Fort Worth area
- 6 hours from Austin, Texas
- 4 hours from El Paso, Texas
- less than an hour from the New Mexico border and around 3 hours from the border of Mexico.
Address:
2500 E Interstate 20 Exit 86
Monahans, TX 79756
Hours:
8am - 10pm daily
Happy Travels!