One of the newest U.S. national parks is proving popular.
White Sands National Park, just southwest of Alamogordo, was designated a national park in 2019. Year-to-date, about 780,000 people visited, up sharply from the number of visitors that typically came before it gained national park status, National Park Service statistics show.
“It’s an extremely magical place, and I think it’s besoms so popular with people,” park ranger Kelly Carroll told KRQE. “It’s definitely a destination for not just citizens here in New Mexico, but people all around the country and even internationally.”
The 275-square-mile park in the Tularosa Basin features dunes of gypsum that glisten white. Although some parts of it have been closed during the pandemic, it still draws a good number of people.
The 780,000 visitors is a record. The previous high had been just shy of 667,000 in 1986. In 2018, about 603,000 people came by; in 2019, the national park status bumped up visitation to almost 609,000. Numbers dropped off in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The growing number of park visitors has led to a corresponding increase in spending by the tourists. They contributed about $22.5 million to the economy last year, KRQE reported.
Before planning a visit, check for missile tests at the nearby White Sands Missile Range. Sometimes that leads to road closures.
