Backcountry Camping Trail: A Must-Do When Visiting White Sands NP

White Sands National Park in New Mexico is a wonderful masterpiece that would take your breath away. To fully appreciate this beautiful park, the best way is to hike into the rolling dunes. There are a few hikes here that will take you into the heart of White Sands National Park, with our favorite being the Backcountry Camping Trail. Backcountry Camping Trail is a hiking trail that is usually used by backpackers to get to their camping sites in the heart of White Sands National Park, hence to name. It’s also a popular day hike for those who just want to enjoy the breathtaking views of the park.

The Backcountry Camping Trail is a 2-mile loop hike with stunning landscapes, especially during sunset. It is much shorter than its more strenuous neighbor, the Alkali Flat Trail. However, the views along the Backcountry Camping Trail are as good as those you would get on the Alkali Flat Trail, only you don’t have to go as far to see them.

Note: Please make sure to respect this beautiful place and the surrounding areas. Always practice LEAVE NO TRACE. This means no loud music, no graffiti, no taking artifacts or fossilized items, and pack out what you pack in! Please help us protect this place for generations to come!

Stats

Where

Backcountry Camping Trail Trailhead
32.809950, -106.264518

Parking

There are a decent sized parking lot in front of the trailhead

Fee

There is a fee to enter the White Sands National Park. Please check the park’s website for updated info. You can also use your America the Beautiful Pass here.

Ideal Time

May-Aug: Hottest time of the year! Go early or later in the day. It can get hot out, so it’s recommended that you do not start a hike if the temperature is at or above 85°F (30°C)
Feb-May: Windy season! Although the temperature is nice, you’ll have to deal with dust storms. Do not hike out during a windstorm.
Nov-Feb: It can get cold here with early-morning and nighttime temperatures are frequently below freezing. Make sure to wear tons of layers.
July-Sep: Monsoon season. Lightning often occurs during thunderstorms even it there is no rain. Do not hike if there’s rain in the forecast.

Restroom

There is restroom at the trailhead.

Distance

2 miles loop

Elevation Gain

You’ll have to climb up and down 50-60 ft dunes.

Level

Moderate.

Time:

2-3 hours

Pet-friendly

Pets are not allowed.

Weather

Video

Getting There

Backcountry Camping Trail trailhead is located along Loop Drive, inside White Sands National Park. It is about 6.5 miles from the park’s entrance. From the entrance, stay on Dunes Drive for about 4.9 miles before slighting right to keep staying on it for another 1.1 miles. Then, make a sharp left on Loop Drive to follow signs for the Backcountry Camping Trail trailhead. The trail starts behind the big information kiosk.

Important Tips for Hiking at White Sands National Park

Hiking at White Sands National Park is quite different than your typical hiking. There are a few important tips and information that you should know and pay attention to while hiking to make sure that you have a safe and enjoyable adventure.

Hiking trails at White Sands National Park don’t have a defined path. They are marked by the orange trail markers along the dunes. When hiking, always look carefully for the next trail marker before continuing. If you can’t see the next trail marker because of the blowing sand or because it fell, do not continue. Return to your car! The strong winds here can reduce visibility significantly, along with the white-out landscape, making it easy to become disoriented and lost.
Even though GPS can be unreliable here, we still recommend bringing a GPS tracking device such as the Garmin Inreach. It’s easy to get lost as you wander around the dunes.
As beautiful as the dunes are, it’s easy to become disoriented in the dune field. So, we recommend always hiking in a group and have a plan. Make sure to stay together with your group. Let someone who is not in your hiking group check up on you to make sure you get back safely.
If you become lost, stop and sit on top of a dune. This way, potential rescuers can find you more easily. Wandering can endanger your life and make it harder to find you.
Do Not hike out during a windstorm. Trust us, it’s not that fun. Besides the fact that it’s extremely unpleasant, the sandstorm also reduces visibility and erases your footprint in a matter of minutes. It can be very difficult to find your way back.
Bring plenty of water! It can get very warm on the trail because the sun reflects off the white sand. We recommend bringing at least 1 gallon of water per person per day. Also, bring high-energy snacks.
Bring sunglasses, and a hat, and wear sunscreen. There are no shades here and the sun can be very brutal.

The Adventure

The Start of the Backcountry Camping Trail

Usually, we always recommend wearing good hiking shoes on hikes. However, for Backcountry Camping Trail, we hiked barefoot and loved every second of it. The sands at White Sands National Park are gypsum. This means they are super fine and soft. Because they don’t have silica, the sands are also cool to the touch, even with the scorching temperature around. That is why it is perfect to hike barefoot here!

We started our adventure by following the orange markers to climb over the first couple of dunes to get to the start of the loop for the Backcountry Camping Trail. There is a wooden sign next to the orange marker, indicating the start of the loop. If you’re camping, there is a map showing where your campsite is in relation to the loop. This way, you can choose your loop directions accordingly. We went clockwise (left) first, just because.

Following the Orange Markers

As we mentioned above, since it’s a dune field, there aren’t any defined paths. We have to follow the orange markers, sticking above the dunes. They are about 80-100ft apart from each other. You should be able to see the next marker before leaving the current one.

The further we hiked in, the more remote the trail became. Most of the time, we were the only people on the trail. The views also become more beautiful with pearly white, rolling sand dunes all around. As we hiked toward the first set of campsites, the wind picked up significantly. At some point, we think it reached about 20-25 mph wind speed. If we knew the wind would get this strong, we would have opted out of this hike. We don’t recommend hiking during a windstorm by the way.

Windy Day

Because of the wind, the hiking conditions on the Backcountry Camping Trail become quite unpleasant. As the wind speeded up, it also picked up the once soft, fine sand and turned them into sharp razors. Walking through these sandstorms was quite painful. The wind was a lot stronger on top of the dunes and along the ridgelines. It wasn’t as bad when we were in the interdunes. With the swirling sandstorms, our footprints were also erased within seconds. Our visibility was also reduced. Luckily, we had our Inreach with us and we still could see the orange markers.

The Other Side of the Loop

Soon enough, we made our way through the camping area and got to the other side of the loop. Besides fighting the wind, we also had to make our way up and down the 50-60ft dunes. It doesn’t sound very high but hiking up a sand dune takes a lot more out of you than on a regular hard-packed trail. Even so, we couldn’t help to stop and take in the breathtaking views of the landscape and appreciate the majestic force of Mother Nature.

Finally, we could see the parking lot in sight. The last few dune crossings seemed to be the longest ones. At this point, both of us were done with the harsh sandstorms and the sinking sand. We were both ready to take shelter inside our car. Needless to say, we ran to our car as fast as we could. Even with all that, Backcountry Camping Trail was an adventure. We would love to come back when it’s not too windy that is! Now, if you’re ready for another adventure here, we recommend going sand sledding! It is so much fun!

These are the gear that we personally use and find them helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.