Jump to Zapata Falls. Jump to Rustic Rook Resort. Jump to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
If you’re like us, you’re trying to hit as many national parks as possible. We’d like to check them all off one day — ahhh goals! Luckily for us, we live in a state with FOUR national parks! We live less than an hour from Rocky Mountain National Park, which is a treat, and we go there frequently. But we wanted to explore the other Colorado National Parks too. So we decided to make a quick weekend of it and check out Great Sand Dunes National Park and other nearby attractions around Alamosa. And the best part about this trip and the dunes is that dogs are allowed!! No boarding, and we get to take our puppers on another adventure with us! Heck yes!
Since we’re from Texas and not afraid of a little roadtrippin’, we fit this excursion into a 2-day weekend, even though it’s 4 ½ hours away.. Seriously though, ask any Texan, 4 ½ hours is nothing! We left around 7ish in the morning, planning to get there around 11:30ish to noon. Once we got into Alamosa, we ate lunch at San Luis Valley Brewing Company. They had a nice little covered tent area where we could eat with the dogs and grab a beer.
Zapata Falls
We wanted to cram as much adventure as possible into the weekend (that’s just how we roll), so after lunch, we were off to hike #1. I’d heard that Zapata Falls was a fun, easy hike where dogs are allowed with a beautiful waterfall at the end. Awesome, right?! Wrong! Well, partly wrong.
The road to get to the hike is really bumpy! They said you might need 4-wheel drive to get there, but that’s not the case. We made it easily in my 2-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee. It was just very, very bumpy! And it takes over 20 minutes on this bumpy road to get to the trailhead.
It is a short hike only about a mile total, down and back. But I must have missed the part where the trail turned into a freezing stream of water! I even looked the hike up before, and I thought it went alongside the water, or you just cross it a few times. No, you literally walk shin-deep in the water. And the water is freezing, seriously so cold it hurts! And we went in August! This wouldn’t have been a big issue if it wasn’t for our dogs. They both love water, and Juno is even a pretty good swimmer, but this was different.
First of all, it’s kind of like a cave once you get down into the water. So the water and everything echoes pretty badly. All the sounds scared the dogs a bit. The other main issue we had was that Juno is short and had trouble navigating in the water. Bailey did pretty well, she just didn’t care for the roaring sound of the waterfall.
We made it to the falls and back, but let’s just say, Juno was not a happy camper. We made it up to her with cookies, scratches and she had the time of her life at the dunes. Moral of the story, just because dogs are allowed doesn’t really mean they should be there. If you’re planning on bringing your pup on this hike, make sure he’s good with water (very cold water!), doesn’t scare easily with loud noises, and I would say bigger dogs are probably better.
A mad Juno 
Before we checked into our “hotel”, we decided to drive through the park first, just to see it and get the lay of everything before going back to play in the sand the next day. I recommend it! Especially if you have one of those nifty America the Beautiful Passes. Seriously the best thing ever! If you don’t have one, get one! Here’s a link!
Rustic Rook Resort
The “resort” we were staying at, Rustic Rook, was about 15 minutes away from the park in Mosca, and there is literally nothing around! Seriously! But that’s what makes it great in my opinion. Rustic Rook is this adorable “glamp” ground with onsite platform tents and a spectacular view of the mountains. Each tent comes with a king size bed, a wood-burning stove to keep you toasty at night (you’ll need it!), and a cute little porch and chairs to enjoy the view and take it all in! And bonus: they allow dogs!
There is a $25 pet fee per dog. They’re not allowed on the furniture and cannot be left unattended in the tents. We had a beautiful open field in front of us that was perfect for the pups to run around and play.
This resort was spectacular! So peaceful. And the perfect medium between camping and an Airbnb. They have on-site grills for cooking, which is great. You can even order grilling packages through Rustic Rook, and they will provide everything you need to cook. We decided to cook our own food, which worked out really well. They do serve breakfast in the morning, but they didn’t start serving until around 8 AM, and since we wanted an early start, we missed it. Another thing about breakfast, they will not accommodate food allergies. Since I’m lactose intolerant, I was hoping they could make my breakfast burrito without cheese since they say everything is made fresh. Unfortunately, they said they could not accommodate this request, but offered oatmeal. And while I enjoy a nice, hot bowl of oatmeal, it doesn’t quite hit the spot when you’re hoping for a breakfast burrito. Just something to keep in mind.
The bathroom situation was interesting. There were little bathroom trailers with 4 different sections. Each one had a shower in it. Overall, it was not a bad bathroom experience. When people took showers, it tended to flood the floors a little bit, so that was a little annoying. Since we only stayed one night, we opted to wait until we got home to take a nice, hot long shower. Some of the bigger tents actually have private bathrooms in them, including your own sink, shower and toilet if you’d rather opt for that. You can see their different options here.
We planned to wake up in the middle of the night and look at the stars since it’s supposed to be amazing on a clear night. Unfortunately, when that 4am alarm went off and Marcus peeked outside, the sky wasn’t clear enough to see well. It was a bummer, but there is always next time!
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Since “the ‘rona”, one of the best places to go is outside. But there’s also been so many closures and restrictions on parks for public safety. Which is good, but you just need to know how to handle it. Luckily, Great Sand Dunes National Park is open and operating (almost) normally. The Visitor’s Center was closed when we visited, but it looks like it’s open now! Make sure to check the website for any updates about closings.
Great Sand Dunes is a great park for social distancing. It’s so big and since it’s just sand, it’s kind of a free-for-all and it’s really easy to keep your distance. Bring a mask just in case, but you most likely won’t even need it. We knew we wanted to get there early since we went at the end of August and we had the dogs with us. We got to the dunes a little after 8 am on Sunday. There were several people there, but surprisingly it really wasn’t crowded.
And there’s really no right or wrong way to do the park. You pretty much just climb the dunes and play in the sand. You can bring a sled to slide down the sides, which looked like a blast. We decided not to bother with it though, since we had the dogs with us.
We just climbed up the dunes. Just so you know, that sounds way easier than it is. The sand is very fine and deep. It’s pretty much like waking in 12 inch deep mud… uphill!! It’s a workout for sure, so just be prepared.
So what shoes should you wear? Ummm… not really sure. I wore tennis shoes and quickly gave up on not getting sand in them. They weighed so much by the time we were done. Marcus wore his hiking boots and mostly avoided the sand. I just didn’t want my boots to have sand in them for all eternity, so I didn’t wear them. So maybe boots, but you run the risk of getting sand in them. Okay, so any shoes you wear, you’ll get sand in them. So just think about that when you’re picking out your shoe attire for the dunes.
UPDATE: When we went to Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah, I decided to brave it and wear my hiking boots. They got a little sand in them, but not bad overall. The sand wasn’t as deep as Great Sand Dunes NP, though.
Luckily, it really wasn’t too hot at all. It was a little chilly in the morning, but quickly warmed up. We kept an eye (and hand) on the sand temperature to make sure it wasn’t getting too hot for the pups. And make sure to bring water! I know that’s a given, but don’t forget it!
Pets are allowed in the main use area, which is pretty much the main dunes of the park, and must be kept on a leash. And remember to pick up after your pup.
We climbed up to one of the tallest front dunes, took in the spectacular dunes and just let the puppies play and run around. Marcus ran up and down the dunes with them, and they (including Marcus) had an absolute blast.
I mean just look at those happy faces!
That’s pretty much it! We stayed a few hours until almost 11am. As we were leaving, we could see lots more people arriving. I think we got there and left at a good time. This is one park that we definitely will be back to visit again! Maybe even in the winter. I hear Zapata Falls is beautiful frozen.
Happy adventuring!