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White Sands National Monument Plan Your Visit
Visitor Center 8:00 am - 6:00 pm. The Dunes Drive may be entered from 7:00 am to sunset. No vehicles may enter the Dunes Drive after sunset. All visitors must exit the park by one hour after sunset.
Winter hours (November 8, 2010 - February 28, 2011)
Visitor Center 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Dunes Drive may be entered from 7:00 am to sunset. No vehicles may enter the Dunes Drive after sunset. All visitors must exit the park by one hour after sunset.
Visitor Center 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. The Dunes Drive may be entered from 7:00 am. to sunset. No vehicles may enter the Dunes Drive after sunset. All visitors must exit the park by one hour after sunset.
Summer hours (April 12 - September 11, 2010)
Visitor Center 8:00 am - 7:00 pm. The Dunes Drive may be entered from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm. No vehicles may enter the Dunes Drive after 9 pm. All visitors must exit the park by 10 pm.
The Visitor Center will be closed on Christmas day.
Special Note: Due to missile testing on the adjacent White Sands Missile Range, it is occasionally necessary, for visitor safety, to close the Dunes Drive for periods of up to two hours. U.S. Highway 70/82 between Alamogordo and Las Cruces is also closed during times of missile testing. Visitors on a tight schedule are encouraged to call the day prior to arrival for information on closures.
The closest airport is in El Paso, TX, about 85 miles from the park.
The visitor center is located on U.S. Highway 70, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Alamogordo and 52 miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Travelers from Carlsbad Caverns to southern Arizona can follow U.S. 82 through the scenic Sacramento Mountains to reach White Sands National Monument.
To Park: No public transportation serves the park. Cars may be rented in Alamogordo, Las Cruces, and El Paso.
Maine ocean islands provide the only nesting sites for Atlantic puffins in the United States. Eastern Egg Rock in the midcoast region, Seal Island and Matinicus Rock at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, and Machias Seal Island and Petit Manan Island off the downeast coast provide habitat for more than 4,000 puffins each summer.