White Sands National Park

Our next one-night stop was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but on the way, we were going to pass near the White Sands National Park; so, we decided we would stop there for our second National Park visit since we began full time RV travel.  From Roswell to White Sands National Park was about a 2.5-hour drive crossing through the Sierra Blanca Mountain Range.  There were some fairly steep sections that slowed us down to a maximum speed of about 45 mph, but the RV handled it well.  To our surprise, as we reached the higher elevations around Ruidoso, it began to snow.  We thought we had missed snow altogether this winter since we left Brooklyn in November before the first snow, but here we were, driving through snow.  The snow was not accumulating on the road, so it wasn’t a treacherous drive; however, it was accumulating on the mountains to either side of us, so it was a beautiful site to see.

We slowly approached White Sands National Park and stopped at the Visitor’s Center to get our stamps in our Passport Books and buy a few souvenirs.  We also watched a brief film about the park and learned that the white “sand” is actually gypsum, formed from the wind chipping off pieces of the nearby mountain range and then continuing to whip at the pieces until they form a fine white sand-looking gypsum substance that cover 275 square miles of desert.  This is the largest gypsum field on earth. 

Leaving the Visitor’s Center, we drove the “Dune Drive” that loops into and out of White Sands National Park.  We stopped at the Interdune Boardwalk to take pictures, then drove on through the loop, which eventually became only a dirt road. 

The dirt road was very bumpy in some sections, and the dishes and everything else were jumping up and down in the RV, which made us extremely nervous, but we drove on slowly.  We finally arrived at the end of the loop and parked the RV so we could take in the beautiful white dunes.  We hiked up the dunes and took pictures of the white gypsum as far as the eye could see.  We could have purchased plastic sleds to slide down the dunes, as many people were doing while we were there; however, since it had turned cooler and there had been some rain in the area, we didn’t think it would be that satisfying (and we could see that others were struggling to get up speed as they sledded down the dunes).

  

...lots of sand in the RV to cleanup later...

After leaving White Sands National Park, we drove another hour to our campground for the evening, called the Hacienda RV Resort.  We arrived after the office had closed for the day, but had called ahead and our paperwork and map were waiting for us outside of the office.  Once we arrived, we did some laundry and settled in for the evening as we had another long drive to Tucson, Arizona, the next day and were leaving early in the morning.  In fact, we left the Hacienda RV Resort so early the next day the office had not even opened yet.  Office closed when we arrived and closed when we left; that’s how short our stay was there.

Review of Hacienda RV Resort

Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is located directly off of Interstate 10.  It has approximately 113 RV sites with full hook ups.  The RV sites vary in size to accommodate small and large RVs.  The sites were made of gravel, and our site was slightly unlevel.  The sites did not have picnic tables, fire pits, or grills; however, there is a community picnic area with a burning fireplace and a community room with an indoor fireplace.  The Hacienda RV Resort has restroom/shower facilities and a laundry room.  It doesn’t have a pool, but it has a large hot tub.  There is also a workout facility, an events room, and a gift shop.  

The Hacienda RV Resort is located within the city of Las Cruces and is a short drive (2 or 3 miles) to shopping, restaurants and bars; and of course, is only an hour drive to White Sands National Park.  Since we only stayed one night, we did not have an opportunity to take advantage of any of the Resort amenities other than the laundry room, but we would consider staying at the Hacienda RV Resort again if we were in the area.