On January 29th, my best friend since birth, Linsey, came to visit from Pagosa Springs and we decided to go check out a very frozen Zapata Falls. And once you’re at Zapata Falls, you might as well head on into the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Zapata Falls is one of our favorite day trips. We live only about an hour away. However, this was our first trip in the winter, and boy oh boy, was it worth it?! The trail is incredibly easy. My son was 3 when we went in the summer and he easily made it to the water, then I carried him up from there. He’s now 4 and made it up the whole way on his own. The trail is about a half mile up and well maintained. Also, the road leading up to the trail has been known to be horrible, BUT they have been working on it since summer and they have made incredible strides to take the rocks (more like boulders😂) out of the road! I am so so grateful for all the work that’s been done to the road! Keep in mind, with this waterfall, you do have to walk in the riverbed to get all the way up to the fall. So plan accordingly!

We got to the trailhead about 9:30 am and it was a balmy 22 degrees out. But yall, that sun was top notch! 🌞 I didn’t time our hike, I just know it was fun and easy, even in the snow. A lot of people had been before us and had the snow packed down. We were the only ones up there that early. We had the waterfall all to ourselves!

After we explored for a bit, we headed back down for sandwiches and to go on over to the sand dunes. The Great Sand Dunes National Park is always open with no reservation needed to visit. And let me be the first to tell you, THIS IS A WINTER DESTINATION! 😂 We love the sand dunes, don’t get me wrong. In the spring and early summer, when the water is running, it’s about the best beach these mountain folks can imagine, but that sand gets HOT! On this trip, it warmed up to about 26 degrees and the sand was perfectly warm from the sun. We found some sand hills that still had some snow on them to sled on. It was an absolute blast!

The trek back to the pickup is always the hardest, but fun while playing in such a huge sandbox is well worth it!!

If you’ve never been to these incredible places, you NEED to! Southern Colorado doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves, but there are hidden gems all around!

If you are planning a trip here in the winter, please remember to check the weather and temperatures! San Luis Valley is COOOOOLD 🥶