Hidden Dune

Forget everything you think you know about hiking — there's no trail here, no blazes, no switchbacks. You'll cross Medano Creek (ankle- to knee-deep in late spring), then strike out across the open dunefield with nothing but a compass bearing and your own stubbornness. The first couple of miles feel deceptively easy as you weave between smaller dunes, but once you push past the main star dune ridge and into the remote northern dunefield, the real work begins. Every step sinks six inches into loose sand as you climb what amounts to a 70-story building with no stairs. The payoff is standing on the highest dune in North America — alone, with 360-degree views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains — while hundreds of visitors cluster around the "tall" dunes near the parking lot, completely unaware this exists. This one belongs to navigators and endurance junkies who earn their views.