Remarkable Trees at Great Sand Dunes

Diane Winger

“I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.”-- Joyce KilmerFor gigantic trees, head to Sequoia or Redwood National Parks. For colorful autumn trees, head to Blue Ridge Parkway or Arcadia National Park. But, for some unusual and remarkable trees, visit southern Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.Our first stop: the Ghost Forest. Portions of the tallest sand dunes in North America (rising nearly 750 feet from the valley floor) sometimes escape the main dune field and try to smother nearby groves of ponderosa pine and cottonwood trees. Sometimes the cottonwoods manage to outsmart the sand by essentially converting low branches into roots.

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