White Sands National Park Book

Winner of the 2024 Public Lands Alliance Partnership Award for Publication of the Year

A visit to White Sands National Park feels otherworldly. Located in New Mexico within the world's largest expanse of gypsum sand dunes, its size compares only to the dunefields on planet Mars. This beautifully illustrated, National Park Service–approved interpretive guide introduces readers to the cultural history, geology, ecology, and tourism of one of our nation's most unique landscapes. Exploring the intricacies of the landscape, the land's role for people and animals from prehistory to recent history, its unique flora and fauna, and its place in the surrounding desert climate, readers will come away with a visceral sense for the extremes and constant movement of a place like no other. Inclusive of groundbreaking new research findings, and reflective of White Sands' 2019 redesignation as a national park, this guide is an incomparable resource for new and seasoned park goers alike.

Susan Lamb is an acclaimed author of over a dozen WNPA-published books about the Southwest and the natural world. A former ranger-naturalist for the National Park Service, she has an affinity for writing interpretive natural history. She currently lives in Flagstaff with her husband, photographer Tom Bean.

“White Sands National Park's initial beauty, uniqueness, and grandeur will impress most who visit. However, the first glance does not reveal the secrets found in and around the world's largest gypsum dunefield. Through this captivating narrative, Susan Lamb's writing unearths the park's many mysteries. From the ancient fossilized footprints, the continuum of human history through thousands of years, the rapid adaptations of its plants and animals, the importance of water, and the many more surprises that require an extra glance to notice and understand. It's much more than a sandbox, and we encourage you to explore this American treasure.” –Kelly Carroll, Chief of Interpretation, White Sands National Park

• ISBN: 9781583692103
• Genre: National Parks, Nature & Outdoors
• Format: Paperback
• Trim: 11" x 9"
• Page count: 68 pages
• Published by Western National Parks Association in 2022
• Written by Susan Lamb
• Audience: Adult