Great Sand Dunes National Preserve topographic map

Interactive map

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About this map

Name: Great Sand Dunes National Preserve topographic map, elevation, terrain.

Location: Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, Saguache County, Colorado, United States (37.69603 -105.58080 37.95637 -105.42850)

Average elevation: 2,792 m

Minimum elevation: 2,308 m

Maximum elevation: 4,128 m

In 1848, John C. Frémont was hired to find a railroad route from St. Louis to California. He crossed the Sangre de Cristos into the San Luis Valley in winter, courting disaster but proving that a winter crossing of this range was possible. He was followed in 1853 by Captain John Gunnison of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Gunnison's party crossed the dunefield on horseback.[11]