Playa Trail

Driving Distance from Visitor Center: 2.5 miles
Trail Distance: .25 mile roundtrip
Steps: 530
Difficulty: Grade 3
Trail Surface: Packed sand/dirt
Hours: Seasonal park hours For park hours call 479-6124
Lighting: No
Attractions: This is a level trail in White Sands National Monument that leads to a small playa. Like Lake Lucero, this smaller playa is a shallow depression or low-lying area that fills temporarily with rainwater from storms. Most of the year, it is a dry lakebed.
Did you know ...
Unlike most birds with feet that have three front toes and one back toe, New Mexico’s state bird the roadrunner has feet with two front toes and two back toes and prefers walking or running up to 17 miles an hour to flying?
Parking: Available at the pullout on the east side of the road into White Sands, just across from the Dune Life Nature Trail parking area