Never the same space twice, Great Sand Dunes National Park, serves as a fascinating reminder that these seemingly stagnate landscapes are in constant flux, forever shifting with the wind or boot track.

Though a four-hour haul south from Denver, it's worth the drive to just point and stare at the dunes. The park has some of the tallest sand dune in North America, but even then, their massiveness is dwarfed by the sprawling San Luis Valley and seemingly endless Sangre de Cristo Range. The landscape plays tricks on you, with few landmarks other than a cluster of mountain peaks, distances become meaningless. It's just you and the sand. Lots and lots of sand.