Pinon Flats Campground — Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great campsite with great views of Crestone Peaks and the Sand Dunes. Nice sites tucked between piñon trees and fairly quiet.

Recommendation for improvement: bathrooms, while they have running water and power, could benefit from soap dispensers and hand dryers. Not critical but a pretty important "nice to have".

This is a beautiful campground. It is set just beyond the sand dunes with several trails connecting the two. You MUST take a walk down into the dunes after dark… simply breathtaking. Bring a flashlight, though! Some sites provide shade and some do not, so be prepared. They have a small camp store where you can purchase goods like firewood (when there aren’t any fire bans).

We absolutely loved this campground. Although some spots are tight, the quiet, peaceful beauty and ability to hike (4 trails)  right from the campground made all the difference. We were in #63 and had a view of the dunes as well as open space behind us. Renovated restrooms were super clean, and had heat and lights with 3 stalls in each. The new handwashing sink station was great too. We were there during a full moon which was amazing, but did limit our view of the dark sky stars. People were friendly and respectful. We were there the last week of the season and the camp store was closed. Glad we brought firewood and had enough to share with neighbors.  Our two pups loved the dunes as well and we hope to return!

This is a beautiful campground. Our site overlooked the Sand Dunes, with a trail out into the dunes for hiking every morning. Afternoon was hot out in the sand. No hook ups so this is dry camping. Lots of mosquitoes!

Excellent campground with perfect access to the dunes, and a great primer for desert camping overall. The site we stayed at (019) has absolutely no shade so make sure you plan activities away from the campground during the day. The place was also Mosquito Central (at least during our July visit) so bug spray or (better yet) a screened pavilion are highly recommended. The bathrooms are newly remodeled - would be nice to have soap and hand dryers available.

We were heading to the Flagstaff/GC NP area from a friends house in Arkansas and randomly found Pinion Flats/ The Dunes on a google search. We booked a tent site 1 day in advance for $20ish. When we arrived we just loved everything about this place! What a view! Loop A has great Dunes views. The sites are pretty close together and the restrooms were under construction(outhouses only), but our view was worth it! Check out the map to select a site with a view:) And don’t forget to rent a sled and spend a day on the dunes!

Would be perfect if sites were further apart. Neighbors complained during the day because our dogs barked a bit. They weren't loud and it wasn't for long. Either than that right next to dunes and very pretty

Pretty much standard equipment. No showers, only cold water. Immediate access to dunes. Just to close together for me.

This place is SPECTACULAR! Basic facilities, but nice and clean. And THE VIEWS! Especially at sunset! We just van camped, so could squeeze in any spot. But there are different size lots, so make sure to reserve the type/size you need! Our site itself didn’t have the best view, but just a short walk fixed that!!

Second night we stayed again, but got a better site. 27 is a short walk from other restrooms, but feels more private 👍🏻

Reservations ONLY online and in advance. $11 plus fee of $8. We showed up, saw the sign, lots of empty spots, no host.

Quiet campground with trees and a great view of the dunes. Clean bathrooms and cell service on Verizon fluctuated from one to three bars. I wish I was staying two nights.

It’s dry camping, but you can’t beat the location and views. We saw tons of deer and enjoyed the park - even got to witness a thunderstorm from our spot

Lovely campsite not far from the dunes. Ours is where the Dune trail was started and it was a bit busy when folks would walk by. The campsite was a bit lower than the parking area, so not the most easily accessible if you have some disabilities. Washrooms and washing stations were very close by.

Campsite 71 has a great view of the sand dunes and the snow cap mountains.

Not a terrible price for front row seats of the sand dunes, plus bathrooms and such. Cancellations appear on the website, so even if you show up and they say they're full, check the website because there may be a last-minute opening you can snag like I did.

Dog friendly, many families were walking theirs around the loop and nearby trails. Very pleasant site

Campsites are compact and overlook the Dunes - we parallell parked at our site. Short hike to Medano creek and the dunes. Sites have bear boxes for food storage, picnic table, and tent pads. Not ideal for large travel trailers but great in tents, vans, or smaller trailers. Site 7 is behind a pit toilet and the breeze blows the stink at you perfectly. Most other sites seem ok.

The facilities were clean which was nice. But…You had to drive to get to dumpsters which is annoying. Also many of the trailer spaces were very small. We had a pull through spot and the camp side was on the wrong side of the camper. The roads are 1 way loops and our pull through site was on the left side of road. This meant that our trailer door was facing the road instead of camp site. Didn’t like the spot. There were some nicer spots but I recommend doing your homework first. Great location to the sand dunes. We had a good time at the sand dunes but now that we have experienced it we probably won’t go back. Cell service was very limited, 1-bar. Potable water was available and they had a small Camping shop with basic supplies.

Agree with another reviewer who complained about night lighting for the bathrooms--- don't sign up for a site opposite the bathroom or your site will be under the spotlights all night.

For example, in Loop # 1-- be careful about booking sites 6, 7, 15, 16 which face toward the bathrooms---Bathrooms are clean--- but don't allow for cleaning one's hands. This is another national park property that eschews hand dryers, paper towels, and soap. Bathrooms have flushing toilets. No showers. Nightime illumination is not a problem on the back side of the bathrooms...i.e sites 25, 27, 33 remain dark.

Services and side trips are very limited in this park--- not much to do except that there is a very nice shaded picnic area near the dunes parking lot. The rangers seem to be not engaged. Instead, they placed a bright red neon sign near the entrance to the campground-- it seemed to be on and visible all night--- a jarring & annoying interruption to the fine night sky.

The campsites here are very uneven in quality and in allocated space. That said, I have tried to make some notes about loop # 1 which has the best views:

Best views are on the outside edge of loop # 1 from site #39 to site # 18. I had site 23 which had good views as well as shade and is much larger than site # 24 which is cramped. Site # 31 was very small. Site # 19 also offered excellent views and had lots of space but fewer trees. Site # 32 was very open, fine views. 

Note that sites 23 & 24 each have 3 stone steps to access the site from parking….very steep steps. Sites # 22 & 21 require a scramble down hill with plenty of rock obstacles in the way from parking. They should be designated as walk-in sites. Sites # 34 & 39 are very good sites. Huge trees are a nice asset for sites 25, 26, 27, 28. Campsite 39 has a good layout and nice trees but one side snugs directly up to site #40.

Tent pads have been shown no maintenance.

Better arrive with a full tank of gas….

One night is plenty here….

Can be a packed place to camp. They’re right the stars are awesome! The wind was brutal, made me wake up often to make sure I wasn’t being abducted by aliens. They have nice photos of the campgrounds on the NPS website. ALTHOUGH, they do not show you your campgrounds’ surroundings. I bought a campsite in front of the bathrooms….yay….BUT the lights were on ALL NIGHT. :( it’s supposed to be a national lights off zone, national site seeing star zone and for some reason their bathroom lights are not motion detected (or at the particular bathroom it’s not). Turn off the lights at night time or make it motion detected. sand dunes NP practice what you preach :( clean bathrooms but no hand soap :P

I have camped here a few times and it is a really good camping area with a lot of access to the dunes and other recreation. Do not miss Zapa Falls

Piñon Flats was an awesome place to camp! It has restrooms as well as easy access to hiking trails, each spot has a fire pit and a big enough dirt pad to stake down a tent or awning. Quiet hours are also nice so you won’t be hearing generators at night.

One of my favorite campsites. Looks over the sand dunes, relaxing and just amazing

Our spot was large enough for 2 tents, but we only had one. The view was amazing, we could see both mountains and sand dunes. The bathroom was super close, but there was no soap or paper towels.

Bear boxes at each site, lots of handicap accessible sites, loop 2 is not the most level for trailers, you will most likely need a leveling kit. Men’s and women’s toilets, sinks are closed. Access to dunes trails, and off road track. Dump station nearby visitor center with free air station. T-Mobile available at most sites, but good by the visitor center and primitive road access. Must make reservation via recreation.gov or by phone as the fee tube no longer exists.

Amenities in good condition, spots were ample in size and grills/fire pits in each. Our table was a little wobbly but fine. View of the Dunes National Park was incredible and trail led straight to them about 15 min walk from our spot. Cold at night in October, pack layers accordingly.

We had site 68 and 70. Site 70 had trees that made it hard for RV . I would recommend this campsite for people who tent camp. RV sites are challenging to get into and some sites have no room for tow vehicle. Campsites are close to each other. Nice to be close to Sand Dunes.

We stayed here one night. Sites were not as crammed as some NP campgrounds we have been to. Bathrooms were clean. There is a dish washing station but it was closed due to time of year - the water spigots were still functional though. On Verizon I got 2 bars and was able to use my hotspot to work on my laptop. There’s a trail to the dunes from the campsites and a small camp store that is open 4-7pm that sells firewood, snacks and essentials. No showers here but there are wash off stations at the dunes. Also, you can pay $6 for a hot shower at the Sand Dunes Lodge about 10 minutes away. Some campsites actually have views of the dunes and mountains. We enjoyed our stay very much!

Went to the Sand Dunes on 8/28-8/29. Reserved a campsite in the recreation.gov app a few days prior after watching for a while. We got site 29. Big enough for an rv but we only have a tent. The bear box was literally right next to the tent pad lol. There's restrooms with sinks for dishwashing. I didn't visit the camp store but I guess you can buy firewood there. No gathering wood from the ground. The park rangers patrol the area regularly. One got out and gave me a friendly reminder to register the plates on my vehicle. Nearby campers were quiet for the most part. People stood up kinda late but it really calmed down around 11. Overall, the campsite is in perfect proximity to the dunes. The sunset was amazing to watch. Our site had some obstruction from trees but a 100 foot walk and the view of the sunset was perfect.

Awesome views and nice spacious site. Quiet until the families unloaded their RVs with children and the white girls partied till 1am. Decent little camp store too.

Overall a wonderful experience! We would definitely stay here again. Bathrooms were clean, water was near the site, and the Dunes are so much fun! Two reasons for the 4 stars instead of 5. 1) the sites are so close to each other. The site next to us had about 8 people at it and they were so loud the entire time. 2) the bear boxes really need to be sprayed for spiders. We had 4 spiders (that we saw) and 2 spider egg nests in our bear box. Idk why they think I’d put my food in there 🤢.