Sand dunes for miles, the hot sun beating down without a cloud in sight, the glistening white sands of New Mexico.

Nestled between the San Andres Mountains to the east and the Sacramento Mountains to the west, here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert. Covered by a shallow sea over 250 million years ago, the White sand dunes formed as a result of the seas drainage. The remaining marine life created a massive dome that eventually collapsed resulting in the creation of the Tularosa Basin. The Dunes can get as high as sixty feet shifting constantly due to the area's high winds.

On January 18, 1933, President Herbert Hoover, acting under the authority of the "Antiquities Act of 1906", officially recognized the area's unique geological properties by establishing the White Sands National Monument. Just north of the established monument lies the White Sands Missile Range, the site of the world's first atomic weapon test on July 16, 1945 as well as the proving grounds for America's earliest rocket programs led by German born scientist Werner Von Braun.

Beyond its geological and historical significance, White Sands is also home to a number of unique species of plants and animals, such as the Bleached Earless Lizard, the Apache pocket mouse, the White Sands Pupfish and many plants able to endure extreme temperatures and high winds.

Visitors coming to the area are able to take guided sunset strolls and full moon hikes through the dunes to take an up close look at the plants, animals and geology of the area.

Podcast Written and Narrated by Brittany Dixon, Public History Student at the University of West Florida.