Two National Parks · 103 miles apart
White Sands or Guadalupe Mountains
White Sands drew 659,742 recreation visits in 2025, 3.2 times the 206,423 at Guadalupe Mountains, so crowds are the largest difference. Guadalupe Mountains has 13 campgrounds to 1 at White Sands. A private vehicle pays $10 at Guadalupe Mountains and $25 at White Sands. On the rest they match, since neither uses timed entry. The two parks are 103 miles apart in a straight line.
| White Sands National Park | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Designation | National Park | National Park |
| States | New Mexico | Texas |
| Recreation visits, 2025 | 659,742 | 206,423 |
| Entrance fee, private vehicle | $25 (Private Vehicle) | $10 (Per Person) |
| Timed entry reservation | No | No |
| Campgrounds | 1 | 13 |
| International Dark Sky Park | No | No |
| Bird species, NPSpecies | 151 | 267 |
| Hours or season | The park gates always open at 7:00 am with closing hours changing with sunset. | Open all day, every day |
White Sands visits by yearGuadalupe Mountains visits by year
Fees, hours, campgrounds and timed entry from the NPS API. Visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics system. Dark sky status from DarkSky International. Bird counts from the NPSpecies inventory. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other pairs.