Great Sand Dunes National Park quarter candidate designs
In the fall of 2012, the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission of Fine
Arts reviewed five designs for the reverse of the 2014 Great Sand Dunes National Park quarter. All seven designs featured the dunes with mountains in the background. Three of the seven designs showed people enjoying the park’s natural beauty.
Humans have been part of this landscape for thousands of years, starting with hunter-gathers of the Stone Age who visited the area while hunting for mammoths and pre-historic bison. Later, Native Americans entered the region in search of food and supplies, and many believed it was a spiritual place.
Home to a wide variety of wildlife, Great Sand Dunes National Park offers access to miles of scenic landscape and mountainous terrain. Located north of the dunes is Mt. Herard, which at 13,353 feet, reveals a spectacular view of the dunes. Another peak further north, Tijeras Peak (scissors in Spanish) holds the title as the tallest in the park.
