The white sands: "Like a mirage, dazzling white sand dunes shimmer in the tucked-away Tularosa basin in southern New Mexico. They shift and settle over the Chihuahuan Desert, covering 275 square miles — the largest gypsum dunefield in the world. White Sands National Monument preserves more than half of this oasis, its shallow water supply, and the plants and animals living here." —White Sands National Monument handout, National Park Service.