KnowKi

Learn the wildlife of the U.S. national parks

Learn the wildlife of Great Sand Dunes National Park

CO

790 species have research-grade observations inside Great Sand Dunes National Park on iNaturalist. KnowKi turns the most recorded into short lessons with real photos, so you know what you're looking at before you go.

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Āki the kiwi, KnowKi's guide

Most recorded here

The species with the most research-grade observations on iNaturalist, and how many each has. Most recorded doesn't mean native.

Birds

  1. Green-tailed Towhee Pipilo chlorurus45
  2. Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma woodhouseii35
  3. Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides31
  4. Common Raven Corvus corax27
  5. Clark's Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana24
  6. Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia24
  7. Western Tanager Piranga ludoviciana23
  8. Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli16
  9. Broad-tailed Hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus14
  10. Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus14

Plants

  1. Rocky Mountain Beeplant Cleomella serrulata254
  2. Plains Pricklypear Opuntia polyacantha234
  3. Scarlet hedgehog cactus Echinocereus coccineus102
  4. Colorado Pinyon Pinus edulis100
  5. Scarlet Gilia Ipomopsis aggregata95
  6. Rubber Rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa85
  7. Winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata74
  8. Lance-leaved scurf-pea Ladeania lanceolata74
  9. Small-flowered sand-verbena Tripterocalyx micranthus68
  10. Rocky Mountain Juniper Juniperus scopulorum55

Mammals

  1. Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus147
  2. Pronghorn Antilocapra americana16
  3. Common Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel Callospermophilus lateralis13
  4. Wapiti Cervus canadensis12
  5. Ord's Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii11
  6. Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus11
  7. Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis9
  8. Colorado Chipmunk Neotamias quadrivittatus8
  9. North American Porcupine Erethizon dorsatum7
  10. Fremont's Squirrel Tamiasciurus fremonti6

Insects

  1. Ten-lined June Beetle Polyphylla decemlineata156
  2. Giant Sand Treader Camel Cricket Daihinibaenetes giganteus58
  3. Colorado Dune Tiger Beetle Cicindela theatina55
  4. Big Sand Tiger Beetle Cicindela formosa37
  5. Eleodes hirtipennis34
  6. Trimerotropis barnumi34
  7. Rabbitbrush Beetle Trirhabda nitidicollis29
  8. Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa26
  9. Cottonwood Stag Beetle Lucanus mazama25
  10. White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineata24

Spiders and kin

  1. Habronattus amicus8
  2. Goldenrod Crab Spider Misumena vatia5
  3. Western Black Widow Latrodectus hesperus3
  4. Poplar Budgall Mite Aceria parapopuli3
  5. Geolycosa rafaelana2
  6. Rocky Mountain Maple Felt Mite Aceria calaceris2
  7. Asiatic Wall Jumping Spider Attulus fasciger2
  8. Sclerobunus robustus1

Reptiles

  1. Plateau Fence Lizard Sceloporus tristichus51
  2. Greater Short-horned Lizard Phrynosoma hernandesi19
  3. Gopher Snake Pituophis catenifer13
  4. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnophis elegans8

How a trip works

A trip has its own trail of lessons: meet six species, match them to new photos, then practice with four choices. Species you learn go into your Fieldbook, and starting a trip earns its Passport stamp. Your home place stays as it is.

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Species lists and counts from research-grade observations on iNaturalist, as of October 2026. KnowKi is not affiliated with the National Park Service. Free, with no ads, no account and no purchases.