Sand Dunes National Park to be featured on quarter

Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve will soon be featured on the quarter as part of a U.S. Mint program aimed at honoring the country’s national parks and other famous landscapes.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports the front of the coin will still feature the bust of George Washington, but the reverse side will depict a boy and his father playing in Medano Creek with the dunes and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background.

The dunes quarter is part of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which began issuing the coins in 2010.

The sites were selected by governors and by then-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who grew up near Manassa, a short drive from the dunes.

The coins will be available at a ceremony at the park Sept. 4.