The Dunes parking area at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Mosca, Colo., will serve as the site for the official launch ceremony at 10 a.m. Sept. 4 for the 2014 Great Sand Dunes National Park quarter dollar.

The coin is to be released into general circulation through the Federal Reserve on Aug. 25.

The coin’s reverse side, designed and sculptured by U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Donald Everhart II, features a father and son playing in the sand next to the creek bed. The distinctive mountains, including Mount Herard, and sand dunes are featured in the background.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve has the tallest dunes in North America as the centerpiece of the site’s diverse landscape of grasslands, wetlands, conifer and aspen forests, alpine lakes, and tundra. These can be experienced through hiking, sand sledding, splashing in Medano Creek and watching wildlife.

Great Sand Dunes National Park was first established as a national site on March 17, 1932.

Parking will be limited, so visitors are encouraged to arrive early, according to Katherine Faz, the park’s chief of interpretation and visitor services and public information officer. Visitors may also utilize a temporary shuttle system within Great Sand Dunes to assist with the expected high volume of traffic during the event.

Great Sand Dunes will waive fees for the day in hopes of enticing visitors to enjoy the park and preserve before or after the event.

The group Friends of the Dunes will also provide complimentary refreshments for those attending the event. School groups are encouraged to attend the event since students will receive a free 2014-D Great Sand Dunes National Park quarter dollar as a souvenir.

First Southwest Bank will sponsor the coin exchange at 10:30 a.m. during which cash can be exchanged for 40-coin rolls of the Uncirculated circulation-quality quarter dollars. The bank will impose a one-roll minimum and 10-roll maximum.

The U.S. Mint will host a coin collectors forum from 7 p.m to 8 p.m. Sept. 3 at the Alamosa Recreation Center.

To learn more about Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, visit the park’s website.

To learn more about the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, visit the U.S. Mint’s website.

For more information on the event, contact Katherine Faz by telephone at 719-378-6341 or via email at Kathy_Faz@nps.gov.