Visited: March 2017
Nearby town: Carlsbad, NM
"The Grand Canyon with a roof over it."
-Will Rogers, describing Carlsbad Caverns
Our National Park system protects a number of caves, and there is perhaps none more impressive than Carlsbad Caverns. At only 28 miles of passageways, it's nowhere near the longest cave, but the aptly named "Big Room" is one of the largest cave chambers in the world. To gaze and walk through this massive chamber, over 4,000 ft long, 625 ft wide, and 255 ft at its highest point, is simply jaw-dropping and unforgettable. You'll almost forget that you are underground. Carlsbad Caverns almost spoils other caves. After Carlsbad, they've all been underwhelming. 😊
New Mexico's only National Park is a must see. Entrance into the Park boundaries and Visitor's Center is free, but if you want to go into the cave for self-guided tours, the entrance fee is $12. If you have an Annual Pass, the self-guided tours are still free but you still need to present the pass at the information desk at the Visitor's Center to get your ticket. There are two self-guided tours, (1) Natural Entrance Tour and (2) Big Room Tour.
The Natural Entrance tour is a 1.25 mile long, 800 ft descent from the natural entrance of the cave down into the Big Room. Down here you'll find bathrooms, a restaurant, a gift shop, and elevators back to the top. All the Ranger guided tours start down here. The Big Room tour is a 1.25 mile, paved and basically level trail that goes through the entirety of the chamber, passing by dozens and dozens of incredible cave formations. If you want you can take the elevator down from the Visitor Center and just do the Big Room Tour. My recommendation would be to descend down into the cave on the Natural Entrance Tour, then do the Big Room, and then head back up to the Visitor Center via the elevator. The Cave can get very crowded, and the line to get back up to the ground on the elevator can be VERY long (during peak visitations, as long as an hour). This 2.5 mile hike is one of the greatest experiences that the NPS has to offer.
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| the natural entrance |
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| the Witch's Finger |
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| me with the Witch's Finger |
One of the most impressive formations in the Big Room is Giant Dome and the Twin Domes, dubbed the "Hall of the Giants." Giant Dome is the largest-known stalagmite in the world (it stands 62 ft high and is 16 ft in diameter). Scientists determine that the stalagmite has been forming for over 60 million years.
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| Giant Dome on the left, Twin Domes on the right |
The cave had been inhabited by Native Americans at least 10,000 years ago, the first white settler to explore the cave was 16 year old Jim White in 1898, who spotted it by seeing a mysterious cloud emit from the ground one night (it was a colony of bats). White named almost all the main features in the cave. White attempted to harvest guano from the cave, but it wasn't very successful. He conducted the first tours of the cave by having guests descend 170 ft in the guano bucket. Visitors were amazed by the cave and news spread quickly. Calvin Coolidge designated Carlsbad Caverns as a National Monument in 1928. Two years later, it became a National Park.
As you continue through the Big Room, make sure to check out other formations, such as Lion's Tail, Temple of the Sun, the Bottomless Pit, and Rock of Ages.
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| above me is the Lion's Tail |
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| Temple of the Sun |
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| The Rock of Ages |
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| the Rock of Ages is very monstrous looking |
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| hanging from the ceiling is The Chandelier |
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| behind Tara is Rock of Ages. It's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture |
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| The Chinaman |
(1) King's Palace: $8, 1.5 hours long
(2) Left Hand Tunnel: $7, 2 hours, tour with lanterns provided by the NPS
(3) Lower Cave: $20, 3 hours, you have to descend down a 10-ft flowstone with a knotted rope
(4) Hall of the White Giant: $20, 4 hours, lots of crawling, squeezing, and sliding through narrow openings.
You can buy tickets at the Visitors Center, but it would be a good idea to go to the website and check out tour times and reserve in advance. We did the King's Palace tour. It was awesome. Our guide was excellent, and at one point they turn off all the lights (not too long, but long enough to get a little uncomfortable, don't panic!) and you experience cave darkness. The Ranger then lights a candle and since your eyes have adjusted, it really shows the cave in a whole new light. Pun intended. Here are some sights along the King's Palace tour.
There are two other caves that can be explored with a Guided tour located in another region of the Park. (1) Slaughter Canyon Cave ($15, 2.5 hours) and (2) Spider Cave ($20, 4 hours). Slaughter Cave is an undeveloped, adventure tour, you need to bring a flashlight and/or headlight, but there's no narrow passageways to crawl through. Spider Cave is a wild caving experience that has lots of crawling and craziness.
The Park boundaries contain over 110 caves, most of them have just barely been explored. Lechuguilla Cave was discovered in 1986. It is reportedly very beautiful and is the 5th longest cave in the world. It is only open to scientific researchers and NPS survey and exploration teams. The location of the entrance to the cave has not been disclosed to the public and is kept secret to keep out unauthorized visitors.
As for the surface, Carlsbad Caverns National Park doesn't have too much to offer. There's beautiful desert environments to check out at Rattlesnake Springs and the scenic, unpaved Walnut Canyon Drive. There are also a few hiking trails. The one thing you definitely want to check out is the Bat Amphitheater. Each night from May-October, rangers provide an evening program about bats and then you'll see all the bats silently fly out of the cave and into the night sky. Although we visited in March, we were able to see some bats leave at night, but no ranger program. Even without that, it was still a very fun and unique experience. No photography allowed. The amphitheater is right at the natural entrance.
If there is one cave you want to visit in our National Parks, make it Carlsbad Caverns. It is a truly amazing, unforgettable experience. More info at: https://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm
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