Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave, Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.
The park entrance is located on US Highway 62/180, approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad Caverns National Park participates in the Junior Ranger Program. The park has two entries on the National Register of Historic Places: The Caverns Historic District and the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District. Approximately two thirds of the park has been set aside as a wilderness area, helping to ensure no future changes will be made to the habitat.
Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at its highest point. The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the thirty-first largest in the world.
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Geology
- 1.1 Capitan Reef
- 1.2 Speleogenesis
- 2 Climate
- 3 History
- 4 Named rooms
- 5 Tourist information
- 6 Recent exploration
- 7 Other caves
- 8 Bats
- 9 Other attractions
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 External links
Links
Images Gallery
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Mexican free-tailed bats emerging from the natural entrance and flying to the nearest water
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Elevator house, ca. 1933–42; photo by Ansel Adams
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Rock of Ages in the Big Room, c. 1941; photo by Ansel Adams
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On the tour route
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Outside the entrance to the caverns
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Carlsbad Cavern amphitheater
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Comments
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Absolutely breath taking. Very cool place! You almost feel like you teleported to another world. I couldn’t help but think of the Apache walking these paths within the cave years ago. Seeing the sights in the cave makes your mind go crazy. Add the echoes of sound and wow! We often thought or felt as if someone was walking with us. We’d think we’d see someone in the shadows but then it was just a rock formation. You pay $1 per person to reserve a time slot. Tickets are $15 each. You can hike down into the cave or take the elevator. There is a cafe at the base. Prices aren’t too bad. There is also a blue mail pickup box for the US Postal Service, at the base of the cave. You can get a post card for about $.75 cents and send it from the cave. Pretty cool!
4 days ago -
A huge cave in Guadalupe mountain range in Carlsbad. You can go 1200 feet deep inside from the top entrance. There is a option of using elevator to go down to big room of the cave or else you can walk down for 2.5 miles and come back up with an elevator.
2 days ago -
Amazing National Park, words don't do this place justice. HUGE caverns dwarf anything you've seen before. 2 or so hour walking tour down into the Big Room is a must. They even have bathroom and a snack bar at the bottom. Best National Park 🌲🦇 I've visited so far. Get here early and make reservations.
2 weeks ago -
Was an awesome experience wouldn't recommend hiking down from the top entrance of you have toddlers.... Very steep and scary and than to hold them all the way down a mile no fun... Use the elevator down to main cave will save you tons of energy and will enjoy your experience alot more .... Other than that was very nice ....
a week ago -
I've been coming to this place since I was a child. Recently got to bring my daughter and it was just as a mazing as I remembered. Definitely a must see for cave enthusiasts. The path into the cave looks steep, but it's actually only slightly angled and very winding. The cave is really well maintained and the staff are really enthusiastic and informative.
6 days ago -
The caverns are absolutely amazing and the drive in through the park if beautiful too. I assure you have never seen anything like the caverns before. If you can walk, I encourage you to take the natural entrance down into the caverns. It's such a memorable experience to descend into the cave and see where wildlife enters. Your eyes will adjust over time and you will see so many cool rock formations in the caverns. Definitely recommend visiting the caverns to all nature enthusiasts!
3 weeks ago -
Must visit place. The Caverns are well preserved. Whole tour would at least take 3 hours so plan ahead. Do bring a jacket because it is cold underground
a week ago -
Would love to return without my 4 year old. His attention span wasn't enough to really take in the self-guided tour. Would also love to return and take one of the guided lower chamber tours, looks like a lot of fun. The formations are really beautiful and in many cases amazing. However, some could use a bit more light to really see them. Do remember to make a reservation before you go, you can't make them there. Will return at some point.
a day ago