Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Our Favorite Things and Our Biggest Regrets
How’s that for a dramatic click-bait title? Don’t worry this isn’t click-bait—I wouldn’t do that do you. I fully intend to share (and likely over-share) just that: our favorite things to do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and our biggest regrets from our time there earlier this year.
How Was Carlsbad Caverns National Park Formed?
Let’s start with a little history about how the cave was formed—or as I like to call it, “Liana’s geology geek-out time.” If you’ve read about Guadalupe Mountains National Park, you’ll know that the cavern is made from an ancient sea reef.
If you haven’t read that post, then I’ll summarize: Back in Pangaea days, this area was covered by a tropical sea. An underwater sea reef formed from the dead bodies of marine critters like sponges and algae. Their bodies compressed over time and created limestone. Eventually the sea dried up, and the reef was covered in sediment.
Many millions of years later tectonic shifting caused the reef to be uplifted exposing some parts—like Guadalupe Mountains. Other areas of the reef remained underground but were now at least partially above the water table. This meant exposure to air and other elements that eventually led to the creation of sulfuric acid which slowly ate away the reef and made the caverns we see today.
Then the decorators came to town—just like an HGTV show. If you’ve ever been to a cave you’re probably familiar with the decoration process, but I’ll explain it anyway because I enjoy being a know-it-all, if you can’t tell.😉
Water seeped down through the ground into the cave in drips, drops, flows, spews, etc. leaving small calcite deposits along the way. Billons of these deposits built up over time to create the incredible cave formations we see today—stalagmites, stalactites, pearls, popcorn, lily pads, helictites, soda straws, draperies, and more. I hope you’ve enjoyed geology time as much as I have!
Our Favorite Things to do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
I kind of have a thing for caves (you can read about the largest cave in the world here, a windy cave here, and a really decorated cave here). This cave craze might be because Batman is my favorite superhero. Well, technically Captain Planet was my favorite childhood hero, but I feel like he’s from a different universe than the comic book superheroes, so I’m still going with Batman. I mean who wouldn’t want to live in a bat cave? Well, read on and find out how you can visit one at Carlsbad Caverns.
Carlsbad Caverns Tours
There are three main Carlsbad Caverns tours that most people take—two self-guided (Natural Entrance and Big Room) and one ranger-led (King’s Palace). For $15 per person (or free with an annual parks pass) you get access to the cave. The first decision you’ll need to make is how to enter the cave. Obviously if you’re doing the Natural Entrance Tour route, you’ll enter through…the natural entrance. The other option is to take an elevator down from the visitor center which then deposits you at the beginning of the Big Room Tour route and past the Natural Entrance Tour.
Natural Entrance Cave Tour (Self-Guided)
Even if you don’t do the entire Natural Entrance Tour, it’s worth going down to see the cave entrance. It’s enormous and with the bat viewing amphitheater directly above it, looks like the site of a medieval ceremony. Also, you don’t have to wait for the bats at night to see some flying creatures in cool formations dipping and diving in and out of the cave. Cave Swallows have the dayshift at Carlsbad Caverns. When we visited, they’d flock together above the cave entrance, start circling at ever increasing speed, and then suddenly all plunge into the black mouth of the cavern with a loud WHOOOOSHING noise. It was quite a show and we somehow managed not to get pooped on, so that was a win.
Speaking of poop, you will smell some interesting smells upon entering the cave. With what might just be the world’s largest Cave Swallow colony and enough bats to make up a medium sized nation, it’s not the most pleasant smelling place. Once you’re a little deeper in the cave, the smell goes away (or maybe I just got used to it). Either way, on your descent, one of the first viewing points you’ll come across is the bat cave. This is where over 400,000 bats live for about 6 months out of the year.
Over the course of the 1.25-mile tour route you’ll travel 755 feet below the surface. Along the way, views of the various rooms and passages open up in front of you like some alien world. This route ends at the lunchroom/restroom/elevator area.
Big Room Cave Tour (Self-Guided)
This route is also 1.25-miles and together both self-guided tours took us around 2 ½ hours. The Big Room truly lives up its name being the fifth largest cave chamber in North America and the 28th largest in the entire world. This tour is considered the flagship of the park—for good reason. Here you’ll see some of the most impressive formations and features. Things with names like: Bottomless Pit, Totem Pole, Mirror Lake, Lion’s Tail, and Painted Grotto.
King’s Palace Cave Tour (Ranger Guided)
Tickets for the King’s Palace cave tour typically sell out every day. If you have limited time in the park, the best way to ensure you can go on this tour is to purchase your tickets a few days (or weeks even) in advance. There are a limited number of in-person spots available each day and if you get to the visitor center early you might be able to snag them, like we did.
This tour takes you through some of the most decorated rooms in Carlsbad Caverns. In addition to the King’s Palace, you’ll see three other areas including the Green Lake Room, which was one of my favorite places in the cave. Since we did all three tours back-to-back we spent close to 5 hours in the cave. We felt like vampires emerging from the dark depths with our eyeballs burning from the sunlight when we reentered the realm of the living…I mean, took the elevator back above ground.
Walnut Canyon Desert Drive
Something we haven’t always done a great job of during our previous visits to cave-oriented parks is exploring the land above ground. We vowed not to make that mistake at Carlsbad Caverns so spent a morning along the Walnut Canyon Desert Drive.
You can get a pamphlet from the visitor center with information about each of the points along the drive and the local plant life. On the 9.5-mile loop drive we saw the remains of a mescal roasting pit, wildlife, and old homesteads. There are a few opportunities for hikes into canyons throughout the drive.
From the Mouth of Cowboys
The highlight of our drive was seeing two sheep by the pond. We didn’t know their name then (or that they were in fact sheep), but they were truly beautiful creatures unlike any we’d seen before. We’d soon be informed by a well-armed and weathered cowboy that they were Barbary sheep.
It’s worth mentioning that the reason we learned the name was due to the circumstances of how we encountered the cowboy. We’d stopped at White’s City just outside the park in search of ice-cream (shocking, I know). Between the gift shop and grocery we found ourselves in a room of curiosities.
There was Zoltar, a giant bear statue, barstools that look like scantily clad legs, and a number of taxidermy animals including a double headed cow and the sheep that we saw in the park (or at least a much less lucky relative of the sheep we saw in the park).
The cowboy overhead us talking and asked, “You saw one of ‘em, eh?” In addition to their name he told us the story of how they came to reside in southern New Mexico. He said that in the 1970’s, the Shah of Iran gave a planeload of these sheep to the US. They put them in Texas and New Mexico because the climate was similar to where they lived in Iran.
We asked how the sheep got on here and he said that there are 300-400 inside the park alone. So in other words, they’re flourishing. He also informed us that outside of the park, they’re fair game for hunting and quite tasty. The more you know friends.
The story piqued my interest and I’ve tried to corroborate it. However, as far as I can tell there isn’t a shred of truth to the cowboy’s tale, other than the fact that the sheep (which are also known as Aoudad) were introduced to Texas (but from Northern Africa, not Iran) starting in the late 1940’s. Still interesting to hear the local lore version.
Our Biggest Regrets in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
First, I have a little confession to make. I’m not much of a planner these days when it comes to our national park travels. That may be why Alaska felt like such a large undertaking to arrange—because I had to plan and book so many things in advance. When travelling around the lower 48 we typically have an idea of our route and/or places we want to visit, but that’s where the planning ends.
We don’t pour over articles and must see lists for days before arriving in a park, or reserve tours ahead of time. Instead we rely on recommendations from folks we meet, the park rangers, cowboys, and the information available inside the park.
Admittedly this doesn’t always work out so great (examples below), but most of the time it’s how we enjoy seeing a place. We like to take things slow and not go in with lofty expectations and a full itinerary.
Wait, how about the umpteen itineraries on this site? I should clarify something—I enjoy writing and making itineraries, just not following someone else’s. Maybe it’s an authority problem. That said, a little planning could have gone a long way to avoiding our regrets in Carlsbad Caverns which amount to not being able to do the following things.
Night Flight of the Carlsbad Caverns Bats
This is something that Tom got to experience when he was a kid and visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park on a family vacation. It’s something he’s been telling me about for years. It’s something I’ve dreamed of seeing (see aforementioned Batman obsession).
The experience is supposed to go something like this—at dusk you gather at the medieval ceremony site (aka amphitheater) above the cave entrance. As the sun goes down, thousands of bats make a mass exodus out of the cave. Whirling into the air like a cloud of smoke before scattering to feast throughout the night.
Our problem was this; the bats weren’t home when we visited Carlsbad Caverns. They’re migratory and spend the winters in Mexico (smart bats). It turns out that we were just a few weeks away from their return this year. See notes below about the best times to visit Carlsbad Caverns.
Slaughter Canyon Cave Tour
There are over 100 other caves located in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Slaughter Canyon Cave is one of them and one of the few that has park service tours.
Slaughter Canyon Cave is a wild cave. This just means that humans haven’t come in and made paved walkways with railings, illuminated the formations with stage-design lighting, and constructed restrooms and eateries. Don’t get me wrong, the facilities in Carlsbad Caverns are amazing and very convenient, but we’d love to go on a more rugged caving tour.
This tour only happens once a week and it was booked when we visited. Our camp neighbors were going on the tour the next day and said they’d booked a month in advance. I guess I’ll be doing a little more planning next time around. Here are a few other tips for visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Best Time to Visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park
If you’re planning a visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, try to go from May to October. This is when the bats live there. May or September-October is my recommenation. Carlsbad Caverns weather can be sweltering in the summer months. While this won’t affect your time in the cave, it can make for very hot hikes and camping adventures. Going in the cooler months will ensure you’re able to enjoy the above ground experience as well.
Where to Stay in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Gotcha – it’s a trick headline! There aren’t any established campgrounds inside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The only way to stay in the park boundaries is to backcounty camp, which you can do by obtaining a free permit from the visitor center. If you’re looking for a campground or hotel you’ll find plenty in White’s City or Carlsbad.
Carlsbad Caverns Camping
The closest accommodation to Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the White’s City RV Park and Campground. It’s only a 10-minute drive to the park and has the usual offerings of an RV park—full hook-ups, WiFi, showers, etc.
Carlsbad Caverns Hotels
If you’re looking for a hotel, this one in White’s City is very convenient. Otherwise there are many hotels to choose from in Carlsbad, which is a 30-minute drive to the park.
Has anyone else been to Carlsbad Caverns? Did you get to see the bat’s night flight? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Related Posts:
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Hiking on an Ancient Sea Reef in the Sky
- How to Spend a Week in Big Bend National Park
- Essential Road Trip Checklist: How to Get Your Vehicle Road Trip Ready
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