Carlsbad Caverns National Park

The caves at Carlsbad were carved from the Capitan Reef, a fossil reef that grew in a warm sea about 250 million years ago, long before the desert was here. Later, water full of a natural acid seeped through the buried limestone and slowly dissolved it away, hollowing out chamber after chamber. There are more than 119 known caves inside the park, but the star is the main cavern, a system so large and so richly decorated with stone that it stops most people in their tracks.

The heart of it is the Big Room, one of the largest cave chambers in North America, running about 4,000 feet long and reaching some 255 feet high at its tallest. A paved loop about 1.25 miles around lets you wander it on your own, past stone shapes with names like the Bottomless Pit, the Hall of Giants, and the Rock of Ages. All around are cave formations built one drip at a time: stalactites hanging from the ceiling like icicles, stalagmites rising from the floor to meet them, and delicate straws, curtains, and popcorn-shaped stone. They are still growing, so slowly that a single drop of water might add the width of a hair in a lifetime.

You reach the depths one of two ways. The Natural Entrance trail is a steep, paved path that switchbacks down through the cave's natural mouth, dropping about 750 feet over roughly a mile and a quarter until it delivers you to the Big Room. Or you can ride the elevator down from the visitor center and skip the climb. Either way the cave stays cool and damp all year, and the light is soft and low, so the desert heat and glare vanish the moment you go under.

• Main Entrance, off US-62/180 and NM-7 near Whites City, is the only road into the park and is open year-round. It climbs a winding seven-mile scenic drive up to the visitor center, where the Natural Entrance trail and the elevator both begin.
• From the city of Carlsbad, head about 20 miles southwest on US-62/180 to Whites City, then turn onto NM-7 for the final climb. From El Paso, Texas, it is roughly 150 miles east, and from Roswell it is about 75 miles south, all on well-marked desert highways.

• The Natural Entrance trail is the classic way down, a steep 1.25-mile paved path that switchbacks through the cave's natural mouth and ends at the Big Room. It is downhill only, so plan to ride the elevator back up.
• The Big Room is the must-see, a self-guided 1.25-mile loop starting from the elevator that circles one of the largest cave chambers in North America, past its famous stone formations.
• The summer Bat Flight Program gathers at the outdoor amphitheater near the cave entrance in the evening, when hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats pour out at dusk. A ranger talk usually comes first, and it runs from about May through October.
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park sits about 35 miles southwest across the Texas line and holds the highest peak in Texas, an easy add-on for anyone making the drive.
• Sitting Bull Falls, a spring-fed waterfall tucked in the Lincoln National Forest about 55 miles northwest, offers a cool, green surprise in the middle of the desert.
• The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in the town of Carlsbad shows off Chihuahuan Desert wildlife up close, a good stop with kids before or after the cave.

Long before it became a park, this corner of New Mexico was the homeland of the Mescalero Apache, and of peoples who lived and traveled through the region for thousands of years before them. Ancient hands left rock art near the cave's natural entrance, evidence that people knew this opening in the earth long ago. To the Native peoples of the region the land and its caves carry meaning that reaches far deeper than any tourist trail, and the park sits within that older story.

The modern chapter began with a local cowboy named Jim White, who as a young man in the late 1890s and early 1900s explored the cave with a homemade wire ladder and a lantern, going deeper than anyone had recorded before. His accounts of the enormous rooms below were hard to believe until photographs and a government survey confirmed them. In the early years the cave was also mined for bat guano, the rich droppings from the bat colony, which were hauled up and sold as fertilizer.

Word of the cave's scale reached Washington, and in 1923 President Calvin Coolidge set it aside as Carlsbad Cave National Monument. Interest kept growing, and on May 14, 1930, Congress and the president made it a full national park, renamed Carlsbad Caverns. Through the 1930s crews built trails, lighting, and the paved paths that let ordinary visitors walk the Big Room in comfort, turning a wild hole in the ground into one of the most visited caves in the country.

Scientists have studied the caves ever since, mapping new passages and tracking the bat colony that returns to nest each summer. Deep inside the park lies Lechuguilla Cave, one of the longest and most beautiful caves in the world, discovered in its modern form in the 1980s. It is closed to the public to protect its fragile formations, and it is a reminder that the desert here still holds secrets underground.

• The cave was carved by acid, not just water. Sulfuric acid, formed as gases rose from oil and gas deposits deep below, ate away the limestone from within, which is part of why the rooms grew so huge.
• The stone the caves are dissolved from is an ancient fossil reef, the Capitan Reef, that grew in a shallow sea about 250 million years ago when this desert was underwater.
• The summer bats are Brazilian free-tailed bats, also called Mexican free-tailed bats, and hundreds of thousands of them roost in the cave and stream out at dusk to hunt insects across the countryside.
• In the early days the cave's bat guano was mined and sold as fertilizer, and it was a guano miner, Jim White, who first explored the great rooms below.
• The Big Room is so large that its loop trail runs about 1.25 miles around a single connected chamber, and parts of the ceiling arch more than 250 feet overhead.
• Deep in the park lies Lechuguilla Cave, over 150 miles of mapped passages and some of the rarest formations on Earth, kept closed to all but a few scientists to protect it.
• The cave stays around a cool, steady temperature all year, no matter how hot the desert gets above, because it is buried and insulated by hundreds of feet of rock.
• An early visitor could ride down into the cave in a guano bucket before the elevator and stairs were built, lowered into the dark by the same hoist that hauled up the droppings.

• An entrance fee applies for cavern access, charged per person; check the park website for current rates.
• The Natural Entrance Tour is about 1.25 miles downhill through the cave's natural mouth and ends at the Big Room; it is a one-way descent, so plan to take the elevator back up.
• The Big Room Tour is a 1.25-mile self-guided loop that starts from the elevator, the easiest way to see the cave's largest chamber.
• The Bat Flight Program is free and runs from about May through October, gathering roughly 30 to 60 minutes before sunset near the natural entrance.
• No food or drink is allowed inside the cave, and the paths are paved but long, so wear comfortable shoes with good grip.

You can choose either. The Natural Entrance trail is a steep, paved path that switchbacks down through the cave's natural mouth, dropping about 750 feet over roughly 1.25 miles until it reaches the Big Room. It is downhill only, so most people ride the elevator back up. If you would rather skip the climb entirely, the elevator carries you straight down from the visitor center to the Big Room and back.

Timed-entry reservations or tickets may be required at busy times to manage crowding in the cave, and guided ranger tours often need a separate reservation. This can change from season to season, so check the National Park Service website and reserve ahead if you can, especially in summer and on holidays.

From about May through October, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats leave the cave at dusk in a long, spiraling flight to hunt insects. The free Bat Flight Program gathers at the outdoor amphitheater near the cave entrance in the evening, usually with a ranger talk first. To protect the bats, no flash photography, video, or cell phones are allowed during the flight, so plan to just watch.

The cave stays cool and steady all year, far cooler than the desert above, because it is insulated by hundreds of feet of rock. Even on a hot summer day the air below feels chilly and damp, so bring a light jacket or a layer, and wear closed shoes with good grip for the paved but sometimes slick paths.

Give yourself at least a half day to see the cave without rushing. Walking down the Natural Entrance trail takes about an hour, and the Big Room loop takes another hour or more at an easy pace. Add time if you want to catch the evening bat flight in summer or take a guided ranger tour into other parts of the cave.

The park is open year-round, and the cave can be visited in every season since its temperature barely changes. The bat flight program runs only from about May through October, when the bats are roosting. Some ranger-guided tours and services run on a seasonal or limited schedule, so check the park website before you go.

The cave itself is comfortable any time of year. Summer is the busiest season and the only time to see the bat flight, but the desert above can be very hot then. Spring and fall bring milder weather above ground and lighter crowds, making them fine choices if the bats are not your main reason for coming.

Pets are not allowed in the cave or on the trails, and the desert heat makes leaving one in a vehicle dangerous. A kennel service near the visitor center can watch your pet while you are underground, for a fee. Check the park website for the current details before you arrive.

There is no lodge or developed campground inside the park, though backcountry camping is allowed with a permit. Most visitors stay in the nearby towns of Carlsbad or Whites City, both a short drive away, where you will find a range of places to sleep and eat before heading up to the cave.

Yes, and many travelers do. Guadalupe Mountains National Park lies about 35 miles southwest, just across the line in Texas, and holds the highest peak in that state. The two parks pair naturally into one trip, with Carlsbad's underground world and Guadalupe's rugged desert peaks close enough to see in a couple of days.