Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico—It’s really big
When you stand outside a visitor center of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, everything in the landscape around you looks typical of the Chihuahuan Desert—cacti, yuccas, ocotillos, and creosote bushes. It’s hard to imagine that there is a whole other subterranean world underneath, the world full of speleotherms, such as stalagmites, stalactites, columns, draperies. Unlike many other caves to which I have been, the depth and size of Carlsbad Cavern are extraordinary and mind-blowing. It’s a place worth experiencing in person.
David and I took a trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park last month. It’s approximately 3.5-hour drive from El Paso, Texas. To enter Carlsbad Cavern you will need to reserve a timed entry ticket ($1 per ticket) for each person, in addition to the standard park pass. Be sure to check out the park’s website for planning your trip.
The highlight of Carlsbad Cavern is the Big Room. According to the park’s website, the Big Room is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America. The Big Room Trail is a 1.25-mi (2 km) relatively level trail. It takes about 1.5 hours to complete. There are two options to access the Big Room, which is about 750 ft underground (equivalent to a 75-story building). One is via elevators from the visitor center and another via the natural entrance of the cave. The Natural Entrance Trail to the Big Room is about 1.25 mi (2 km) and lose or gain 750 ft in elevation depending on if you hike down or up. We opted to hike down the trail and to return by the elevator. The Natural Entrance Trail is steep but well-paved with handrails throughout.
Photographing using handheld cameras including the use of flash is permitted in the cave. You just can’t use camera stands such as tripods or monopods. I took photos of the cave formations using iPhone with night mode turned on and it seemed to work pretty well without using flash. Now, let’s show you the photos from the trip.
Map of location of Carlsbad Caverns National Park Guadalupe Mountains from U.S. Highway 62/180Map of Carlsbad Cavern showing the Big Room Trail and the Natural Entrance TrailPath to the natural entrance of the caveA switchback path descends into the caveLooking back up at the cave entranceWalking through last natural light before entering the cave’s dark zone. All light sources in the next and subsequent cave pictures are artificial.The Natural Entrance Trail winds deeper into the cave. These chambers are gigantic and keep going down into the earth.Fascinating formations in Carlsbad CavernA cave formation called Whales Mouth is an example of draperies (or cave curtains) and flowstone.Different types of cave formationsThe Big Room TrailThe ceiling of some parts of the Big Room is full of delicate-looking stalactites.The Big Room seems to go on forever. It’s really big.There are no campgrounds in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, so we stayed at Pine Springs Campground in a nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, which is about 45 min away. There is an RV park near the junction of Highway 62/180 and the Carlsbad Cavern Highway. There are also free BLM campground and dispersed camping area off Highway 62/180 between Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Cavern National Park. However, we didn’t stop by to scout them out.
Have you been to Carlsbad Cavern or any other caves that impressed you?
Camping at Pine Springs Campground in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The RV site is just a reserved parking spot with a picnic table, but it served our need.Guadalupe Mountains at sunsetNight sky from our camping spot in Guadalupe Mountains National Park #Campervan #CarlsbadCavernsNationalPark #GuadalupeMountainsNationalPark #Hiking
