National Park Week 2023 Day 2 – Carlsbad Caverns National Park!

A few months ago, during our cross-country trip, we visited Carlsbad Caverns in the southeast corner of New Mexico. This park exceeded all expectations! There were so many unique formations in such a huge cavern. Don’t worry about feeling claustrophobic. I think they said the main room was as big as a football field.

There are two ways to enter the caverns. The easier way is to go to the Visitors Center and take the elevator down the 750ft to the cavern rooms, which is what we did. If you’re more adventurous, you can go to the natural entrance and hike down yourself. It’s a little over a mile hike but steep and strenuous. If you’re driving into the park via Google Maps, be sure to map it to the correct entrance – either the Carlsbad Caverns Visitors Center or the Carlsbad Caverns Natural Entrance.

After exploring the exhibits in the Visitors Center a bit, it was time for our 750-foot elevator ride down to the caverns. Despite the huge descent, it was amazingly fast and smooth.

We walked the almost 2-mile paved loop around the Big Room caverns. They were huge! We spent about 2 hours down there, but we could’ve stayed even longer if we had explored some of the side rooms. These pictures don’t even capture the size and beauty of it all, but I tried. I think I took over 100 pictures, so here are just a few. There are some more on my Instagram (@adventures_by_anne), posted in mid-January 2023.

If you ever get a chance to go, do it!!! During certain times of the year, you can also go to the natural entrance and see tons of bats fly out for the night, which I heard is quite a sight to see. Unfortunately it wasn’t happening when we were there, but perhaps we’ll catch that on a future trip. We’ve been to other caverns around the country before, but this one tops them all. Amazing!

If you like caves, check out our visit to Mammoth Cave National Park.

If you are planning a trip here, there are many other places in the area to round out your trip. The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is pretty much next door, and the White Sands National Park is about three hours west, both of which are great for hiking. If you’re so inclined, you can visit the alien museums in Roswell, about two hours north. And, of course, there are many beautiful towns in between and further north.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat about planning a trip here.