Visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico reaches a depth of approximately 1,600 feet (488 meters) below the surface. The most famous chamber, known as the Big Room, is located about 750 feet (229 meters) underground. Visitors can reach the Big Room by either hiking down the 1.25-mile (2 km) Natural Entrance Trail or by taking an elevator that descends directly from the visitor center. The caverns feature numerous other chambers and passages at varying depths, showcasing stunning limestone formations and unique geological features.

Carlsbad Caverns Natiional Park is located in southeastern New Mexico not far from the southern border with Texas. It is about 303 miles southeast of Albuquerque if you drive the quickest route.

If you stop at White Sands National Park then it is 237 miles from there and takes about 3.5 hours. White Sands is about 224 miles south of Albuquerque. We ended up driving to White Sands and staying the night in Alamogordo and then driving to Carlsbad and staying near Carlsbad overnight which worked out perfectly for us.

From Santa Fe it is about 294 miles and takes a little over 4.5 hours.

Carlsbad Caverns is a large park, covering a surface area of 46,766 acres or 73 square miles. The Caverns "Big Room" at 8.2 acres, is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world. The Cavern has a number of underground chambers, including one of the largest ever discovered. The total length of the rooms and passages is still unknown, but the explored part of the main cavern is more than 30 miles long, of which 3 miles are open to visitors. Of the three major levels, the deepest is 1,027 feet below ground level.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico has a geologic history that began around 250 million years ago when the area was the coastline of an inland sea. The warm, shallow sea created a 400-mile-long horseshoe-shaped reef made of algae, sponges, seashells, and calcite. The reef was buried by salts and gypsum when the sea evaporated, but tectonic movement later uplifted it above ground. Over time, water eroded the Guadalupe Mountains into their current shape.

The reef deposit is now the 750-foot-thick Capitan Limestone formation, which makes up most of the park. Rain and snowmelt soak into the limestone, drip into the cave below, and evaporate, leaving behind a small amount of mineral-rich calcite. This process has been decorating the cave with speleothems, or cave formations, for millions of years.

In the late 19th century, the first recorded exploration took place by a local rancher named Jim White. His exploration revealed the caverns’ stunning formations, including the famous Big Room which is one of the largest underground chambers in North America. Pictographs in the cave entrance indicate a long history of Indigenous visitation for thousands of years prior to White’s explorations.

Carlsbad caverns was designated as a National Monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923. In 1930, the park was upgraded to a National Park and it attracts visitors from around the world. It was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.

People often ask, “How far down is Carlsbad Caverns ?” - It is 750 feet below the ground’s surface. Surprisingly, the surface area on top of the caves was completely flat for miles and miles so it was fascinating to find out that the caves existed below. We were used to seeing caves in more mountainous areas such as the Blue Ridge Mountains, or the Mountains of Germany and Austria. We’d never really considered caves being carved beneath the desert floor.

Our only benchmark in the United States for visiting caverns was visiting Luray Caverns in Virginia which is only 64 acres. In doing some research we found out that Carlsbad is about 31 times the size of Luray. However, we discovered that there are several cave systems in the United States that are larger than Carlsbad.

These include:

• Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) - 420 miles and the longest cave system in the world.
• Jewel Cave (South Dakota) - Over 210 miles and is one of the longest caves in the world.
• Wind Cave (South Dakota) - Over 150 miles and known for its boxwork formations.
• Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico) - This cave has over 150 miles of explored passages and is actually in Carlsbad National Park but is not open to the public.

Click here to view a Wikipedia list of the World's largest cave systems.

Visitors can access the caverns via a natural entrance or by an elevator that descends the 750 feet into the depths of the cave.

The walk down the Natural Entrance into Carlsbad Caverns is approximately 1.25 miles (2 kilometers). This descent involves a series of switchbacks and can take around 1.5 to 2 hours to complete, depending on your pace and how often you stop to enjoy the views and formations along the way.The trail provides a dramatic entry into the cave system, showcasing impressive geological features as you walk. It’s a popular route for visitors who prefer a more adventurous and immersive experience compared to taking the elevator.

The elevator is ideal for those short on time or that don’t have the capability or inclination to walk down the natural trail. The self guided tour enters the "Big Room" after you pass through the airlock. The air lock allows the caverns humdity level to remain at a near constant of 90%. In addition, the temperature is a constant 56 degrees farenheit (you need to dress accordingly).

Once you are in the Big Room you can walk the self-guided trail which is about 1.25 miles long. Keep this in mind when you are deciding whether to walk in or whether to take the elevator. The big room loop takes about 1 to 2 hours to complete depending on how many photos you take along the way.

Parts of the Big Room loop are flat and accessible. However, we did notice that people on motorized scooters could not complete the entire trail due to how narrow it gets in certain parts. Nevertheless there is a lot of the big room that can be explored by people with wheel chairs or scooters and it’s well worth visiting.

Along the route you will see many of the cavern’s most famous features, including stalactites (hang down from the ceiling), stalagmites (rising up from the ground), columns and flowstone formations.

One additional very cool thing to do at Carlsbad Caverns is to view the bats. The Bat Cave area of Carlsbad Caverns is a maternity roost for mainly Brazilian free-tailed bats which roost here from early spring through October. The bats fly to Mexico and further south for the winter months.

Every evening thousands of bats exit the cave and head to the Pecos and Black river valleys to feast on night-flying insects. Remarkably, each bat eats more than half of their body weight in insects in a single night. This exodus from the caves can last from 20 minutes to 2 or more hours. With the coming of dawn each bat flies back to the cave.

There is a large amphitheater by the bat cave that allows you to sit and watch the bats as they emerge and fly away at sunset. It’s an amazing event and worth planning to return to the park or visit later in the day to witness it.

Being a bit off of the beaten path Carlsbad Caverns tends to draw fewer visitors than other National Parks. It’s more of a niche destination compared to the broader appeal of other parks and draws somewhere around one half million visitors annually. It doesn’t come close to the visitation at parks like the Great Smoky Mountains or the Grand Canyon.

Date/Timed entry tickets are required for Carlsbad Caverns and timed entry is required in addition to paying the entrance fee or using your National Park Pass for entry.

We recommend getting tickets online in advance. You can make reservations up to 30 days in advance. We were able to utilize our National Park Service (NPS) Lifetime "Senior Lifetime Pass" to visit Carlsbad National Park. We have had this pass now for over ten years and have used it over & over again anytime we visit any NPS facility. The pass is a huge bargain, and one that we would heartily propose you investigate. Click here to visit the National Park Page for more info about how to obtain your own pass.

• You can make reservations for Carlsbad Caverns at the Recreation.GOV website.
• Entrance Fee without a Park Pass: It is currently under 16 is free 16 and older: $15.
• Carlsbad Caverns Hours: Visitor Center: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Last Cavern Entrance Ticket: 2:15 pm.
• Cavern Elevators: Into the cavern: 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, Last elevator out of the cavern: 4:45 PM.
• Hike into the Cavern: 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, last time to hike out of the cavern: 2:30 PM.

Click here to verify information at their official website.

The City of Carlsbad has numerous reasonably priced hotels to choose from if you plan to stay overnight in the area and is only 20 miles from the park entrance. This is a reasonably sized city and there should be hotel options for whichever loyalty programs you belong to.

We stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites in Carlsbad which was directly on National Parks Highway which is the main route in the City. For a 2 star hotel we found it very comfortable and reasonable with friendly service. As of this writing, It receives 4.2 stars on google reviews.

Some other highly rated options:

• The Trinity Hotel & Restaurant - a 3 star hotel that has a 4.5 rating on google reviews. It is Housed in an 1892 bank building in the downtown area, this low-key hotel is 2.6 miles from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park information center and 5.7 miles from Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park.
• Candlewood Suites Carlsbad - 2 star hotel with a 4.6 review rating on google. Quotes from reviewers: “one of the best extended stay hotels around”, “great attitude and very friendly”, “full kitchens and onsite laundry”.
• Townplace Suites Carlsbad - 2-star hotel with a 4.4 review rating on google. Quotes from reviewers: “Breakfast, on point”, “the rooms are large and clean”. This hotel can get expensive so check the rates and compare it to others to see if it’s worth the price.
• Home2 Suites by Hilton Carlsbad - 3-star hotel with a 4.4 review rating on google. Quotes from reviewers: “the stay was perfect”, “great clean and professional”. This hotel can also get expensive depending on when you are going to be there so check the rates and compare it to others to see if it’s worth the price.

Google (as of 8/22/2024) says that there are 54 accommodations in Carlsbad, NM. Click here to view a Google Search Results list of all of them.

• When is the park open and how much does it cost? The park is open every day, except December 25, weather and road conditions permitting. Purchase cave tickets at the visitor center information desk. A general admission ticket is required for anyone entering Carlsbad Cavern. Adults 16 years and older are $6, children 15 and younger are free. There are additional fees for guided tours.
• What facilities are in the cave? Restrooms, drinking fountains and a snack bar are located in the underground lunchroom near the elevators only. On the surface, there are restrooms, fountains, a bookstore, a restaurant and a gift shop.
• Can we take pictures in the cave? Yes, but remember that camera flashes will not light much of the cave. Cameras, including video cameras and cell phone cameras, are not permitted during the bat exit flight.

The National Park Service has an excellent "FAQ" which can be viewed by clicking here.

Our Carlsbad Caverns visit took place on day 5 of our Southwest Road-Trip and our plan was to do the 166 mile drive from Alamogordo to Carlsbad, with stops at the Tunnel Vista Observation Site on U.S. Highway 82 and Trestle Depot Recreation Area in Cloudcroft, NM. Since we had date/time advanced reservations at the Caverns, we did not have to worry about anything except where to park our rental car at the correct time.

Tunnel Vista Observation Site

This was our first stop, only 10 miles from our Alamogordo Hotel and on the western edge of the Lincoln National Forest. It is located on U.S. Highway 82 and it is high enough to where the view looking west over the Tularosa Basin, is very good.

There are no amenities here, but the turnout style parking lot is large and the Fresnel Creek below the parking lot has carved a small canyon. It was accessible at one point, but there is now a stout fence that precludes anyone from climbing down into the canyon.

We had originally planned on entering the Trestle Depot Recreation Area and hiking the Trestle Trail, but we were making such good time on our drive to Carlsbad that we arrived in Cloudcroft, NM prior to the opening time. So we stopped at Trestle Visa Observation Site point on U.S. Highway 82 and got some imagery and video.

The Trestle is a massive wooden railroad bridge built in 1889. It's a testament to the engineering marvels of the era and still stands today, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The rail line from El Paso, TX was completed to Cloudcroft on January 25, 1900.

Today's Trestle visitors can hike the Cloud-Climbing Trestle Trail, which follows the old railway path, offering scenic views and a glimpse into the past. The town of Cloudcroft, NM was the end point for this railroad, as trains used to service this mountain area from much warmer desert cities else where such as; El Paso, TX and Alamogordo, NM, etc. The 8,675 elevation of Cloudcroft was considered to be healthy and a lot cooler than cities in the desert areas.

The Cloudcroft Railroad ceased operating in 1947 and the rail line was abandoned. As you can see in our images, the railroad trestle was blocked off at both ends.

In the trip menu list below, a "dark filled circle" represents a destination where we stayed, and the "dark filled arrow" items below that circle location, represent the destinations we visited while in that city or location.

Click any link below to go directly to that page;

 Trip Overview Page

 Albuquerque, NM

• Sandia Peak Tramway
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Old-Town Albuquerque
• National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

 Alamogordo, NM

• McGinn's PistachioLand Farm
• White Sands National Park

 Carlsbad, NM

• Tunnel Vista Observation Site
• Trestle Depot Recreation Area
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park

 Roswell, NM

• International UFO Museum

 Santa Fe, NM

• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, NM
• Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, NM
• Ojo Santa Fe Spa Resort, NM
• Bradbury Science Museum - Los Alamos, NM
• Los Alamos, NM
• Bandelier National Monument, NM
• Nambé Falls, NM
• Meow Wolf, NM

 Chaco Culture National Historical Park, NM

 Bisti Badlands, NM

 Monument Valley

 Grand Canyon, AZ

• Planning Your Grand Canyon Visit
• Grand Canyon South Rim Top Sites and Itineraries
• Grand Canyon El Tovar Hotel

 Sedona, AZ