Wilderness Wandering

2/13/24

We drove the short 40 minutes from Guadalupe Mountain National Park to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. They are at two opposite ends of the Guadalupe Mountain range. 

Let me start by saying that for some reason both of us had short or low expectations for this park. 

Well, we were very wrong! We were blown away!

As we drove up a very scenic winding drive to the mountain top, we were very impressed with the beauty of the park structures. The park employee quarters were Adobe type structures and fit the land perfectly. The Visitor Center itself was probably the most beautiful one we have seen! It was also a south western style with beautiful native gardens around it. Inside, there were great exhibits, two fantastic gift shops with very unique items, and even a restaurant!

We watched the movie, took our photo and stamped our passport and checked in for our tour. 

We did the Natural Entrance Tour, which follows steep and narrow trails that the original explorers used. It is pretty incredible that the original explorers would descend this far into the earth on man made ladders! What brave people they were!

Signs at the beginning warn that you need to be in pretty good shape to do this tour. You start out by walking a mile and a half down a steep dark paved ramp into the cave. There is a handrail formed around all the structures that are close to the trail. One of the highlights was a single 200,000 ton Boulder that fell from the cave ceiling thousands of years ago. Then we toured The Big Room at our own pace. The path meanders around the perimeter of the Big Room for about a mile. The cave is truly spectacular! It is 8.2 acres, and one incredible wonder after another. There were a large variety of stalagmites and stalactites, some took millions of years to form. We were told that the cavern is so immense that the U.S. Capitol Building could fit inside it twice!!

Lion’s Tails

There are some hiking trails, but the main attraction is definitely the cave system. Most people only spend a few hours here. For that reason, there is no campground or hotel in the park.

Another huge attraction is The Bat Flight Program. From sometime in March through October, every night  400,000 to a million Brazilian Free Tailed Bats flutter out of the Natural Entrance. It would really be something to see!

They are still finding and exploring new areas of this cave system. 

We were truly impressed with the size and beauty of these caves.