Our latest cave adventure, that gave me the idea of this series, was Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. This time we choose to visit twice. We were planning to meet up and camp with friends but did not want to wait for them to experience the cave. So the first day in the area, that happened to be my birthday, we headed for the park. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that access to the cave was included in our National Park Pass. The self-guided tour, either through the elevator or including the walk down the natural entrance, cost us nothing.
We choose to enter through the natural entrance. This doubles the tour length from 1.25 mile to 2.5 miles and is quite steep with a total drop of 750 feet.
This descending walk down to the main cave was itself as impressive as any other cave I have ever visited. As we walked down the steep switchbacks of the path and the last daylight faded behind us more and more cave formations appeared.
Once we completed the descent the trail of the main self-guided tour is mostly flat and very easy and accessible in comparison. The tour follows the perimeter of the Big Room. Covering 8.2 acres it is the largest accessible cave room in North America.
The Big Room is packed with fascinating cave formations. It is mind-boggling when you think about how long it takes for these formations to grow. Stalagtites, stalagmites, cave pop-corn, cave bacon, draperies... I'll let the pictures to the talking.
After visiting Carlsbad Caverns I have to say that it is now my favorite cave tours. It was filled with fantastic cave formations and because it was self-guided we could take our time and not worry about keeping up with a group. I would highly recommend anyone to visit if you ever have a chance. It was a great way to spend my birthday!
Thanks for following the journey of me and my family
as we travel and roadschool our kids around the USA.
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