Carlsbad Caverns National Park

When visiting New Mexico, make sure to drive 20 miles south of Carlsbad to the Carlsbad National Park. Here you will find the largest caverns in the west. It is amazing what a little water and a lot of time can create.

Arriving At The Park

When you arrive at the park, it does not look like much. There are a few mountains you drive through and eventually you reach the visitor center. Once you enter the visitor center, you will immediately be bombarded by the different ticket prices and tours offered.

If your looking for a moderate walk and a reasonable price, I highly encourage you to go with the self-guided Natural Entrance and Big Room ticket. It costs six dollars per person and is well worth it.

The Natural Entrance

There are two ways of getting into the caverns. By elevator or by foot. The elevator takes less time but skips the coolest part of the adventure. I highly recommend walking because you get follow the path down into the cavern and see some awesome views.

It states that it is a difficult hike but I beg to differ. It is steep but fairly easy to walk if you are in decent shape. The path is gravel and cement so it isn't to hard to navigate especially since it has metal rails along the whole walk.

The Big Room

Once you arrive at the big room, you will be amazed at the size of this place. It is stated that the Big Room is larger than 16 football fields in length. Truly amazing!

There is a bottomless pit along this walk that is very interesting to see. The hike times are a little lenient so I would take them with a grain of salt. We were told that walking the two rooms would take around 3.5 hours but it only took us about 2.

A Place Worth Visiting

At a price of 6 dollars, this place cannot be beat. It offers some of the coolest views I have ever seen and will entertain people of all ages. I recommend taking your family here if you are ever in New Mexico or live within driving range. Check out this Carlsbad Caverns page for photos and details about the trip.