December 21, 2022

CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK

Carlsbad, NM 88220

“Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico.  The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern.  Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4000 ft long, 625 ft wide, and 255 ft high at its highest point.  The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 31st largest in the world.” – Wikipedia

During much of my visit to the Big Room in Carlsbad Cavern the line from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ song “Thrift Shop” kept going through my mind.  You know the line, “This is F***ing Awesome!”  Generally, I’m a little nervous about going into a cave as I’m a little claustrophobic, but I had no problem here.  I took the elevator down instead of walking from the natural entrance, which would have added about 1.25 miles of walking to the tour.  As it was, the Big Room self-guided tour was 1.25 miles of walking along a paved path through some magnificent underground features, most of which defy description.  The park ranger at the ticket booth said it would take 1.5 hours to walk the loop…it took me almost 2 hours because I kept stopping to take pictures.

My only regret was not renting the audio tour device as I would have liked to have heard about some of the cave’s formations.  I was also a little perturbed with some people who weren’t following the “whisper” directive given before entering the cave.  I can understand young children having an issue with this, but it was the adults I was disappointed in. 

I truly believe if I get the chance I will return, maybe taking the Natural Entrance next time.