The Carlsbad National Caverns National
Park & World Heritage Site is one of the great natural wonders of
the United States. Set in New Mexico’s Guadalupe Mountains, the
park and caverns occupy 46,766 acres, 33,125 of which are designated
Wilderness Area. Any visitors wishing to camp in the park must camp
in the Wilderness Area and a permit is required.
The Caverns themselves stretch for hundreds of miles and well over a
thousand feet beneath the park. Walking tours of the caverns are available
year round, with the summer months naturally being the most crowded.
There are over 100 known caves in the park. The most famous is perhaps
the jaw-dropping Big Room. This vast cave is on the route of one of
the self-guided tours, and is partially accessible for wheel chairs.
There are many guided tours, like the Spider Cave or the Hall of the
White Giants, but these tend to be more strenuous.
The most spectacular cave may be the Lechuguilla Cave. Only discovered
in the late 1980’s, it is the deepest limestone cave in the country,
and the 5th longest cave in the world. In is a fascinating ecosystem
of fantastic rock and mineral deposits and rare microscopic cave life.
Unfortunately this environment, though magnificent in size as it is
rare and beautiful, is quite delicate. Recent proposals by the Bureau
of Land Management to drill for oil and natural gas on lands adjacent
to the park may cause leaks into the caves, which would kill cave life
and possibly render them dangerous to human visitors.
Carlsbad Caverns is home to millions of
bats, including the Mexican Free-tail. At dusk the winged rodents exodus
from the cave can take up to 2 ½ hours.
