Carlsbad Caverns National Park
National Park · Carlsbad, New Mexico
A reef that grew in a Permian sea about 265 million years ago was later lifted, buried and then dissolved from below by sulphuric acid rising off oil deposits, which is why the chambers here are so much larger than ordinary limestone caves. The Big Room is nearly 4,000 feet long and about 255 feet high at its tallest, one of the largest cave chambers in North America, and it is reached either by a 750-foot elevator drop or on foot down the Natural Entrance, which switchbacks into the ground for a mile and a quarter. Formations run from delicate soda straws to columns the size of buildings. More than 119 caves are known in the park and most are closed. From spring to autumn several hundred thousand Brazilian free-tailed bats leave the Natural Entrance at dusk in a spiral that takes half an hour to empty, watched from an amphitheatre where phones and cameras are banned outright, because electronics disturb the bats and the rule is enforced.
727 Carlsbad Caverns Hwy, Carlsbad, New Mexico, 88220, United States
Cave open daily. Self-guided entry: 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM (varies seasonally). Closed Christmas Day.
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