It took us three attempts, but we finally made it up the road (a few hours) to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Our first two planned trips had to be rescheduled because #covid. I look forward to reading these posts in the future when Covid is but a distant memory. Carlsbad Caverns is a really cool cave system in southern New Mexico. You can pair this park with Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and you can also explore the town of Carlsbad.
Address and Location
You’ll find Carlsbad Caverns at 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It’s about a 30 minute drive southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico, and about 30 minutes northeast of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. If you’re heading up from El Paso, plan for a drive of about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Please note that Carlsbad is located in the Mountain Time Zone. Your phone, GPS, or car nav system may ping off a tower in Central Time, but you are in Mountain Time.
Cost
Reservations are required to tour the caverns. Walk-up tickets are not available. Each reservation costs $1, and you pay this online (or over the phone) at the time of reservation. You will check in with the National Park staff when you arrive at the Caverns. Admission to Carlsbad Cavern costs $15 per person and is valid for 3 days. You pay this at the time of your cavern tour and is in addition to the online reservation fee. As always, America the Beautiful pass holders receive free admission, though pass holders must also pay the online reservation fee.
What to Do
Before you arrive, make sure that your attire, shoes, and gear have not been worn in other caves. A contagious fungus is causing a disease in the bat population, so you don’t want to spread that. You will also walk across anti-fungal mats when you leave the caverns to kill any germies.
I would recommend bringing a flashlight or a headlamp. We brought headlamps (this is an affiliate link), and I tied it around my wrist. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes and bring a sweatshirt or long-sleeve shirt. The temperature underground remains pretty constant around 50 degrees.
Your tour time gets you entry into the caves for one hour. If your ticket starts at 9:30 am, you have until 10:30 am to enter the caves. You can either ride the elevator down or take the stairs to the main cave level. It’s about a 75-story drop, so keep that in mind if you are considering the stairs. Once underground, you can tour the caverns at your own pace. I think it took about two hours in total. You’ll also want to speak quietly. Voices carry and echo really well, so be considerate of others.
You’ll be able to explore a variety of path in different sections of the caverns. Several of the paths within the main cave are paved and accessible, though they aren’t level or even in most places. Signs mark where wheelchair access ends. The paths that aren’t fully paved are packed down. We opted to hike the Big Room Trail. If you want to hike down into the caverns, you can opt for the Natural Entrance Trail.
New Mexico National Park Service sites: Aztec Ruins National Monument | White Sands National Park | Fort Union National Historic Site | Pecos National Historic Park | Valles Caldera National Monument | Los Alamos – Manhattan Project National Historic Site | Bandelier National Monument | Carlsbad Caverns National Park | Gila Cliffs National Historic Site
