Location: Eddy County Map
Info: (575) 785- 2232, (800) 967- 2283
Open: May- Aug: 8:30am- 3:30pm daily
Sep- mid- May: 8:30am- 2pm
Area: 46,766 acres
Official site
What to see:
- Natural Entrance Tour
- Hall of Giants, Giant Dome on the big Room Tour
- deepest part of the cave during King's Palace Tour
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a national park
in the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico, USA. The park
got its name from the nearby town of Carlsbad (with a population of
25 thousand people), the administrative center of Eddy County in
this state.
The main attraction of the park is a chain of 80
karst caves, which are characterized by the diversity and beauty of
mineral formations. The age of the caves is 250 million years, the
depth is up to 339 m, the total length of all passages and halls is
about 12 km. The largest hall has the shape of the letter T with
dimensions in two directions of 610 and 335 m, a height of up to 87
m and an area of 5.7 hectares.
The park is home to 16 species
of bats with a total number of up to 1 million individuals.
The national park is open all year round, but most tourists visit it
mainly in the summer on weekends and holidays. The month with the
least number of visitors is January, the park is open 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, except for Christmas. Visitors can
independently descend into the cave to a depth of 230 meters or use
specially installed elevators.
The basic fee for the main cave is $10, Children
15 and under are free, good for three days. Headset rentals are an
extra $3 per person. The park also holds several free admission days
throughout the year. See the Fee and Reservation page for the dates.
There are several passes for groups traveling together in a
private vehicle or individuals on foot or on bike. These passes
provide free entry at national parks and national wildlife refuges,
and also cover standard amenity fees at national forests and
grasslands, and at lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management
and Bureau of Reclamation. These passes are valid at all national
parks including Carlsbad Caverns National Park:
The $80
Annual Pass (valid for twelve months from date of issue) can be
purchased by anyone. Military personnel can obtain a free annual
pass in person at a federal recreation site by showing a Common
Access Card (CAC) or Military ID.
U.S. citizens or permanent
residents age 62 or over can obtain a Senior Pass (valid for the
life of the holder) in person at a federal recreation site for $80,
or through the mail for $90; applicants must provide documentation
of citizenship and age. This pass also provides a fifty percent
discount on some park amenities. Seniors can also obtain a $20
annual pass.
U.S. citizens or permanent residents with permanent
disabilities can obtain an Access Pass (valid for the life of the
holder) in person at a federal recreation site at no charge, or
through the mail for $10; applicants must provide documentation of
citizenship and permanent disability. This pass also provides a
fifty percent discount on some park amenities.
Individuals who
have volunteered 250 or more hours with federal agencies that
participate in the Interagency Pass Program can receive a free
Volunteer Pass.
4th graders can receive an Annual 4th Grade Pass
that allows free entry for the duration of the 4th grade school year
(September-August) to the bearer and any accompanying passengers in
a private non-commercial vehicle. Registration at the Every Kid in a
Park website is required.
In 2018 the National Park Service will
offer four days on which entry is free for all national parks:
January 15 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), April 21 (1st Day of NPS
Week), September 22 (National Public Lands Day), and November 11
(Veterans Day weekend).
Several of the ranger-led activities
(see under "Do") require additional fees. Consult the NPS web site
below for more information. Backcountry activities (other than
surface day hikes) extending beyond the ranger-led tours require
permits.
Formation of limestone and caves
The early history of the caves
begins more than 260 million years ago in the Middle Permian with the
formation of a carbonate platform in an epicontinental sea that covered
the region at the time. This carbonate platform was fringed by a 600 km
long barrier reef, the Capitan Reef. Unlike modern coral reefs, much of
the corresponding reef limestone consists of the remains of sponges and
bryozoans. On the other hand, as today, encrusting calcareous algae
played an important role in reef growth. At the end of the Permian, the
connection between the sea and the ocean was severed. As a result of the
hot and dry climate, seawater evaporated, reef-building organisms died,
and the carbonate platform was buried under salt and gypsum deposits.
A few million years ago the area began to rise and weathering and
erosion began to uncover parts of the ancient carbonate platform.
Weathering also attacked the limestone underground. Rainwater,
acidifying carbon dioxide from the air and in the living upper soil
horizons, seeped into cracks in the reef limestone, slowly dissolving it
from within, enlarging cracks into cracks. This process, known as
karstification, ultimately led to today's large caves. At about the same
time, hydrogen sulfide gas rose from the vast gas and oil reservoirs
beneath the reef limestone. This reacted with the free oxygen in the
groundwater to form sulfuric acid and supported the dissolving process
of the lime. The Permian reef limestone now builds up much of the
Guadalupe Mountains and the Carlsbad Caverns are among the largest caves
in the region.
Formation of the stalactite formations
The
formation of stalactites and stalagmites and many other bizarre
formations inside the cave is closely linked to the karstification
processes. Every drop of rain that seeps into the cave loosens a bit of
limescale on its way. If it is exposed to the air in the cave and some
of the water evaporates, limescale is again separated from the water. So
there is a constant process of lime dissolution and precipitation that
produces the most wonderful formations.
The caves are home to a maximum of around one million Mexican
free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis). At the last census (2005)
around 400,000 to 500,000 were counted. Due to a decade-long drought in
the region, there are fewer insects for the Mexican freetails to feed
on. When food is scarce, the bats seek out other summer territories.
During the day they hang tightly packed on the ceiling of the
so-called Bat Cave, a side cave near the natural entrance. This part of
the cave is closed to the public and only accessible to researchers.
When night falls, gigantic swarms of bats set off in search of food.
This spectacle can be watched from the semicircular theater at the
entrance.
The Bat Cave serves as a weatherproof shelter for the
bats and, more importantly, as a breeding place for their young. The
bats migrate from Mexico to the caves every year to have their young
here in June. When the mothers go out foraging at night, the young are
left in the burrow. In July or August, the young usually take off on
their first flight attempts, and in October or November they begin the
return journey to their winter quarters in Mexico.
Over a thousand years ago, the cave was already visited by the
Indians to seek protection from the weather. Many wall drawings near the
natural entrance date from this period.
Around 1900 settlers
discovered the cave after noticing the huge swarms of bats. Some began
mining stocks of guano to sell as a natural fertilizer. The cave was
first explored by a cowboy named James Larkin White, who was fascinated
by the cave and spent a lot of time exploring it. However, his tales of
huge subterranean spaces were only believed when he was able to back
them up with photos. The legend of the discovery of the cave by White is
used by Max Frisch in his novel Stiller.
In 1923 an official
inspection was carried out by the Ministry of the Interior. As a result,
the cave was first declared a national monument and later a national
park.
Exploration of the cave continues to this day. The second
largest room in the cave, the Guadalupe Room, was not discovered until
1966. Even more recent discoveries include the Bifrost room in 1982 and
Chocolate High (1993).