Our last stop on our southwest tour (after Lubbock and Roswell) was Carlsbad, New Mexico.  My folks took me there when I was a kid and I had a great time.  It was 1985 and The Goonies was my favorite movie.  The Goonies spent a lot of time in a cave so I hoped to have a similar adventure.  Unfortunately, there was no One Eye Willy at the end of the Carlsbad Caverns tour, but I still remember it fondly.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
There are a number of different tours covering many different caves and spelunking (caving) skill levels. We took the Main Entrance and Big Room Tour.  The hike is mostly downhill and there are plenty of places to rest if you need a break.  Temperatures in the caverns stay in the low 50s year round and it's also quite humid so dress accordingly.
 
The Main Entrance features stalactites (formations from the ceiling)  and stalagmites (from the floor) that can only be described as an awesome.  The sizes of some of the caves are hard to fathom as there is nothing in the room to help put it in perspective.  Some of the caves are 350 feet tall and others are 4000 feet across.  Many areas have imaginative names given by Jim White, an early explorer, like Talcum Passage, Balloon Ballroom, Lake of the Clouds, Chocolate High and the Queen’s Chamber.

At the end of the Main Entrance hike is a cafeteria and gift shop 750 feet below ground and even a post office so you can mail a postcard from underneath the earth. On a side note, the gift shop in the cave sells the same things as the gift shop upstairs so save yourself the hassle by waiting to buy that souvenir until the end.  I learned that one the hard way.  I had to carry the bag for several hours, not that it was heavy, it was just a pain to carry it, hold the audio tour device and try to take pictures.  It was like driving a stick shift car and eating at the same time.

After the cafeteria we toured the Big Room, it’s not a clever name, it really is a big room.  The audio tour tries to put the size into perspective but it is really too much to comprehend.  Some of the cool things to look for in the Big Room were the Painted Grotto, the Bottomless Pit, and the Rock of Ages.  All the paths on these tours were paved, but were slick due to moisture in the cave.  We spent a good half day at Carlsbad Caverns, I am guessing you might allow more time during busy times of the year like the summer months.  One interesting fact: the greatest danger to the cavern formations is dust from humans visiting.  After we finished the Big Room tour, the path led us back to the cafeteria, where an elevator took us up to ground level.  After all that walking I was glad I did not have to hike back out.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park
About thirty minutes south of Carlsbad (and technically in Texas) is the entrance to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The park is mostly for campers, hikers and horseback riding.  There is only one major road through the park.  The National Parks Service wants to keep the park in its natural state for people who like to “rough it”.  We did not stay the night.  “Roughing it” is not our idea of fun.  My idea of roughing it involves staying at a cheap hotel and not renting the key to turn on the TV. 
 
There is a visitor’s center at Pine Springs which had exhibits on the park and a gift shop.  This national park’s most popular attraction is El Capitan, which was used as a landmark by people traveling by stagecoach. You can get some nice pictures of El Capitan from Highway 180.  The stretch of highway from Carlsbad Caverns will take you past the Visitors Center, over Guadalupe Pass and near the base of El Capitan; it is considered a Scenic Byway in TripTik Travel Planner. 

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
This was one of the smaller zoos I have been to, but it was very well done.  The zoo sits on a mountain top and offers views of the desert and the city of Carlsbad. The cages are long and narrow, so we got an up close view of the animals that usually hide in the back of their cages.  We were watching the lions walk around and you could actually hear them purring.  I had no idea the big cats purred, the low bass purr was almost soothing. 

The zoo is also home to Maggie the bear. A sign in front of her cage tells you to call her name and she will come out.  We hollered Maggie and sure enough she popped her head out to see us, it was pretty cool. One of the zoo’s highlights is their collection of endangered gray wolves. They are majestic muscular creatures constantly on the move, at least while we were there.  I will warn you they move fast as they run around their enclosure.  So if you are taking a picture, you might “lead” them a little bit.


Click on the map to see more attractions, as well as AAA Approved lodgings and restaurants, with a TripTik Travel Planner map of Carlsbad.