We had no idea what to do (besides knowing there was a cave) when we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. While there we talked to a ranger and put together a great plan to visit this amazing national park over 2 days!
Table of Contents
Here is our 2 day plan for visiting the caverns
Day 1
Visitor Center
Plan on making the Visitor center your first stop. This is something we do whenever we visit a national park. Really for 3 reasons.
1 – We need to get our sticker (priorities :)).
2 – The Rangers are great for helping us figure out what we should do at the park.
3 – We can pick up Junior Ranger books for the kids.
Visitor Center Museum and Movie
The visitor center museum isn’t huge but it is well worth a visit to help you learn about the park. I personally really liked the model of the Visitor Center and the elevator showing how far down you go into the cave.
They also have a movie that talks about how the caves were formed.
Big Room
There is a ticket booth in the visitor center if you want to do a guided tour or if you want to visit the self guided Big Room or the Natural Entrance. If you have a National Park pass you can get in for free to the Big Room or Natural Entrance. If not you will have to pay per person (kids 15 and under are free).
Once checking in there and getting tickets we headed over to the elevator (again in the Visitor Center) and a Park Ranger does an intro with some rules and then they put you in the elevator. . . that takes you 750 down into the Big Room!
Once you reach the bottom you get off and we couldn’t even believe it – there is a gift shop, snack shop and regular bathrooms right in the cave. Go figure! From here you can go on the self guided walk around the Big Room.
It is about 1 1/4 mile around and is a nice even walk most of the time with a couple of places that have a steep incline or decline. They do not allow strollers and there are sections that are not wheelchair friendly.
As you walk around the Big Room there are signs that you can stop to read to learn more about the caverns. The caverns are lighted the whole way through so you can always get a good view of the amaziness of the caverns!
Bat Flight
If you are there the right time of year (May – October but check their site to confirm) you can watch 100’s of 1,000’s of Brazilian free tailed bats fly out of the Natural Entrance of the caverns. Prior to the flight the ranger does a brief discussion before the bats start flying.
Once they start flying everyone is told to be quiet. And prior to that the ranger has everyone TURN OFF not just put on silent but actually turn off their phones. They have done studies and the phones bother the bats when they are on so everything must be turned off.
The bats then fly out of the cave and we had heard it could last as long as 3 hours! Don’t worry you don’t have to stay there for the whole thing. You can stay as long as you would like and then quietly walk out.
It was quite the site and well worth being there to see it! If you want you can head out before sunset and catch the sunset over the Chihuahuan desert from the Visitor Center. A New Mexico sunset is beautiful.
Day 2
Hike down the Natural Entrance
T-shirt and hats from https://besawyer.com/. We LOVE their clothes!
The Natural Entrance takes you back to the Big Room. But instead of taking the elevator you take a trail that starts from the same entrance the bats flew out of the night before . . . never fear the bats are sleeping now.
The 1 1/4 mile trail has a variety of switch backs and inclines and declines as you make your way 750 feet down into the Big Room. The trail itself has lots of great things you can see. And the nice thing is when you get the bottom you can either choose to walk the Big Room trail again or just head straight to the elevator for the 750 foot trip up. Our kids were really happy they didn’t have to hike up and out of the caverns!
Our 6 year old completed the whole thing by himself and again with most of it being downhill it wasn’t that difficult of a hike. We have heard it can be slick and there were some steep inclines and declines so keep that in mind.
In order to get to the Natural Entrance Trail you will need to go back into the Visitor Center and check in at the tour desk (same one you did for the Big Room). You can use your National Park pass again to get in for free.
Once you have your recipet in hand you walk down to the trail entrance – where a Ranger is waiting to take your ticket, give you a brief overview with some rules, and send you onto the trail.
Junior Ranger Program
When you take the elevator up you end up back at the Visitor Center. We opted to walk around the museum area again and then found a table to sit down to work on the Junior Ranger books with the kids.
Once done they got sword in as Junior Rangers and got their Carlsbad Caverns badge.
Guide Tour
If you enjoy guided tours you could choose to do one of them in the afternoon. The National Park Service offers a variety of tours. We opted for not doing any guided tours as we know our kids do better when they can walk at their own pace.
One of the highlights of the tours is seeing the Queens Chamber on the Kings Palace tour.
Or you could chose to go on a caving tour by visiting the Lower Cave with a guide.
Guadeloupe Mountain Brewing Company
If a guided tour isn’t your thing then you can head out to the city of Carlsbad New Mexico and stop at a brewery. The wine was really good at the brewery too!
Information on the Caverns
The Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Centers hours are different for summer compared to Labor Day to Memorial Day so be sure to check their site for hours. Also know that they set a time to close the Natural Entrance (2pm or 3:30 depending on the time of year so earlier in the day). This is a good thing since you don’t want to be there when the bats come out!
And the same for the Big Room elevator that stops taking people down at certain times (3:30 or 5pm depending on time of year)
Make sure to check their site in case times have changed.
What To Wear
The cave is around 56 degrees but remember you are walking around so we would recommend layers. Everyone had on a sweatshirt or t-shirt and we were fine.
We also did the Big Room in sandals . . . and it was OK. But if you plan ahead just wear shoes. It just makes sense :).
For the Natural Entrance shoes would definitely be recommended.
Where To Stay
RV Park – White’s City
This was basically a parking lot but it is really close to the Carlsbad entrance and we could be to the Visitor Center in 15 minutes. This was great since we could go do the Big Room then come back for lunch before heading back to the Bat Flight.
If you don’t have an RV consider renting an RV for your trip!
Hotel – White’s City
We didn’t walk into this hotel but it is located right across from the RV park so for the same reasons above it makes sense to stay here if you are here to see the Caverns.
Cool Facts
Lechuguilla cave is the deepest limestone cave in the country – unfortunately you can’t go down there. It is currently only used for scientific research.
Other Things To Do In The Area
Bandelier National Monument – See the homes of ancestral Puebloans.
Rattlesnake Springs – A nice oasis to visit in the area.
Wilderness Area – There is a large wilderness area around the caves that can be explored.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park – Located in Texas.
A little farther away is White Sands National Park – which we highly recommend!
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She loves being outside and exploring new places which is all made better when doing it with family and friends!
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