Carlsbad Caverns National Park

I accidentally skipped Carlsbad Canyon National Park as I simply forgot the order in which we traveled. Whoops!

Initial thought on Carlsbad…you should definitely see this AFTER you’ve seen Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. As I’m sure you remember from a previous post, we found Mammoth Cave to be amazing! And it truly was. A lot of great history to read and a lot of freedom to walk around. But as far as the scale in which the caves stretch and the sheer wonder of it all, Carlsbad is far more spectacular. If you see Mammoth after Carlsbad you’re thought on Mammoth may be “meh”.

The fam stayed three days on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land for three days, which was a record. For those who don’t know what this means, it’s a few things:

1.       No fees. It’s free and you can park wherever you like within a certain “area” designated as the BLM camping area.

2.       No reservations needed.

3.       No electricity, water or sewer.

Staying on BLM land means a lot of prior, proper planning. We have to make sure the following is in order:

1.       Water tanks are full of clean water.

a.       Percolator is full.

b.       Water jug is full.

c.       Water bottles are full.

2.       Gas tanks have plenty of gas.

3.       Batteries are charged.

4.       Gray water and black water tanks are empty.

5.       Ice has been made and in bags waiting in the freezer.

6.       All heads of hair have been washed. 😊

Without this, we could run out of room in toilet for…well, you know. We could run out of water in the gray water tanks, which means we’re standing in a pool of water in the shower or our dish water will not drain. We could run out of clean water for drinking or washing or brushing teeth. We won’t be able to cook without the gas. Remember no electricity so without gas, no cooking, no microwaving. And in this part of the country at this time of year there are no charcoal grills allowed nor can we light firewood in a fire pit. Anyway, three nights. Record. Check.

Back to Carlsbad…

As we are walking into the cave (within the first 20 feet), there sits a tarantula. Umm….what? I thought those things only existing in scary movies and zoos. There it was crawling on the ground right where we were walking. 

We got into cave and the option was given to either take the elevator down to the “Big Room” or walk down at least 100 switchbacks at a very steep grade. We opted for walking. And in our naivety, we thought we’d be walking it back up. Heh! Heh! Little did we know.

By the time we got down to the bottom it had been 45 minutes, took a walk around the “Big Room” and then made the very wise decision to take the elevator back up. Call us quitters or smart, you’ll never know until you’ve been there yourself. 😉

Our visit was complete with a Junior Ranger badge and a brain containing knowledge of stalagmites, stalactites and some really neat rock formations that have been formed over thousands of year. It’s a must-see!