"The Stunning Underworld... " a Carlsbad Caverns National Park Travel Page by Shihar

Unless you have the expensive camera equip to record your visit memories, expect to be disappointed when your camera fails to capture what your eyes are seeing.

I realize that it is extremely hard to tell in the picture above, but as you walk torwards the natural entrance you will be greeted by dozens of cave swallows. This was a great highlight for me since we were visiting too early in the year to see the Mexican free-tail bats. The swallows are also seasonal but they co-habitate with the bats nicely during the summers.

In 1930, Congress declared Carlsbad Caverns a National Park. Since this time, the Caverns have expanded to include almost 47,000 total acres and 100 caves altogether.

Today, experienced cavers are continually finding new unknown treasures within the park. Recently, cavers requested a permit to explore a weird wind blowing from a small cave, Misery Hole. This exploration uncovered Lechugilla Cave which expands about 112 miles and contains a very fragile ecosystem. Lechugilla is not open to the public and recent studies have shown that the cave contains microbes that break down and destroy cancer cells.

The Caverns were formed approximately 250 million years ago when this region was a reef covered by an inland sea. Evenually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under salt and gypsum. After many natural geological happenings, the caves started to form drop by drop to be what they are today.This evolution of the ancient sea reef has also formed the nearby Guadalupe Mt. National Park.

There is about a 7 mile drive to the Visitor center. While on the drive you will see several types of agave,yucca, cacti and many other desert loving plants

The park is located off US 62/180, 20 miles southwest of Carlsbad, NM and 164 miles east of El Paso, TX.

G-rated please!-This is a family attraction?! The Breast is one of the famously named decor in the caves.

Will Rogers proclaimed the caverns to be "the Grand Cayon with a roof on it".

Here the Chihuahuan Desert has helped develop one of the worlds most deepest, largest, and ornate caverns ever discovered.