A couple of weeks ago, Dan got an email from his friend Jeff (the man who married us) saying that he and his family would be coming down from Canada over Easter weekend to visit family and friends in Carlsbad, NM and baptize his 11-year old daughter in the Pecos River. He asked if we would join them to take a few family photos and celebrate the baptism and we said, “absolutely!”As many of you know, Carlsbad is the home of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and its 110-plus underground caves and thousands upon thousands of Mexican free-tail bats! Yep! Hundreds of thousands! They migrate from Mexico in the early spring and stay through October. During the day, the bats crowd together and roost on the ceiling of the Bat Cave, an off-limits passageway near the cave’s natural entrance. At night, the bats leave the cave in huge, black swarms and fly south to the river valleys and feed on moths and other flying insects. Unfortunately, since the bats are only part-time residents and because their migration from Mexico reaches its peak in mid-May, we were not able to participate in either of the park’s bat flight programs (the evening exodus or pre-dawn return), but we did stop and watch a small number of bats catch and eat bugs around one of the lamp posts at our KOA!
As for the caverns themselves, the official address for the park’s visitor center is listed as 727 National Parks Highway in Carlsbad, but, to be completely accurate, the caverns are actually located 55 miles south of Carlsbad in Whites City along New Mexico Highway 7. That said, there wasn’t too terribly much to see between Carlsbad and Whites City, but the 7-mile drive from the park gate at Whites City to the park’s visitor center and cave entrance was absolutely gorgeous (or at least it was while we were there)! Truthfully, I have never seen so many flowering cactuses! Yellow prickly pear, orange ocotillo, and pink cholla! Wow!
There are two different tour options for exploring the caverns - ranger-guided and self-guided. We opted for the 2 mile, self-guided tour via the natural entrance, as opposed to the shorter self-guided tour via the elevator. We snapped the photo in the upper right hand corner of this post moments before we began our descent into the cave. Isn’t the entrance amazing?
This is my second visit to Carlsbad and, whether you enter the caverns on foot or descend by elevator, I must say that you will not be disappointed by what you see when you reach the bottom! The underground chambers and speleothem formations (stalactites, stalagmites, etc.) are just spectacular!
We also visited Sitting Bull Falls, which, despite our “too-close-for-comfort” encounter with a grumpy rattlesnake (yikes!), was one of the best parts of the trip and well worth the drive! It’s literally a secret garden in the middle of the Chihuhuan desert and I’m so glad we took the time to find it! Attached below are a few photos from our visit to the 150-foot waterfall.
All in all, Carlsbad is a pretty neat little place! It has a drive-in movie theater and at least one very awesome swimming area, the Carlsbad Beach at Lamont Street Park, along the Pecos River. The baptism was performed at Carlsbad Beach and I was really, really impressed with the facilities and beach area. We will sooo be swimming there on our next visit! The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park (which we visited) is also located near Carlsbad, as is Lake Brantley State Park and Five Points Vista overlook. I very much enjoyed our time in Carlsbad and I am already looking forward to a return visit!
Special Note: The evening bat flight program is only available from mid-May through mid-October and this summer’s annual Bat Flight Breakfast will be Saturday, July 16th. Dogs are not allowed to enter the caverns, but, for a fee of $5.00, you can board your furry friend at the park's on-site kennel. P.S. The best bat flights occur in July and August!
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