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Carlsbad Cavern is the main attraction at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. It contains the largest chamber in North America.
History
Carlsbad Cavern was known to Native Americans for over 1,000 years before it was first explored by a settler. Jim White (1882-1946) claims to have discovered the cave in 1898 at the age of 16. He explored it using a homemade wire ladder and named many of the rooms and prominent formations.
President Calvin Coolidge established Carlsbad Cave National Monument on October 25, 1923. It became Carlsbad Caverns National Park on May 14, 1930, under President Herbert Hoover. In 1995, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Until 1925, a guano bucket was the only way to enter Carlsbad Cavern. The National Park Service then constructed a switchback ramp descending 750 feet below the surface. In 1932, they added an elevator to take visitors in and out.
The Cave
My visit to Carlsbad Cavern was on a strange day. The elevator wasn’t working, so rangers granted everyone free entry for the day because all visitors had to hike back up to the entrance. We had originally planned to hike down and take the elevator back up, but it meant we would have to start heading back up the ramp much earlier.
We walked to the natural entrance of the cave from the visitor center, passing through the Bat Flight Amphitheater. At the lower end of the amphitheater we were finally able to get a good look at the entrance. From there, we began our long walk down the switchback ramp.
On a normal day, we probably would have taken our time to admire the formations and features along the way. Instead, we rushed down and stopped only for a few photo ops. We didn’t really get a chance to read any of the interpretive panels on the way.
After walking for about a half hour, we reached the cafeteria at the bottom of the ramp. We thought we would be able to rush through the loop trail in the Big Room, one of Carlsbad Cavern’s main attractions, before heading back up. It’s almost 4,000 feet long, 625 wide, and 255 feet high at its highest point.
Unfortunately, a ranger told us we had to start hiking back up to the entrance and wouldn’t allow us to go past the cafeteria. We only had about 10 minutes at the bottom to catch our breath before heading back up.
Next Time…
As you could imagine, although I was impressed with the cave, I was quite disappointed with my visit. It was definitely incomplete and our schedule was so tight there was no way we would be able to come back the next day to try again. I can only hope I have a return visit in the future so I can fully concentrate on the cave features and spend more time in the park in general.
