Go down under at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Carlsbad Caverns

If you’re traveling through southern Mexico and Carlsbad Caverns isn’t on your list of sights to see, put it there. This phenomenon of nature is well worth the detour.

Located in the Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns was formed 250 million years ago when it was the coastline for an inland sea. Inside you’ll find 119 caves with stunning stalactite and stalagmite formations. Some look like big boulders, others like gigantic icicles.  These limestone formations are all stunning.

The formations can be found in “rooms,” some of which are huge. The Big Room, for example, got its name because it’s the biggest down there. It is 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 285 feet high. It is the fifth largest cavern in North America.

Formations and caves have names, such as the Balloon Ballroom, Witch’s Finger, Chocolate High, Halloween Hall and Left Hand Tunnel. Signage throughout describes what you’re looking at. 

And, of course, there’s the Bat Cave, so named because the cavern’s majority of bats sleep here during the day. They leave at sunset in swarms that’s a sight to see if you’re there at the time.

Carlsbad became a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1930. 

Carlsbad Caverns

The caverns are accessible by hiking down a trail from the natural entrance or by elevator. I hiked down the trail when I first visited there in 1972 and found the paved steep walkway and handrails slippery with bat guano. To say the least, I was perturbed when I got to the bottom and saw the elevator.  I took it back up. When I visited again in the spring of 2017, I took the elevator both ways.

The caverns are handicapped accessible. Wheelchairs are permitted on the main trail, but only to a certain point. After that, you’ll have to retrace your way back to the “lobby.”

Carlsbad Caverns is open daily, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

You can see more pictures of Carlsbad Caverns on my Youtube slideshow.

White sand glistens in New Mexico

Driving in White Sands

It may look like snow and ice are covering the roads and hills, but don’t let appearances fool you. It’s sand. White sand. Like in White Sands National Monument.

The white sand here is considered one of the world’s natural wonders. You can walk on it (even barefoot if you want), slide on it, camp on it, hike on it or bicycle on it.

The white sand is actually salt gypsum crystal, but from a distance you’d be hard pressed to differentiate it from snow. The gypsum comes from the nearby San Andres and Sacramento mountains. Rain dissolves the gypsum and carries it to the Tularoso Basin where it dries out and becomes sand. Thanks to the wind, it then forms into dunes.

The monument is located in southern New Mexico, about 16 miles southwest of Alamagordo. The white sands have starred in a few monies, including Hang ‘em High and Young Guns II.

 During World War II, White Sands was used as a missile testing site. Testing continues today. The National Park Service warns hikers they might come across active missiles, which should not be disturbed. At times the monument is closed when missiles are being tested.

Otherwise the monument is open daily except for Christmas Day.