1. Walk the Big Room Trail
And now it’s time for our winner: Topping our list of things to do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the incredible Big Room Trail. Spanning over 4,000 feet and standing at 255 feet, the Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the largest accessible chamber on the continent. It’s also the 28th largest in the world.
In short, it’s an incredible natural attraction with an easy trail path and a one-mile section available to people in wheelchairs. Along the trail, you’ll witness massive limestone, stunning stalactites, and tall stalagmites.
Here are a few of the most notable features.
The Caveman
I simply love the names of places and objects in Carlsbad Caverns. Here you can see The Caveman.
Don’t see it?
From this angle, The Caveman is sitting facing left, and you’re getting a profile view. Can you now make out his bangs, nose, lips, and beard?
Hall of Giants
“The Big Room trail has a way of making you feel very small, especially when you walk through the Hall of Giants. With the Giant Dome measuring in at over 60 feet high, this area is home to some of the cave’s largest formations.”
Doll’s Theater
The spotlight is on the soda straw stalactites and columns in this special nook of the Big Room.
Rock of Ages
The Rock of Ages is cool to see up close, but it’s also an underground summit with views of the Hall of Giants and other named sections of the Big Room.
Feel free to take the elevator down to the start of the trail. You can expect the trail to take around an hour and a half to complete, but there’s also a shorter route.
- Enjoy the King’s Palace Tour
- Go Backcountry Camping
- Check Out the Green Lake Room
- Complete the Hall of the White Giant Tour
- Visit the Oasis of Rattlesnake Springs
- Hike Along the Natural Entrance Trail
- Have Lunch Underground
- Left Hand Tunnel Tour
- Take the Scenic Drive
- Enjoy World-Class Stargazing
- Watch Bats at the Bat Flight Amphitheater
- Hike the Guadalupe Ridge Trail
- Stare at the Bottomless Pit
- Take the Slaughter Canyon Cave Tour
- Walk the Big Room Trail
Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Parks Road Trip
Located a mere three-hour drive apart in New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Parks perfectly complement each other for an incredible American Southwest road trip.
In contrast, White Sands National Park presents a landscape like no other, with massive gypsum dunes that create a surreal white sand paradise. They both present unique and other-worldly experiences. But that’s not where the similarities end. They both were shaped by gypsum.
At Carlsbad Caverns, many of the cave formations, like stalactites and stalagmites, are made of calcium carbonate that came from the dissolution of gypsum. Gypsum is present in the groundwater underneath the caves. When this water drips into the cave air, the gypsum dissolved in it undergoes a chemical reaction and transforms into calcium carbonate, forming the cave formations over thousands of years.
Meanwhile, at White Sands, the entire landscape is made up of gypsum in the form of gypsum sand. The gypsum comes from ancient inland seabeds that once covered the area. As water erodes the mountain ranges surrounding White Sands, it dissolves the gypsum deposits and carries the minerals down onto the valley floor. Over time, this process has created the world’s largest gypsum dune field.
Pin Things to Do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Helpful Related Links
White Sands: 10 FANTASTIC Facts About White Sands National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park: 10 FASCINATING Facts About Guadalupe Mountains National Park
New Mexico National Parks: 20 SURPRISING New Mexico National Parks
Albuquerque: 10 Epic National Parks Near Albuquerque You’ll Love
Santa Fe: 10 Epic National Parks Near Santa Fe You’ll Love
Historic Sites: 10 Must-See Historic Sites In New Mexico
Walk the Natural Entrance Trail down, ride the elevator up. The 1.25-mile switchback descent into the cave is one of the best experiences in the entire park system. Taking the elevator down skips the best part. The trail drops 750 feet and takes about an hour.
No electronics at the bat flight. They are strict about this. No phones, no cameras, no smartwatches with screens. Arrive an hour before sunset, grab a seat in the amphitheater, and just watch. The spiral of 400,000+ Brazilian free-tailed bats pouring out of the cave entrance is worth seeing with your eyes.
Book your timed entry for early morning. The first entry slots have the fewest people in the cave. By midday the Big Room gets crowded and the acoustics amplify every conversation. Early morning gives you the cavern close to silence.
Frequently Asked Questions
The fee is $15 per person (ages 16 and up, children under 16 free). This is a per-person fee, not per-vehicle. A timed entry reservation of $1 per person is also required. The $80 America the Beautiful pass covers the entrance fee but not the $1 reservation fee.
Yes. Timed entry reservations are required to enter the cavern for self-guided tours. Book on Recreation.gov at $1 per person. They do not offer standby or waitlist tickets. If you show up without a reservation, you will not get in.
Spring (April to May) and fall (September to October) deliver comfortable above-ground temperatures in the 70s and 80s. The cavern stays 56 degrees year-round. For the bat flight, visit between Memorial Day and October, with peak bat populations from July through September.
Plan for 1 day for the Big Room self-guided tour and bat flight program in the evening. Ideally spend 2 days to add the Natural Entrance Trail hike down, a ranger-led tour of King's Palace, and the Walnut Canyon Desert Drive.
The nearest major airport is El Paso International (ELP), about 2.5 hours east via US-62/180. From Albuquerque, it is about 4.5 hours via I-25 South to US-285 South to Carlsbad, then 23 miles southwest on US-62/180.
Best Time to Visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Spring (April through May) and fall (September through October) deliver comfortable above-ground temperatures in the 70s and 80s without the brutal summer heat of the Chihuahuan Desert. The cavern itself stays 56 degrees year-round, so underground conditions never change. If you want to see the bat flight, visit between Memorial Day and October, with peak bat populations from July through September.
