Carlsbad Caverns ... World's Most Amazing Cave?
Unusual & Interesting Travel Destinations #7
by www.SixWise.com
If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind underground adventure,
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico should be tops
on your travel list. Located beneath the Chihuahuan Desert
and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico and west
Texas are over 300 caves, 113 of which belong to the national
park. Carlsbad Cavern is the most famous of the caves that
are open to the public.
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Doll's Theater, part of Carlsbad Cavern's "Big
Room," is filled with tiny stalactites called "soda
straws" (because they are hollow and resemble straws).
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Millions of Years Ago, the Caves Were Covered by an Inland
Sea
Carlsbad Caverns are made out of limestone that once -- about
250 million years ago -- formed a reef on the edge of an inland
sea. Today the ancient reef has been pushed up to form the
Guadalupe Mountains, and sulfuric acid left in the basin dissolved
the limestone and created the cave passages that are now Carlsbad
Caverns.
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This ray of light, located near the Natural Entrance
Route, is only visible at certain times of the year.
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The caves are filled with "cave decorations" --
mineral deposits that settled on the ceilings, walls and floors
of the caves after the seawater drained and fresh water percolated
through the passages.
Who Discovered Carlsbad Caverns?
The U.S. National Park Service credits explorer Jim White
as the first person to explore the caves in 1898. They don't
credit him with "discovering" the caves because
local Native Americans knew of them for centuries.
In fact, the caves are so old that ancient artifacts, including
a stone scraper from Ice Age Indian hunters, and fragments
of two spear points from Midland-style Paleo Indian projectile
points dating back some 10,000 years, have been found nearby.
Things to See (Don't Miss the Mexican Free-Tail Bats!)
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In Lechuguilla Cave, the deepest cave in the United
States, which is highly protected and nearly pristine,
scientist are studying "extremophile" microbes
as a potential cure for cancer.
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Carlsbad Caverns are some of the largest and deepest caves
in North America, and the park offers both self-guided and
ranger-led tours. The cavern has two entrances, the Big Room
Route, which is accessible by elevator, and the Natural Entrance
Trail, a steep 11?4-mile descent that's equal to about 79
stories.
Once inside, visitors can crawl through narrow passageways
or stick to the more easily accessible routes in the Big Room.
Guided tours (reservations recommended) take you into other
cave areas, including Kings Palace, Left Hand Tunnel, Lower
Cave and the Hall of the White Giant.
Aside from the caverns, the park also offers hiking and backcountry
camping, various visitor center programs … and a unique
chance to see Mexican free-tail bats.
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From mid-April through mid-October, nearly 400,000
bats leave Carlsbad Cavern each night to search for
bugs.
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Close to 400,000 of these bats live in Carlsbad Cavern in
the summer months. If you plan your visit during this time
(from mid-April through mid-October), be sure to be there
at dusk, when the bats leave the cavern to catch their nightly
meal -- several tons of bugs!
For More Information …
General admission tickets for adults 16 years and older are
$6, and children 15 and younger are free (guided tours are
an additional charge).
For more detailed travel information, please visit:
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Sources
The
U.S. National Park Service
Carlsbad
Caverns National Park