Carlsbad NM and the Carlsbad Caverns

The Natural Entrance route is a walk-in or walk down entrance that we took. It descends more than 750 feet into the earth following steep and narrow trails through a tall and spacious trunk passage called the Main Corridor. The route ends in the underground rest area, near the elevators and the Big Room route starting point. It was at least an hour for us to descend down the 75 stories to the Caverns. Highlights along this route include Bat Cave, Devil's Spring, Green Lake Overlook and the Boneyard, a complex maze of highly-dissolved limestone rock reminiscent of swiss cheese. We were also aware that Carlsbad Caverns are considered a dead cavern while others remain alive in the U.S. We will visit one soon in Arizona.

Steve, Betty and Judy

prepare to descend down towards

the Carlsbad Caverns. It was a very

cold morning outside.

The outside amphitheater is positioned to view thousands

of bats that exit the opening every evening to feed on insects and

return to the caverns early morning. This occurs from May

until October when the bats migrate to Mexico for

the winter.



View of us descending into the caverns.

Betty on the walk down. Daylight

will soon disappear and temperatures

will become steady at about 56 degrees.

We welcomed the warmth from outside temps

of 25-30 degrees.

This a very large stalagmite which

grow upward. Many areas

are accented with lighting however

the cavern is dark overall and

not wet.

This is a column which is

a stalagmite meeting a

stalactite

This is the ceiling of the cavern

The caverns change as you walk

and our photos don't do it justice.

This is titled the Chinese Theater in the Caverns

Rojas Restaurant in Carlsbad.

All homecooking Mexican food

We had a late lunch here after our Cavern tour