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From Wikipedia – Carlsbad Caverns has 117 caves, the longest of which is over 120 miles (190 km) long. The Big Room is almost 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long, and the caves are home to over 400,000 Mexican free-tailed bats and sixteen other species. Above ground are the Chihuahuan Desert and Rattlesnake Springs.
- Established: 5/14/1930
- Annual Visitors: 465,912
- Size: 46,766 acres
Carlsbad Caverns National Park November 3 & 4, 2020
November 3, 2020
After finishing our day at Guadalupe Mountains NP we drove to to Rattlesnake Springs in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Although it is part of the park, it’s access is between Guadalupe and Carlsbad, via outside the main park on the far east side. You reach Rattlesnake Springs by driving north on Route 62/180 and turning left onto 418. This property was purchased by the National Park Service in 1934 as a water source for Carlsbad CNP. The spring is located on the way to Slaughter Canyon Cave which is located inside the lower, southeastern third of Carlsbad NP and, when COVID is not interfering, I read it to be a great guided cave tour not to miss. The spring property has been improved over the years including adding trees in a maintained Cottonwood park, picnic tables, extensive open concrete ditches to move the crystal-clear fast-moving water and a 1940 Ranger residence. This 24-acre oasis in the Chihuahuan Desert for park visitors to enjoy.
The road to New Mexico 
We have never been welcomed to a Congressional District before. NM District 2 is the largest by area in the US that is not an entire state. 
You can always tell when there is water in the desert by where trees grow. These beautiful trees were planted in the 1930s. 
The clear water from Rattlesnake Spring. 
The actual spring 
A local resident 
Momma and her young offspring 
An added bonus, we did not expect to see much wildlife in Carlsbad Caverns but were very pleased to enjoy a doe and her son on the ranger’s front lawn and a duck in a pond, made by Rattlesnake Spring, a coyote on the side of the road, as well Barbary Sheep at the entrance road to the visitor center past Whites City. We were thrilled to share our fun wildlife photos in the slide show below!
We drove to the visitor center where I was able to go inside to the park’s bookstore and gift shop and an additional gift shop on the other side of the ranger information booth and cavern ticket counter. We learned that our planned sunset viewing and massive bat flight out of the caves experience would not happen as the bats have already left for migration : ( But the self- guided cave tours are still available so Gary did that!
November 4, 2020
Gary headed up the 7 miles back to the visitor center to get his ticket to enter the self-guided cave tour while Rangeley and I stayed back in Whites City, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, talked with another hotel guest with a dog and chatted with the wonderful front desk clerk, Virginia over a good cup of coffee. I worked on the blog pics from yesterday, wrote the above journal, added our receipts to Quicken, cleaned out emails and iced my healing ankle.
Gary:
There were no reservations required to enter the cave. I thought the only option available was to take the elevator down the 750 feet to the Big Room. When I was getting my ticket, the ranger asked if I was walking or riding. I obviously chose to walk.
To walk in you enter through the Natural Entrance and literally walk down the actual cave. It is about 1.5 miles to drop the 750′. The construction of the walkway is amazing, kind of like dropping into the Grand Canyon. The cool scenery started almost as soon as the natural light was gone. The bats have already migrated south, so no bat sightings. The bats actually live down a side cave that I wouldn’t be walking through anyway. During the summer, when the bats are around, people come at sunset to watch the 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats exit the cave to feast on the local insects. The bats actually can eat half their body weight each night. OK- back to the cave tour.
The walkway is paved the entire way with very few steps to navigate. The more dramatic cave features are illuminated making for a great stroll. I basically had the cave to myself. There were 3 people in front of me, but they moved at the same pace as I was moving. I was amazed at how large the caverns are. Look at the pictures to see various formations. It is tough to show the size in the photos.
The path I took in joined up with the Big Room loop, very close to the elevators. The Big Room, which is almost 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high at its highest point, is the largest, readily accessible cave chamber in North America.
I thoroughly enjoyed walking the loop. The Park Service has done a great job with the walkways and lighting. Enjoy the photos. I did throw in 1 professional photo with lots of lights so you can get a better feel on how big the room actually is.
This structure is probably about 50 feet tall 
Interesting formation on the ground. This is about 8 feet square 
Notice the person in the middle left 
The Lions Tails. They hang down about 15 to 20 feet from the ceiling. 
This is a professional photo I took from online. You can see more of the chamber with the lights on. 
The numbers are feet below ground level. The one on the left is 550′ down and dropping to pick me up. Elevators 1 and 2 bring people down, 3 and 4 bring you back up to the top.
Tomorrow we are off to Sitting Bull Falls in Lincoln National Forest. It is a beautiful falls and dog friendly, so Rangeley can go swimming. Then on to Roswell for the night, then on to Alamogordo, NM the next night, the gateway to White Sands National Park.
Not all those who wander are lost.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
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