Beneath the Chihuahuan Desert, in New Mexico, open enormous underground halls hollowed out not by ordinary water but by acid: a rare origin that has created dozens of caves adorned with fantastic formations. The “Big Room” at Carlsbad is one of the largest underground chambers in North America.
At a glance
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, protects a remarkable group of more than a hundred limestone caves, including some of the largest and most richly decorated chambers in North America. Unusually, the caves were dissolved not by ordinary groundwater but by sulphuric acid, producing their great size and unusual formations. The vast “Big Room” and the summer flights of hundreds of thousands of bats are among its wonders. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1995.
Key facts
- UNESCO: World Heritage since 1995 (Carlsbad Caverns National Park)
- Big Room: one of the largest cave chambers in North America
- Acid origin: dissolved by sulphuric acid, not ordinary water
- Rich formations: stalactites, stalagmites and rare speleothems
- Bats: huge summer colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats
- Chihuahuan Desert: set beneath an arid desert landscape
History
The Carlsbad caves formed in an ancient limestone reef, dissolved over millions of years by sulphuric acid rising from below — a rarer process than the usual carving by rainwater, and one that produced their great chambers and unusual mineral formations. Native peoples knew the caves, and in the late 19th century settlers were drawn by the spectacular evening flights of bats from the cave mouth.
Explored and publicised in the early 20th century, the caverns were protected as a national monument and then a national park, and inscribed by UNESCO in 1995. The park continues to reveal new caves, including some of the deepest and most pristine in the United States.
What you see
Visitors descend by a steep natural entrance trail or by lift into the caverns, where paved routes wind through the enormous Big Room past forests of stalactites, stalagmites, columns and delicate formations. On summer evenings, crowds gather to watch hundreds of thousands of bats stream out of the cave at dusk.
The scale and decoration of the underground rooms, and the swirling bat flights above, define Carlsbad Caverns.
Practical information
- Park: self-guided and ranger-guided cave routes; lift or natural entrance
- Best time: bats fly roughly May–October at dusk
- Time needed: half a day to a day
- Note: the cave is cool; reservations may be required
Getting there
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in south-eastern New Mexico, USA, about 30 km south-west of the town of Carlsbad, near the Texas border. GPS: 32.17° N, 104.44° W.
Nearby
- Guadalupe Mountains — the national park across the Texas border
- Carlsbad — the nearest town, to the north-east
- Chihuahuan Desert — the arid landscape around the caves
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — “Carlsbad Caverns National Park” (ref. 721)
- U.S. National Park Service — official body
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Carlsbad Caverns National Park
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