Carlsbad Caverns New MexicoYou've got to love a good cave. Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico is a huge cave that is worth a visit. This cave is filled with limestone formations and bats. There are rock formations that look like ribbons, drapes, soda straws, popcorn, lily pads and huge columns. The cave has hallways and rooms inside.You can hike to the bottom of the cave or you can ride in an elevator that will take you 750 feet underground. If you decide to walk to the bottom of the cave, know it is pretty steep. It is a 1.25 mile walk. If your in good shape, it is a really nice walk. Once in the cave you will see stalactites that grow from the ceiling downward. And stalagmites that grow from the floor up to the ceiling. Once your at the bottom of the cave, you will see the big room. This one room is 14 acres in size! It is one of the largest cave rooms any where in the world. Bring a sweater or a light jacket, because it is cool inside the cave. You can take a self guided tour or a tour that is led by the staff at the cave. Tours cover a varying degree of difficulty. Some tours are a gentle walk. Other tours will have you slithering on your belly through small openings. For the adventurist, you can spelunke and scale 10 foot walls in the cave. There is a tour to please everyone!  The Bats Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico is a National Park. In addition to the famous limestone formations inside the cave, are the bats that live inside the cave. Brazilian free tailed bats fly out of the cave after the sun goes down every night. 400,000 tiny bats fly out from April to October. There are so many bats exiting the cave that the show can last for a couple of hours. When the bats exit the cave, they fly in a counterclockwise spiral. Almost looking like a black cloud that is evil. They leave the cave at nightfall to hunt for food for the night. The bats fly for miles around looking for insects to feed on. The bats return to the cave at dawn and attach themselves to the ceiling of the cave. These bats are little! They are 11 inches from one wing to the next, when the wings are open. In July and August the number of the bats swell as the baby bats learn to fly and hunt with their parents. We sat at the amphitheater just outside the entrance of the cave to watch the bat show. Park rangers were there to tell us stories of the bats and interesting facts and the history of the cave. The bats leave the cave every winter. They migrate to the caves in Mexico each winter. They return to Carlsbad Cave in the spring. Carlsbad Caverns Photos Great Carlsbad Caverns Lodging Choices Carlsbad Caverns Weather Carlsbad Caverns Map
Here is a couple that live full-time in their RV! Everywhere they go they seek out interesting places to which they hike. They journal their hikes with photos, and give tips on rv living and hiking. They have even been to Carlsbad Caverns.
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