Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Time to add another national park to our list! Carlsbad Caverns is a unique park that allows you to venture 725 feet underground to explore expansive stalagmites, soda straw, popcorn and stalactite cave formations. The cave was definitely impressive, the kids enjoyed checking out the notable formations such as Whale's mouth, Lion's tail and fairyland forest. We ventured around the "Big Room" to check out one of the largest open area caves in all of North America. This was an easy hike unlike our cave tour at Lewis and Clark State Park. Most of the 4 mile hike was dimly lit with handrails and wheelchair accessible ramps. The biggest surprise was the elevator, Cafe, gift shop and restrooms at the lowest part of the cave. We all took the opportunity to use the bathroom so we can say we used a restroom in a cave!
After we took the elevator back up the kids quickly finished their ranger books and received their badges.
We were just in time to check out the bat ranger talk at the natural entrance to the cave. In the summer months this program allows you to see thousands of bats swarm out of the cave at dusk. In the migratory season you see a couple dozen. It was still cool to see and we all learned some new bat facts. We spent the night at a free government campground down the road from the park. We weren't lucky enough to snag a spot with a picnic table and shelter but we found a spot that was perfect for the night!もっと詳しく