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Carlsbad Caverns National Park



The caverns are only 40 minutes north of Guadalupe. The road
s-curves up from the valley floor to the top of the hill where
the entrance to the caverns are. There were sizable crowds by
lunch. I can't imagine how busy they are in the summer!

 
One option is to hike down into the caverns from the "natural
entrance", hike through the caverns until the "Big Room", then
take the elevator back up to the top, some 800 feet! The
elevator allows persons who could not otherwise visit the 
caverns to have the opportunity to do so.

 
Taking decent photos without proper lighting is very difficult.
Most of my photos were taken without a flash on a tripod.

 
These caverns are absolutely stunning, a must see.

 
In Mammoth Cave National Park, the caverns are
long, narrow and extensive. In contrast Carlsbad caverns
consist of wide open chambers with many more stalactites
on the ceilings.

 
Beautiful formations everywhere, especially in the fairyland
gardens of the "Big Room". This huge room is awesome!

 
All the formations have names. The one on the right is
"The Doll's Theater".

 
On the right is the cafeteria, gift shop and elevators, all
800 feet below the surface! The hike lasted about four hours,
covering a distance of over a mile.

For more info from the NPS web site, click here

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