Info/Tips
Reservations is required (when we visited in 2021) to visit the cave.
Natural entrance trail and in the cave some area are steep and could be wet and slippery, closed toe shoes and shoes with good traction recommended.
No food or drinks other than water are allowed in the cave.
Temperature in the cave is around 56F year round.
Check NPS site for tours offered. When we went in 2021 only the self guided tour was available. And masks were required in the cave.
Plan to spend about 3 – 3.5 hours in the cave if hiking down from natural entrance and doing all of big room.
Carlsbad Cavern National Park is in Mountain timezone but very close to Central timezone so depending on which cell phone tower the phone is connected to it may show the wrong time. During our visits we noticed that the phone time was switching between mountain and central time.
There is limited service in Whites city (closest town to the national park), during our visit we stayed at the only hotel in whites city however, the only restaurant in town was closed, luckily we had plenty grocery and food (instant noodles) for dinner. The next town with restaurant is in calsbad about 20 miles north. There is one gas station in whites city.
Things to do
Natural Entrance Trail
Natural Entrance Trail is 1.25 miles from the Entrance to the big room. It is a steep 750 feet down (about 75 stories). If you have time this is highly recommended. Each turn on the trail offers something new. If you are short on time or not want to walk the natural entrance there is elevator from the visitor center to the big room. Most people choose to hike down from Natural entrance into the Big room then take the elevator back to visitor center. We did see a couple people hiking up the natural entrance as well during our visit.
Big Room Trail
The Big Room is BIG, about 1.25 miles of trail to walk a loop through the big room. There is just so much to see in the big room it’s amazing.
Taking the elevator 750 feet back up to the visitor center was pretty cool and there is a restroom by the waiting area in the cave.
Bat Flight Program
Bat Flight Program generally runs from Memorial weekend to end of October. We visited on the last day of October (Halloween and bats) and the ranger mentioned it was the last “official” ranger led bat flight program for the year, but there will still be ranger on site during evening hours for visitors to see the bats as long as the bats are still there (before migrating to Mexico or hibernating for the winter).
The Ranger led bat flight program started around 5pm at the Ampitheater at the entrance of the cave with the ranger giving very interesting facts and stories about the bats living in the cave. It was very educational. The bats starting coming out of the cave around 6:10pm and oh what a sight (and sound if you listen carefully).
There is no electronics allowed during the bat flight program all camera/cell phones had to be turned off, so no pictures of the actual bat flight. Pictures below were from while we were waiting for the program to start and some swallows flying in and out of the cave.
Sit up front for the bat program, we started in the back but the ranger recommended everyone to move up as when the bats come out it was getting a bit dark already and if sitting in the back you may not be able to see the bat.
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