Jim and Val on the Road: 2/15 - Carlsbad Caverns, NM

The Carlsbad Caverns complex is the biggest limestone cave in the western hemisphere. Much more impressive than Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (which is still worth seeing). The size of the caverns is mind-boggling as is trying to imagine what it was like for the first people who explored them starting around 1898. The big part starts at 800' down. You can walk down from the natural entrance (distance equivalent to an 80 story building) or take the elevator which takes a full minute to reach that depth. Walking down wasn't on our agenda.

Mountains on the way to the caverns. You would never imagine what was under them.

The mountains on the road to the caverns are so different from the volcanic mountains of the
Fort Davis to Big Bend area. These mountains are limestone deposits from an ancient seabed and they're crumbling rather than coming apart in blocks and boulders. Water making its way down into the caverns from the surface causes the minerals to dissolve and form various kinds of structures over time (speliothems - stalagmites, stalactites, draperies, soda straws, popcorn, flowstone and others). These mountains are at the northern end of the Guadalupe Mountains which we'll see tomorrow on our way to El Paso.

Big Room Tour

We did two tours - the self-guided Big Room (floor surface equals about 14 football fields) and the guided King's Palace tour. Each tour was 1.25 miles long which gives a small idea of the size. 180 miles of caves have been surveyed so far and more are being discovered. The neighboring Lechuguilla Cave is 135 miles long and 1604' deep, the 3rd longest cave in the country and the deepest. It's only open to researchers because of its pristine condition.

Map of the Big Room showing a 747 jetliner for size comparison

Big Room without so many lights. Imagine what it would be like exploring with only head lamps.

Giant stalagmites in Big Room

Big Room stalagmites and stalactites.

Crystal Springs flowstone stalagmite, still active

Big Room giant stalagmite

All the water in the caverns is from dripping ground water.....there are no streams. The green lake below is so clear because limestone has filtered it on its trip from the surface. Not all the water is as pure, though, because of the various minerals and toxins present in the ground above. Toxins are getting into the caverns from parking lot runoff and sewer line problems at the surface. The park service is doing everything it can to stop this from happening.