Family Fun at Carlsbad Caverns

 Can I tell you that it’s absolutely freezing here? I know by the pretty picture above it doesn’t look like it, but it is. Who knew that one day New Mexico could be a beautiful 70 degrees and the next it is struggling to reach 30! I guess it is December…

We pulled over along the drive into the park so I could prove just how cold it is with these frozen icicles hanging from the cliffs! Brrr… We were happy to get inside the caves to get warm!

I had booked a Ranger led tour of the Left Tunnel done by only candlelight. It was very different than the mainstream tour we did of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky! I highly recommend that you do a cave tour like this. It only cost $7 for us adults and $3.50 for each of the kids, which is well worth it!

Unfortunately, we missed the popular nightly Bat flights that happen April through October out of this natural entrance. All the bats have migrated south to Mexico now, but it gives us something to come back here for one day!

The natural entrance is really cool to see. This hike is more strenuous than just taking the manmade elevator down to the infamous Big Room. The natural entrance and the Big Room are the main hikes included with your National Park admission. There are many other unique hikes you can do for a nominal fee as well.

We were fortunate to see the hills loaded with desert bighorn sheep and deer on both sides of us as we were driving in and out of the park! So beautiful!