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Road and parking lot construction

Allow extra travel time. Within the park, parking lot space is limited, and short delays are possible. Park entrance gate is locked at 6:00 PM nightly and re-opened every morning.

Welcome to Carlsbad Caverns National Park!

As you pass through the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico and west Texas—filled with prickly pear, chollas, sotols and agaves—you might never guess there are more than 300 known caves beneath the surface. The park contains 117 of these caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, creating some of the largest caves in North America.

 
The Temple of the Sun in the Big Room of Carlsbad Cavern. NPS Photo by Peter Jones.

Cave Tours

Join Carlsbad Caverns National Park in celebrating National Park Week. General admission will be waived from April 17-25!

All visitors to the park should tour the main section of the cave, the Big Room self-guided tour. The 8.2-acre Big Room is partially wheelchair accessible. The Natural Entrance self-guided tour is also very impressive, but it is also more difficult due to the steepness of the trail.

Guided tours of varying difficulties are also available—from the self-guided areas of the Big Room to crawling through narrow passageways in the Hall of the White Giant or in Spider Cave. To reserve tickets for a guided tour, call our reservation service at 1.877.444.6777.
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Hiking in Carlsbad Caverns National Park's rugged backcountry.

Other Park Activities

While there are a variety of cave tours available—from the self-guided areas of the Big Room to crawling through narrow passageways in the Hall of the White Giant or in Spider Cave—there are also opportunities for hiking and backcountry camping, attending programs in the visitor center, and watching the incredible exodus of Mexican free-tail bats out of Carlsbad Cavern at dusk in the summer.
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Write to

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
3225 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220

Phone

General Park Information
(575) 785-2232

Bat Flight Information
(575) 785-3012

Fax

(575) 785-2133

Climate

The weather in southern New Mexico can change quickly at any time of the year. Winter is often cold and dry with occasional snow and ice storms. Spring is known to be extremely windy. Summer is very hot and violent lightning storms are not uncommon in the evenings. Fall is usually mild and without extremes...

...of course, the weather in the cave is a mild 56°F (13°C) year-round. A light jacket and comfortable shoes with rubber soles are appropriate year-round.
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Communities Surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Note: The times listed below are approximate driving times to the park.
Whites City, NM (12 min. )
Carlsbad, NM (36 min. ) Pop. 25,625
Loving, NM (46 min. )
 Malaga, NM (46 min. )
Lakewood, NM (1 hr.  7 min. )