Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Pros: Despite unfortunate developments, we still had fun
Cons: Unfortunate developments

The Craft of Revision

Donald Murray is a Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Hampshire and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who writes weekly columns for The Boston Globe. He didn't go along for my somewhat...

Pros: Learning the joy of spelunking
Cons: It's dark down there!

I had wanted to see Carlsbad Caverns for many years. When I was a little girl my Dad talked about having been there when he was a young man, before he & my Mom were married 47 years ago. Dad always said he wanted to go again, and he hoped he would...

Pros: Beautiful scenery
Cons: --

While traveling out West a few years ago, we almost missed what is one of the most beautiful National Parks I have ever visited. We almost skipped the state of New Mexico altogether as the hantovirus was just hitting it's peak and my mother was quite...

Pros: great views; unique and interesting attraction
Cons: none

Carlsbad Cavern is one of the largest known caves in the U.S., located in southeastern New Mexico. Sometimes referred to as the “eighth wonder of the world,” the cavern is located in a National Park, which also offers scenic drives, hiking trails, and...

Pros: Everything about it.
Cons: A little hot in the summer months.

The Trip
It started off as a leisurely vacation to the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit the relatives of the family. From New Orleans, it is a long drive, nearly 24 hours. So of course we had to split up the driving time into...

Pros: Wonderful tours at cheap prices.
Cons: Can be tiring.

The drive out to Carlsbad Caverns was a spectacle in itself. Driving through the arid desert decorated with large cactii standing like guardians of their territory with the enormous mesas looming around you, it is like an introduction of what is yet to...

Pros: lots of great sights, great history, beautiful surroundings, good chance to see lots of bats in summer
Cons: can be hard on those with trouble walking, low lighting, can get slippery

Beautiful and breathtaking does not truly describe Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It is magnificent! Not to mention exhausting and steep!

We headed to New Mexico from El Paso, Texas yesterday in a 15 passenger van with my family....

Pros: A world-class cave you can experience with your mate, your family, or your friends.
Cons: The xx##@@!!! "guide radios".

Okay, another of Uncle Ed's Happy Travel Tales, via the magic of epinions.

Imagine the deepest, darkest hole you've ever been in. The day you took your college algebra final exam, right? Wrong.
(And no, not THAT night, either, Miguelito.)...

Pros: most of the tour is easy and very affordable
Cons: none

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Carlsbad Caverns are located in the Southeast part of New Mexico. From Carlsbad go south on highway 62/180 approximately 20 miles. Then turn right on the park road and drive another approximately 7 miles to the entrance...

Pros: Fabulous natural rock formations, bat flight
Cons: Remote -- hard to combine with other trips

Carlsbad Caverns are an amazing natural wonder located in Southeastern New Mexico. The caverns consist of miles and miles of twisty corridors and immense, cathedral like rooms. All are filled with stalacmite spires and stalactite icicles of all sizes,...

Pros: Every scene more beautiful than the last
Cons: Bat Guano smells pretty bad

Driving to Carlsbad from San Diego took about 14 hours. That, in itself, was an adventure. It was very tiring. My 5 year old daughter came with us this time. She was getting very anxious to get there. But, she stayed good and really was a delight to...

Pros: Amazing natural beauty, affordable
Cons: Some useless information from tour guides, overly commercial

Carlsbad Caverns is by far the biggest and most well-known of the caverns that dot our nation's terrain. Located in the southern part of New Mexico, Carlsbad is the state's Living Desert State Park and a decent drive from Guadalupe National Park....

Pros: A good break from the outside world
Cons: Overly commercialized

I spent many of my formative years growing up in the Carlsbad-Loving area so the Carlsbad Caverns National Park was something that I heard a lot about growing up. If you went to grade school in the area, you were sure to visit the Caverns atleast a half...

Pros: visually stunning, a different world
Cons: too many screaming, unsupervised kids

I grew up with Carlsbad as being *the* vacation spot, with my dad hauling myself and my brothers from North Carolina just to see it, and later when we moved to Texas, the trip frequency increased. I went back last year to revisit it, and to see...

Pros: everything
Cons: nothing

Two summers ago I went on a tour across the US. Our first stop was Carlsbad Caverns. At first I was like "It's just a big hole in the ground". It turned out to be very impressive. I was amazed by the stalagmites and the stalagtights. They...