The next morning we drove to Carlsbad Caverns. Our entrance time was 1:15pm and it took three hours to drive there.  (See why we wanted to go on the way from the airport?) We drove through Roswell on the way.  There were so many alien decorations. The wooden ones in front of the gas station were my favorite, but the Dunkin sign was amazing.  We stopped to get some coffee and stretch our legs. 

We didn’t stop anywhere else in Rosewell because there was quite a bit of traffic and reviews for UFO museums were not positive.  I got a kick out of taking pictures of all the alien stuff though.  The McDonald’s was also really cool. 

We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns right before our ticket entrance time.  You don’t actually buy your ticket until you get to the visitor’s center.  We decided to buy our national park pass while we were there since we are going to visit some other parks this summer.  It is $80 and it lasts for the whole year and grants entrance to all national parks.  (We should have bought one in Hawaii!) 

You have two self guided choices for the caverns.  You can hike down from the bat cave (you can go at 7pm and watch the bats fly out from early spring to October since they winter in Mexico), which is the equivalent of walking 1.25 miles, but down 750 feet into the earth.  You could also take the elevator down into the Big Room.  There is a 1.25 mile self guided tour around the perimeter.  It takes at least an hour.  Some, but not all, of the Big Room is wheelchair accessible.  If you opt for the elevator, you miss a significant section of the cave system.  We saw people of all ages hike down.  I would highly recommend that you bring water with you and wear good walking shoes.  There are sections that are wet.  

I really loved hiking down into the cave.  I didn’t want to miss any sections that I was able to see.  We took our time.  There were not many people around us.  The ranger warned us to be quiet because everyone in the cave would be able to hear our conversation.  It was very peaceful.  We took about a million pictures each.  There are areas that have numbers and you can listen to information about it on your phone, but we didn’t download the information.  

There is also a guided ranger tour that you can take, but it was not available the day we went.  You can see different areas that are blocked off that must be for the guided tour. There is a whole section you can visit with the ranger, but not on your own.  

The Big Room also took almost an hour to view.  Again, we took our time and lots of pictures. There are also stops where you can read about a particular spot.  There is one where you can see a rope hanging and read about how they are still trying to explore above. They have used helium balloons to do so.  

There is also a couple of areas that have the original stairs and one has an original ladder that was made of sticks and fence twine! 

I really enjoyed my time underground.  It filled me full of awe just to look around the Big Room and think about how far underground I was at that moment.  There were more people in the Big Room, but not enough to hear any noise. There are restrooms near the Big Room (and when you enter it’s like you are above ground again), a snack bar (you are not allowed to take food out of it), and a gift shop. The gift shop and snack bar were both closing when we finished exploring.  

We took the elevator back above ground.  It is the equivalent of traveling up the Washington Monument one and a half times.  Yes, your ears will pop on the way up.  

As I mentioned, I loved going down into Carlsbad Caverns.  It is a very unique experience and I enjoyed every minute of it.  If you have a chance to check out any caves, I highly recommend it.  You don’t have to go to New Mexico to experience it. There are plenty of caves you can explore in the U.S. They are all unique, but Carlsbad Caverns is one of the best.