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Underground Wonders of Carlsbad Caverns National Park With Kids

I’ve always been fascinated with caves and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is one of the most extensive and popular. We really enjoyed our visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids. This was an extraordinary place filled with a variety of fantastic formations.

Carlsbad Caverns sign

There were many stories by early settlers in the area of a “Bat Cave” in the 1800s. It was later in 1898 when a cowboy, Jim White, found bats exiting the cave and made wooden ladders to fully explore the underground world. It took many years for Mr. White to convince others of the cave’s existence and its natural wonders.

Carlsbad Caverns national Park

Pictures taken in 1915 displayed in the nearby of town Carlsbad, New Mexico finally convinced the residents of its existence. Mr. White led the tours using a 170-foot descent into the cave on a bucket once used to mine the bat droppings.

The droppings were known as guano deposits and sold as natural fertilizer. It became a National Park in 1930 and was designated as a World Heritage site in 1995.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We visited Carlsbad Caverns during the afternoon and the morning on two separate days. There are two self-guided tours for visitors to take. They are the Big Room Route which is the one taken by most visitors and the Natural Entrance Route.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns Big Room Route

We did the Big Room Route first by taking the elevator at the Visitor’s Center which was equivalent to over 70 stories of descent and took about a minute to go down. Rangers operate them with a pre-orientation.

The first thing that greeted us below was the cafe and store carved under the rocks. It was pretty amazing how they were able to carve out a small underground center here.

Carlsbad Caverns Underground Cafe

The temperature inside the cave is a constant temperature of 56° F (13° C) so bring a light jacket. Its location and predictable temperature makes it a great place to visit regardless of the weather outside.

The paved walkways with rails were well-lit with plenty of lights to enhance the cave formations. The one-mile circular route took us to the cave’s main highlights. It was a great route with kids or those with walking difficulties.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Some areas were wheelchair accessible but strollers were not allowed. Babies needed to be carried on carriers or baby backpacks.

It took us a little over 2 hours to walk around with plenty of stops to read the signs, take photos and look at the formations closely. The Big Room is equivalent to six football fields.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

I’ve often said there’s no comparison with pictures and seeing things in person. In this instance, our pictures don’t even begin to capture the beauty and size of these formations.

It was also a bit hard to take pictures with the low light. My husband did a great job with some of them considering the light and lack of tripod.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

So, how were these formations created? The process began 500,000 years ago after the caverns were already carved out. The formations were created by billions of water that dripped or seeped over time into the cave and left behind a mineral called calcite.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

These decorations were all spectacular sights. We saw the Stalagmites growing from the ground and created by water falling on the floor.

carlsbad Caverns stalagmite

Water dripping slowly from the ceiling created the Stalactites hanging down. The thinner, hollow ones are called Soda Straws.

Carlsbad Caverns soda straws

When stalagmites and stalactites grow and meet together, they create these massive formations called Columns.

Carlsbad Caverns Big Room

My kids’ favorite decorations were the Cave Popcorn. They were everywhere!  They looked like hard bubbles clinging to the walls or like caramel popcorn.

Carlsbad Cave popcorn

Sometimes, water gathers in the cave and form Cave Pools. This one was clear and made for some wonderful reflections.

Carlsbad Caverns cave pool

I didn’t expect my kids to be so interested but they loved looking at all the formations. The Junior Ranger booklet was a great resource to help them learn and observe.

Their imagination ran wild picturing what some of the formations looked like. Some actually had names like this one called Lion’s Tail.

Carlsbad Caverns lion tail

Some of them took on shapes that provided a good laugh for my husband and me and a few of the visitors. This was one example. What do you think? Chinaman hat or a female body part?

Carlsbad Caverns Chinaman Hat

I’ve visited my fair share of caves but this was huge and a bit overwhelming. I’ve never been worried of Stalactites before. But as we kept walking all over the caverns, I started to get paranoid with the amount of stalactites hanging down.

These have been around for thousands of years, who knew when they would give out. It was unnerving to look up and see these giant sharp rocks pointing directly at you.

Carlsbad Caverns stalactites

For the most part, people are asked to speak softly since it magnifies the echo effect. Standing still long enough, we heard water dripping from many directions. It was a pretty fantastic feeling to know we were witnessing more formations being created.

Carlsbad Caverns National park

Natural Cave Entrance Route

The following day we set out to explore the Natural Cave Entrance which was down the hill from the Visitor’s Center. This was also a one-mile tour with some narrow passages.

We passed by the Bat Amphitheater where visitors can sit and wait for the thousands of Mexican Free-tailed bats leave at sundown to eat from May to October. It looks like we’ll have to return to witness this event.

Carlsbad Caverns bat ampitheater

We entered the cave via a massive hole which was the same one early explorers used to go down minus the winding paved path. The paved walkway descended 750 feet (229 m) down.

Carlsbad caverns Natural Entrance

This was our view from below as we went down the cave.

Carlsbad Caverns Natural Entrance

While we saw many of the same formations, the Big Room Route’s arrangements were bigger and more dramatic. If you can only do one self-guided tour though, do the Big Room Route for a lot more highlights.

Carlsbad Caverns natural entrance

Remember my fear of things falling on people? Well, it actually happened thousands of years ago when Iceberg Rock fell from the ceiling probably causing a small earthquake.

The 200,000-ton boulder now sits on the ground for visitors to walk around and marvel at its size. You can still see the formation on the ceiling where it fell from.

Carlsbad Caverns

We passed by these Historic Stairs that were used by visitors until the 1950s. Can you imagine using these stairs to climb down here using only lanterns?

Carlsbad Caverns Historic stairs

We also passed by an area called the Boneyard which were limestone rocks that looked like Swiss cheese and bone fragments. This route ended near the underground rest area and café.

Carlsbad Caverns boneyard

It was such a delight to explore this incredible underground world of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Whether you’re a fan of caves or not, there’s no question these cave formations and chambers are stunning to see for its variety, sheer size and scale.

We loved that most of the trails were accessible and made it easy for everyone, no matter what age, to enjoy the cave. This cave is Mother Nature at her best and we highly recommend visiting this national treasure.

Carlsbad caverns National Park

Tips for Visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park with kids

  • Timed Entry Tickets Required to Enter Carlsbad Cavern

    • Reservations are strongly recommended and can purchased online or by calling 877-444-6777 for $1 fee.
    • Reservations are only for selecting the entry time.
    • Upon arrival at the visitor center, entrance tickets must be purchased. $15 per person Ages 15 and Under: Free
  • Get the Junior Ranger Booklet at the Visitor’s Center. Kids, ages 7-12, can earn a badge or patch by completing 7 of the 14 activities. They also had junior ranger paper hats which we’ve never seen before.
  • Reserve ranger-guided tours in advance online at www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. There are three tours kids 8 and under can go which includes the popular King’s Palace Tour with only 55 spots. During busy times, the park recommends reserving 6 weeks in advance.
  • Rent Audio guide for $5 at the bookstore to help with the self-guided tours.
  • Bring flashlights to look at formations more closely. We also used our iPhones’ flashlight app.
  • Expect long wait times at the elevators during the summer season or around closing time. We only waited 5 minutes at the most during our visit in late March.
  • No food, gum or drinks other than water are allowed inside the caves.
  • Wear shoes with traction despite the paved walkways for some steep and wet areas.
  • Kennel services are available for your four-legged friends.
  • Most lodging is located in the city of Carlsbad, NM. There aren’t that many decent options which is surprising for a city near a major National Park.
  • The nearest major airport is 150 miles in El Paso Texas. You can also do what we did which was fly into Albuquerque, New Mexico. We spent a few days in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and drove down for 5 hours passing the alien city of Roswell to the caverns.

*Have you visited and explored Carlsbad Caverns National Park? 

37 thoughts on “Underground Wonders of Carlsbad Caverns National Park With Kids”

    1. Thanks Nancie! I really wanted to show how big those formations are and even though my kids are on the tiny side, I hope the point came across. It really was a great place to visit.

  1. Hi Mary,
    Holy cow, I can’t believe the sheer size of this cave! Six football fields? The variety of formations are extremely fascinating. The photos are amazing. Looking at some of them made gasped, especially the soda straw. I’m truly amazed by the formations created by nature. I can just imagine how fascinating it was for the kids. I love caves and I can’t wait to visit this one someday.

  2. I agree that your husband did a marvelous job of the photos. I tried to choose
    a favourite but could not. The seats to watch the bats emerging are an interesting
    addition – I would like to see that.

    1. Thank you Jan! We would love to return to witness the bats exit the cave too. My kids were fascinated with these bats all of a sudden. The bad thing is you can’t take pictures during the event.

  3. I’ve always wanted to visit the Carlsbad Caverns and I’ve been close a few times. New Mexico offers so much to see. LOVE the soda straws photo. We did quite a good caves tour years ago with our kids in West Virginia. These caves are all fine to visit because there is no squirming through small holes. Still don’t know how the real spelunkers do it.

    1. Thanks Leigh! I don’t know how the spelunkers did it either. They do have some tours that requiring crawling through holes though. I’ve heard some great stuff about West Virginia’s caves. Looks like I need to explore that part of the country.

  4. A wonderful array of photos, and yes, impossible to pick just one because they all add to the story. I bet the children loved exploring them – by the look on their faces they did! We have some interesting caves in Western Australia, around Margaret River in particular, but I don’t think any as big as those you mention here.

  5. What amazing caves. I can’t believe how big they..the stalactites especially. The Soda Stream is so aptly named. There’s obviously a lot to see in New Mexico and great that it appeals to the kids. Fabulous photos as usual…hubby does a great job!!

  6. Hahaha, yes I can imagine walking down that zigzag stairs with a lantern. I’ve done it a few times, actually. It provided a lot of laughs after we exited the cave.
    Anyway, I doubt that I’ve been to a cave this large. I can see why you did it in two visits. It’s gigantic!

  7. eileen at FamiliesGo!

    I’m not big on caves, but this looks really cool. I’d probably have to muster up some courage and do it.

  8. Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista

    Even though I’ve never been to Carlsbad Caverns, I love caves! The formations inside are so unique and interesting. Looks like a great trip and this has made me want to go.

  9. So interesting and beautiful indeed. The last time I saw something like this was in
    Ha Long, Vietnam. I see you are big fan of National Parks, love it!

  10. I have never thought to be worried about a stalactite falling on me, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I’ll have it on the mind from now on. Um, thanks? I can’t wait to take my kids here some day. Great tips! Also, if you ever have a chance to read “Partly Cloudy Patriot” by Sarah Vowell, she has a whole essay on the Underground Cafe in Carlsbad.

  11. I love caves and well and this looks a very beautiful one judging from the stunning photos.
    I’m also a big fan of National Parks but haven’t visited this one yet … put on the list.

  12. Amazing photos. I’ve tried taking pictures in a cave without a tripod before and mine came out nothing like this so well done! It looks like a fascinating (and huge) place to visit. Glad your kids were so captivated by it. It’s always nice when you find somewhere that the kids are also happy to slow down and look too so you can enjoy it too.

  13. Even though I’ve been to New Mexico many times, I haven’t been to Carlsbad Caverns. I’d love to do a Big Bend NP/Guadalupe NP/Carlsbad Caverns road trip soon.

  14. I’m kicking myself not to stop by here when we were in New Nexico! It was a tad out of the way from where we were going but lookint at your pics – oh man, it wouldve been so worth it!

  15. I love this cave Mary, and your hubby has taken some great photos inside! I went to a similar cave in England but most of my shots were blurry (I should buy a tripod it seems!). Stalactites and stalagmites are such a vision – I love the ones dubbed ‘Lion’s tails’ – they are so unusual. However, the ones which look like witches fingers are still my favourite! The entrance fee is so reasonable too.

  16. BB was there more than 30 years ago and loved it; nice to see it’s still being maintained and open to the public. Here from the Best of the USA hop and hope to see you at my dance soon. BB2U

  17. After your comment about falling stalactites, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to step inside another cave! Okay, just joking, but I may be a little bit apprehensive.

    I’ve heard that Carlsbad is extremely beautiful and I’ve always wanted to visit. I loved the Lion’s Tail and I’m sure my teens and husband will get a laugh over the ‘other’ interest of ing formation. :)

    Thanks for joining the Best of the USA blog hop.

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