It’s sunny and clear today, but it won’t matter. We plan to go way underground at Carlsbad Caverns.
First off, it’s difficult to know how to describe this experience. The pictures won’t tell the story because lighting is dim and the formations are numerous and unique. We offer some snippets and assurance that the views were extraordinary. Here goes …
We did a self-guided tour of the Big Room, took a ranger-guided tour of The King’s Palace and finished the day by watching the Bat Flight Program.
The Big Room
It’s 75 stories below the surface (754 ft), covers 600,000 sq ft of area and has a maximum height of 255 ft. It took 1 ½ hours to walk the circumference. We think it’s aptly named.
Highlights included the Lion’s Tail, Hall of Giants, Bottomless Pit and Rock of Ages.
First off, it’s difficult to know how to describe this experience. The pictures won’t tell the story because lighting is dim and the formations are numerous and unique. We offer some snippets and assurance that the views were extraordinary. Here goes …
We did a self-guided tour of the Big Room, took a ranger-guided tour of The King’s Palace and finished the day by watching the Bat Flight Program.
The Big Room
It’s 75 stories below the surface (754 ft), covers 600,000 sq ft of area and has a maximum height of 255 ft. It took 1 ½ hours to walk the circumference. We think it’s aptly named.
Highlights included the Lion’s Tail, Hall of Giants, Bottomless Pit and Rock of Ages.
Hall of Giants
Hmm, can't remember
Peeking through a small arch
Crystal Spring Dome
The King’s Palace
It’s about 85 stories below the surface and has some of the most beautiful (highly decorated) views in the caverns. You can only go here on a guided tour.
Highlights included the King’s Palace, Papoose Room, Queen’s Chamber and Green Lake Room.
Green Lake Room
Carol wanted to be our ranger guideBat Flight
This was an unexpected treat.
There are an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 bats in the caverns. The bat census was estimated to be 1.2 million when the insect population was at its peak. Hopefully we can agree there are a lot of bats here.
We gathered at the amphitheatre outside the Natural Entrance to the caverns. The bats began to take off at about 6:15pm. We watched for over 1 ½ hours as they left the cave in a steady stream. We obviously lost count immediately, but there must have been 100s of thousands of bats. They rose in large swarms that looked like smoke trails. We didn’t see the end of their take off because it got too dark. The ranger said it normally takes 2 hours for them to depart and they return by sunrise.
It's hard to believe these sights are buried deep under a peaceful hillside
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