White Sands National park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park - A Travelogue #FridayReflections

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Hello again! This is the continuation of our trip to Big Bend National Park.

You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here. 

Here is the map of the places we visited:

We started from Big Bend National Park around noon and drove through Marfa to Elpaso. 

Marfa:

Marfa is a small desert town and is also an art hub. 

Outside the town is a viewing platform to see the mysterious lights in the sky - sometimes red, white, and blue that appear randomly at night. The source of these lights is still a mystery. Marfa is famous for this unexplainable phenomenon. We couldn't see these lights as we traveled in the noon and couldn't stay in Marfa.

On the way to Elpaso, we can watch the Prada store on US-90 which lies in an isolated place and is a fun stop. It is a permanent art installation around 26 miles northwest of Marfa.

Prada Store

Locks for Good luck?

Elpaso :

Elpaso is the sixth largest city in Texas. 

Casa De Azucar (Sugar House) is a fun place to stop by. We missed it as I didn't note down the place name while planning the trip. Don't miss it if you are driving through ElPaso. 

We planned to drive to the scenic overlook in Elpaso, but couldn't due to lack of time. I read from many blogs that this drive is worth the time.

We reached Las Cruces by evening that day and stayed there for the night. 

New mexico

White Sands National Park:

The next day morning, we drove to White Sands National Park which is around 53 mins from Las Cruces.

This is our second visit to White Sands. Here is the old travelogue. 

White Sands National park

Sledding fun

White Sands is the world's largest Gypsum dune field. The sand is very soft and white. We had many hours of fun sledding through the sand.

It's good that there are restrooms and picnic areas at many places in the park. The visitor center is great too with exhibits and info on how the dunes are formed. There are restrooms and a gift shop inside the visitor center. 

Entry to the park is $25 per vehicle. The Dune drive is 8 miles loop with many places to stop at and sled. 

We did an easy hike of 0.4 miles which is called 'The Interdune boardwalk'. It's a good introductory hike in the park.

I heard Alkali Flat Trail is the best hike in the park. It's a strenuous 5-mile round-trip hike. We couldn't do it with kids. Someday we might do this trail. 

We started our drive to Carlsbad which is 3.5 hrs. We reached by the night and we stayed at Whites city cavern inn in Carlsbad.

The location is great as it's just 6.8 miles from the caves.

Accommodation near Las Cruces:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park:

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is unlike any other caves. These caves were formed 20 - 30 million years ago in the Guadalupe mountains. Around 110 caves were formed with stunning formations due to the mineral-laden water seeping through the fractures of ancient limestone sedimentation.

Carlsbad Caverns National park

Carlsbad Caverns National park

Here is my old travelogue to Carlsbad Caverns. Last time, we booked King's Palace tour and I highly recommend it. The guided tour is 1.5 hrs and it's very interesting and informative.

This time, we just did a self-guided tour through the Big Room trail which is 1.25 miles. We spent some time in the visitor center watching the exhibits and learning more about how caves are formed. We took an elevator to the caves.

Carlsbad Caves

Cave Formations

Last time, we entered the cave through Natural Entrance Trail. This was the toughest trail then but completely worth it. This trail is 1.25 miles taking us down to 750 ft.

We had great lunch in the national park cafe. I highly recommend eating there. My kids completed their junior ranger program and got their badges.

By the time, we came out of the caves, it was around 4 Pm. We drove to Guadalupe Peak in the Guadalupe Mountains national park. 

Accommodations near Carlsbad:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is only 34 mins from Carlsbad, so don't miss it if you can. 

We didn't have much time and were tired after the caves, but wanted to see Guadalupe Peak and cover El Capitan Overlook.

Guadalupe Peak

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We just covered those two and returned to our motel in Whites City. 

3.8 mile Devil's Hall trail is very popular in Guadalupe mountains national park. It takes 3 to 4 hrs to finish the trail and it starts from pine springs campground. This trail gives beautiful views of canyons and geological formations.

Some easy trails recommended by other bloggers and friends are:

• The trail from dog canyon campground to Marcus Overlook
• McKittrick Canyon to Pratt's cabin and on to Grotto

We couldn't do any of these trails due to the lack of time.

The next day morning we started our return journey to Austin. 

That was our best South Western Texas and New Mexico trip. How did you like it?

Please let me know in the comments. 

Until next time,

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Linking this to #FridayReflections hosted by Corinne. 

Eternal Kiss #WordlessWednesday

This photo is from Carlsbad caverns national park in New Mexico.

This formation is called Eternal kiss as both the upper and lower stones just touch.

Can you believe that this formation is completely natural and formed million years ago underground?

Until next time, 

Linking this post to #wordlesswednesday hosted by Natasha and Esha.

A Day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park #NewMexicoTrip #Day2

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Read our #Day1 Travelogue of New Mexico trip here.

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is unlike any other caves. These caves were formed 20 - 30 million years ago in Guadalupe mountains. Around 110 caves were formed with stunning formations due to the mineral-laden water seeping through the fractures of ancient limestone sedimentation. 

Geologists found that sulfuric acid played an important role in the dissolution of all Guadalupe mountain caves.

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Our whole New Mexico trip was planned around spending more time exploring Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument. So, we decided to stay one night at Whites city to start early to the caves and explore the caves with full energy after breakfast.


Caves open at 8 AM itself. Since we were visiting the Caves with 2 kids - 8 and 5 yr olds, we had to plan enough breaks. 

We have booked the only one ranger-led tour which allows 5 yr olds - The King's Palace tour. We booked this tour online at least 2 weeks ahead. We reached the Visitor Center by 9 AM. Roamed around to understand the geology of park through the exhibits, took the map and Junior ranger guide material for kids. 

The King's Palace Tour

By 9.45AM, we reached down through the elevator to the starting point of the tour. The King's Palace tour is a 1.5 hr tour which takes us through 4 highly decorated and stunning chambers of the cave. The elevator takes us down to around 700 ft underground. 

The guide was very knowledgeable and explained the different types of formations like Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, columns, popcorn, and soda straws. 

She also explained how Jim White found this cave, explored in those days and worked to make this beautiful place open to the public. We were amazed at the dedication of national park service in preserving these delicate and stunning formations inside the caves.

This tour was very informative and it was like a good starting point for us. 

The Big Room Trail

The Big Room trail is the trail going through the largest cave chamber and it is a must-visit. The trail is relatively flat 1.25 miles which goes through all unique formations in the cave. 

It took around 1.5 hrs for us to complete this trail and there are no restrooms in between. Restrooms are available near the elevator at the starting of the trail though. 

Kids were too tired after this trail and so, we headed back to the visitor center through the elevator. We had a tasty traditional Mexican lunch in the cafeteria. The food was great.

Now, we were left with the famous Natural Entrance trail. We knew this will be the toughest trail with kids, especially with our 5 yr old. Hiking up the trail is too difficult, so we settled to hike it down after lunch. 

Natural Entrance Trail

I wouldn't say it was not tough, but it was the most memorable trail in the caverns for us. We struggled, took breaks, huffed and puffed but it was completely worth it.

This 1.25-mile trail was extremely steep and took us down to 750 ft. It was amazing in all aspects. We took a lot of photos on the way to the Big room. We returned back to the visitor center through the elevator.

We visited the Caverns in Feb, so we missed the bat flight program. I heard it is amazing to see all the bats flying outside together in the evening from August to September. The park even arranges to sit in the amphitheater for the bat flight program. 

Here are some quick Facts about Caverns:

- There are 120 known caves here by this time.
- The caves are at 56 F throughout the year
- There are at least 17 species of bats in the park. The most famous one is the Brazillian free-tailed bats.
- Lechuguilla caves are famous (the deepest limestone caves in North America), but not accessible to the public and only open for research purposes.
- Apparently, the bat pop - guano was a powerful fertilizer and people used to visit these caves to mine the guano and export it.
- If you know the famous movie 'The Journey to the center of the Earth', you might realize that some parts are picturized in these caves!

Now, that you know about Carlsbad Caverns National park, don't miss it if you are near Texas, New Mexico or Colorado. 

Until next time,

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Stay near Carlsbad Caves!