Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the southeast region of New Mexico, United States. The most famous part of this National Park is the show cave, Carlsbad Caverns,� which is open to the public and tourists can hike by themselves via the natural entrance. One can also take the elevator that take you to the Underground Lunchroom which is 230 meters (750ft) beneath ground level.

Carlsbad Caverns Park is open every day� except on the 25th of December every year. It has two distinct entries, one is the Cacesern Historic District and the other is called the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District. Out of the entire park, almost two-third has been restored in terms of its habitat and no further change will be allowed under any circumstance. The most visited day of the year is on July 4th, U.S. Independence Day.

Jim White discovered this place and gave some of the rooms their names, including the Big Room, King’s Palace, New Mexico Room, Papoose Room, Queen’s Chamber, and Green Lake Room. Jim also named others important formations, including Totem Pole, Giant Dome, Witch’s Finger, Bottomless Pit, Iceberg Rock, Fairyland, Temple of the Sun, and Rock of Ages. There is a lot of natural and untapped beauties present in Carlsbad Caverns. Quite a few chambers in the cave have white stalagmites, which resembled angels to the room’s discoverers. There are 17 different species of bats that lived within the park.

Balloon Ballroom

Located in the ceiling above the main entrance hall, this small room was first accessed by tying a rope to a bunch of balloons and floating them up into the passage.

Bat Cave

A large, unadorned rocky passage connected to the main entrance corridor that was mined for bat guano in the early 20th century. The majority of the cave’s bat population lives in this portion of the cave.

Bell Cord Room

Named for a long, narrow stalactite coming through a hole in the ceiling, resembling the rope coming through a church steeple to ring the bell. This room is located at the end of the Left Hand Tunnel.

Bifrost Room

Discovered in 1982, it is located in the ceiling above Lake of the Clouds. Its name refers to a Norse myth about a world in the sky that was accessed from Earth by a rainbow. The room was given this name because of its location above the Lake of the Clouds and its colorful oxide-stained formations.

Big Room or The Hall of the Giants

The largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns, with a floor space of 33,210 m2 (357,469 sq ft).[10]

Chocolate High

A maze of small passages totalling nearly a mile in combined length, discovered in 1993 above a mud-filled pit in the New Mexico Room known as Chocolate Drop.

Green Lake Room

The uppermost of the “Scenic Rooms”, it is named for a deep, malachite-colored pool in the corner of the room. In the 1940s, when the military was testing the feasibility of Carlsbad Cavern as an emergency fallout shelter, the Green Lake was used to look for ripples caused by a nuclear bomb test many miles away. None appeared.

Guadalupe Room

Discovered by a park ranger in 1966, this is the second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is known for its dense collection of “soda straw” stalactites.

Hall of the White Giant

A large chamber containing a large, white stalagmite. Rangers regularly lead special wild cave tours to this location.

King’s Palace

The first of four chambers in a wing known as the “scenic rooms”, it is named for a large castle-like formation in the center of the room.

Lake of the Clouds

The lowest known point in the cave. It is located in a side passage off the Left Hand Tunnel. It is named for its large lake containing globular, cloud-like rock formations that formed under water when the lake level was much higher.

Left Hand Tunnel

A long, straight passage marked by deep fissures in the floor. These fissures are not known to lead anywhere. The Left Hand Tunnel leads to the Lake of the Clouds and the Bell Cord Room.

Mystery Room

A small room located in the lower part of the cave, named for a mysterious and as of yet unexplained noise heard only in this room.

New Mexico Room

Located adjacent to the Queen’s Chamber and accessed by means of a short slope.

New Section

A section of fissures east of the White Giant formation and paralleling the Bat Cave. New discoveries are still being made in this section.

Papoose Room

Located between the King’s Palace and Queen’s Chamber.

Queen’s Chamber

Widely regarded as the most beautiful and scenic area of the cave. Jim White’s lantern went out in this chamber while exploring and was in the dark for over half an hour.

Spirit World

Located in the ceiling of the Big Room, this area is filled with white stalagmites that resembled angels to the room’s discoverers.

Talcum Passage

A room located in Lower Cave where the floor is coated with gypsum dust.

The Rookery

One of the larger rooms in Lower Cave. A large number of cave pearls are found in this area.

Underground Lunchroom

Located in the Big Room at the head of the Left Hand Tunnel. It contains a cafeteria that was built in the 1950s, and is where the elevators from the visitor center exit into the cave.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park