carlsbad caverns natural entrance tour

I had been to the cave as a child with my family, and returned as an adult with my husband this week. The caves are AMAZING still and did not dissappoint.

Beautiful, amazing sight to behold. We took an 8-hour road trip from Dallas with a 2-year-old and it was WORTH IT, if that tells you anything. Granted, it was a little tough keeping the little one quiet inside the caves, but we went during the off-season so there weren't a lot of other people there at all. Highly recommend taking the "natural entrance" into the caves (hiking down a slowly descending 1.25 mile trail) rather than taking the elevator. Even while wearing the toddler (no strollers allowed, FYI) the whole way, it was worth it. You really get a feel for how far under the surface you are going (800 ft), and there is a rest area once you reach the main room where you can use the restroom and have a snack before you explore what people take the elevators down to see. We didn't even get to see the entire place (all 2-year-olds have their limits, and we wanted to avoid a complete underground meltdown), but I felt like I got my time's worth because of taking the natural entrance down. It's a beautiful place if you're into nature and want to see something straight out of the Goonies. If you have a child under 4, you will not be able to take ANY guided tours, but we had a great experience just looking around on our own. Highly recommend.

Most beautiful cave I have been in. A guided tour is recommended. Also we did not purchase the optional self guided audio wand until we did part of the self tour (we were not told during ticket purchase and noticed people using them). We purchased the audio wand later and used it for rest of tour, highly recommended to make the tour more informational, cant wait to come back one day to do more of the guided tours.

The tour was amazing. The staff was excellent, very friendly and gave a lot of info regarding the tour and didn't mind answering questions. going down the cavern wasn't too bad, Make sure to wear a light sweater, it gets cold inside the cavern, then gets muggy and humid. Its a very beautiful place.

It was wonderful to visit this cave off season. We saw few other visitors. We walked in and out the natural entrance and roamed all the generally available paths underground. Only wish we had looked ahead of time and perhaps registered for one of the special tours.

These caverns are a bit off the beaten track but in spite of that they are not to be missed. I could have spent much more time in them, but we were a bit later in the afternoon when we arrived. If you have the time take the walk from the outside to the Natural Cavern - it takes about an hour or so to get to the bottom. Then when you are at the bottom take the walk around the Big Cavern - this will take another 1 - 1/2 hours. If you are energetic you can hike back up or take the elevator. The staff at the reception desk and the rangers need a bit of an attitude adjustment in my opinion. The front desk person did not explain about the natural cavern, the big cavern and the elevator option so we were not sure exactly where we were. I notice from another comment on Trip Adviser that they had the same problem as we had. We met a ranger lady on our walk down and when I asked her about the 2 caverns she thought she was being smart by answering that there are hundreds of caverns in New Mexico. In spite of the staff, it's an absolutely "must see".

My wife and I were hesitant to take the natural entrance route into Carlsbad Caverns because we have a four year old daughter and an almost three year old son. We asked a park ranger if it was doable for them and they said yes as long as we took our time. We decided to try it and it was well worth it. Both our daughter and our son walked the entire route, which was quite steep and long. It took us about 1.5 hours to do it. It was a neat experience to enter the caverns like those who discovered the caverns. It is not as good as actually being in the Big Room, but still worth the experience.

We visited family in Carlsbad NM. We planned to go to the cave, but I didn't know that there was an actual entrance that you could walk down into. I thought at this point everyone went down by elevator (which most do I believe). The group of us took the long journey of switchbacks down into the caves. I don't remember there being many or any stairs at all. Imagine going down something like a standard wheelchair ramp decline, but that's 85 stores tall...in the dark! There are lamps and lights here and there, but someplaces it gets really dark. The walk down took almost two hours, but only because I was purposefully going slow to look around and try and take in all the sights. I also wanted to try and get photos along the way. The caverns at the bottom are great, don't get me wrong, but half of the experience is going down this natural tunnel. There is one thing for sure is that this route will definitely do a number on your shins and calves. Expect them to be sore the next day! The route down althought realitively easy is still tough and by the time we got to the bottom half our party didn't even really want to do the loop in the cave rooms, and they were ready to go back up in the elevator. The next time I go I'll take this natural entrance again, but probably with more water, and less camera equipment. And I probably won't carry a 3 year old down the rarmp for half of the way either!

We took our children on the self tour and hiked down from the mouth. Two boys 5 and 6. They loved it. Did the junior ranger program. Excellent book of activities. Make sure you get a pencil before you leave the ranger desk. Keeps kids interested and great learning. Elevator out.

Spent 3 days here, just exploring the big, easy accessible parts, didn't do a Ranger led tour. Because I got to the Natural Entrance a little late, I got chased into the Big Room by a Ranger around 330, this part closes earliest. So came back next day to see and photograph the area I had to walk through quickly.In my opinion, if you are physically able, I'd walk in the Natural Entrance, go the entire self tour, and exit by the elevators. You are allowed to take a tripod which is a better way to photograph than flash. This is a special place!

We really enjoyed our tour of the Carlsbad Caverns last weekend. With a 3 year old and a 6 month old, their parents and us oldster grandparents, a good time was had by all. We prepared well. Since there are NO strollers allowed, we took two kiddie backpacks, a spare regular soft backpack, three cameras and plenty of batteries. You can only take water down (we took two bottles to share - nobody wanted the extra weight). No gum or other forms of food / beverage. Do go to the restroom at the Visitor Center, as the park is without a restroom currently prior to the tour. It is under repair. The next restroom is at the bottom of the cave in the Lunchroom area. We did rest at the Lunchroom and had a snack there. Then we ventured on the long route of "The Big Room". What a great tour! Our three-year old grand-daughter walked that portion the whole way. The features abound: Stalactites, Stalagmites, Columns, "Popcorn", Curtains, Flowstone, and a lot of very interesting formations. The pools of water were being cleaned by volunteer cavers from the National Speleological Society and others. They took their time to explain what they were doing and answer any questions. Thank you for your volunteering to do a rough job! Our trip out of the cave was with the elevators. They were very welcome. Gift shop and the visitor center were of the expected quality that only the National Park Service can provide. Again, Thanks to all that keep our parks going!

What a spectacular wonder of nature to behold! We fell in love with the caverns, taking our time walking the loop. Spent a 3 hours down there. You wouldn't be able to find these things on your own, so it was fascinating having someone point them out. The ponds are crystal clear, you'd think you could drink from them, but you can't. We even named some of the stalactites and stalagmites with our own imaginary names. The whole family would enjoy this, but take your time, don't rush through this, there are wondrous sights for all to enjoy.

Wasn't sure what to expect-beyond words! Everywhere you walk there is a stalagmite or stalagtite more beautiful than the next. The columns are mammoth reaching to the top of the cavern. Such a work of nature! A don't miss on your New Mexico trip!

This is the second time we have came here. I'm sure we will be back if we are in the area! We really enjoy hiking both up and down, although it is a tiring, strenuous hike. There is an elevator if you tire out and do not feel up to the hike out.There are restrooms both in the main lobby and down at the bottom. I agree that the lighting is dimmer than on our earlier trip. It didn't bother me, in fact after my eyes adjusted I felt it was better this way. I did have one gripe though. There were those who were taking a lot of pictures. This is fine except with all of the flashing, their eyes were not adjusting well to the low light environment, so they were using bright flashlights to see the trail. Those bright flashlights really blinded us and them.We did the self guided big room tour. there are so many unique and amazing formations. I can only imagine the thrill Jim White felt as he explored these chambers.On our first trip we used the audio sticks. I guess, I'd try them again next time as the signs are not as informative. There is a $10 per person entrance fee. The $80 Annual America the Beautiful Pass will let a signatory and 3 others in for free. Bingo, your pass is half paid for and you can enter 100s of other federal locations for free. A real bargain if you do much traveling and sightseeing.

This is a must for cave enthusiasts. The size and magnitude of these caves are awe inspiring. What it lacks in variety of structures it easily makes up for in numbers and shapes. We opted for the self guided tour over the ranger guided and spent over two hours wandering around on our own. Pathways are clearly marked. The elevator takes you 170 feet down to the Big Room where the smooth wheelchair accessible paths guide you through the massive caverns. There are rangers present to answer questions as well as many stopping points with informational displays and photos of what you are seeing. Most of the staff seemed friendly and helpful. The two of us took over 300 shots of the caverns. The flash worked very well and many of the formations are lighted enough to get very clear shots with point and shoot cameras. There are nice restrooms, gift shop, and a good restaurant available. Going to the original entrance of the caverns is not recommended for the faint of heart. We only went to see it, but did not descend on the serpentine path through the original entrance. They do have bat observation areas at the original entrance. Some 300,000 bats are said to emerge on a daily basis during the Spring through Fall seasons in the evenings. Don't expect to see bats or any other than human life in the caverns. The Caverns see some 3000 visitors a day during the summer months. We were there in early February of 2015 and had plenty of elbow room.