Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a unit of the National Park System, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The principal feature, Carlsbad Cavern, is a multiple-level cave formed by the dissolving action of the groundwater on beds of limestone over millions of years. Along the more than 24 miles (39 km) of known passageways are some of the largest underground chambers in the world. Beautiful stalagmites, stalactites, and other crystalline deposits formed by dripping water are also attractions of the caverns. The lowest known level is more than 1,000 feet (305 m) below the surface of the land. Temperatures remain virtually constant at about 56° F. (13° C.) throughout the year.
Carlsbad Caverns was once known as Bat Cave because of the millions of bats that for centuries have inhabited the cave during summer. Their spectacular departing flight at sunset each day is one of the park's main attractions.
At least 80 additional caves—most closed to the public—are within the park. One of these, Lechuguilla Cave, is more than 1,560 feet (476 m) below the surface of the land—the deepest cave in the United States. Dirt roads and nature trails provide access to some of the park's generally rough, desert terrain. The area of the park is 73 square miles (189 km2).
The caverns were known to prehistoric Indians and to settlers moving westward after the Civil War. They were explored to a large extent by James Larkin White, a cowboy and miner, early in the 1900's. The area was made a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1930.