Sunday, 3 March 2013

Caving at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico




This is a United States National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains in the southeastern New Mexico. The existence of caves in the limestone around Carlsbad has been known for a long time, but Carlsbad Caverns was added to the national park system as a National Monument in 1923, largely (and famously) through the advocacy and actions of Carlsbad-area cowboy Jim White. It gained full-fledged National Park status in 1930. It was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995.



There are many “rooms” in the cave. The largest “room” in Carlsbad is a natural limestone chamber which is almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at the highest point. It is the third largest chamber in North America and the seventh largest in the world. The largest chamber in the world is the Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia.



People can choose either enter the cave underground via elevator or the natural entrance, the Carlsbad Caverns switchbacks. Most of the visitor will choose to enter with the natural and get out with elevator.



Besides, there are many different tours can found here. You may have a self-guided cave tour or pay extra fees for more interesting and adventure tours that offer by the national park. Reservation is recommended.



Underground Lunchroom which 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 centre exit into the cave. There is not only a lunchroom but also a T-shirt shop.  The T-shirt shop and cafe are 750 feet below the earth’s surface.



The" decorations" are formed when limestone-laden moisture slowly drips down, creating a variety of formations. The decorations consist of stalactites that hang from the ceiling, stalagmites that grow up from the floor, columns- when the stalactites and stalagmites meet in the middle, plus others that look like melted rock in different shapes.

The first-time visitor may wish to rent an audio headset at the visitor center before heading into the cave. This provides information on cave geology, history, formations, etc., at a number of locations along the trail. Headsets in several languages other than English are available.





Reference:
http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm
http://wikitravel.org/en/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park
http://www.carlsbad.caverns.national-park.com/

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