One of our favorite things about being out west is the number of truly spectacular national parks out here. The East Coast has large cities and lots of history, but in terms of undeveloped and protected spaces, it just can’t compete with the west.
Our trip to Big Bend National Park kicked off a string of national park visits including a popular two-fer on the Texas-New Mexico border.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park are a mere 40 miles apart and easily combined into a single trip.
We chose to stay in Guadalupe primarily to be able to get on the trails early. As we were setting up in Pine Springs Campground, essentially just a parking lot with spaces for RVs, the campground host came by to warn us that there would be high winds the next day.
Since that looked like the worst day for weather, we decided to make a day trip to Carlsbad Caverns first, and then enjoy some nicer days at Guadalupe.
We hadn’t realized that we needed an entry reservation at Carlsbad Caverns. I’m not sure if that was the case when I started planning this four years ago, or whether that was a recent change. A lot of national parks are moving toward timed entry to help control crowds.
We drove up to the park a little nervous that we might not get in. All of the tours were already sold out. We were hoping the self-guided option was still available.
Fortunately, despite a long line at the visitor center, we were able to get tickets to enter the cave immediately. There are basically two options for a self-guided tour. You can either walk in through the natural entrance to the cave or take an elevator ride down from the visitor center.
We chose to hike down and thought it was worth the effort. There’s ton of features to see along the way and you get a better feel for what it must have been like to explore the cave.
That said, the pathway through the cave is paved with metal handrails all along, so you’re not getting that natural an experience.
The walk down takes about 45 minutes, before you enter what’s called The Big Room, the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America. The various formations created by the water dripping from the walls and ceiling, leaving limestone deposits that are truly amazing. And the size of the caverns are hard to fathom. As comedian and actor Will Rogers famously quipped, “It’s the Grand Canyon with a roof over it.”
The cave remains at a temperature of 58 degrees F year round, but it’s so humid inside the cave, that Mrs. 123 was sweating the entire time.
When we completed the 1.25-mile loop, we boarded the elevator which whisked us up about 750 feet to the visitor center gift shop. It’s something the National Park Service has learned from Disney: always make them exit through the gift shop.
After touring the cave, we popped into Carlsbad, New Mexico for some gas and groceries, then returned to our campsite.
The following morning, I rose early to hike to the top of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. The trail is 8.5 miles roundtrip, gaining about 3,000 feet. The summit has great views of the park and the surrounding desert. From that vantage point you could see the impact of water has on the environment. Irrigated fields form perfect green circles in a sea of brown dirt.
The peak is marked with a metal pyramid that includes tributes to the Boy Scouts of America and, randomly, the pilots of American Airlines.
Later than afternoon, Mrs. 123 and I hiked a second trail to the Devil’s Hall. Most of the trail follows a dry creek bed, requiring us to climb over rocks and around boulders. Eventually the trail bring you to a natural rock staircase, and then to a canyon with near vertical walls.
Many people think the staircase is the end of the hike, and never make it to the canyon. The most challenging part of the hike was finding where to exit the creek bed onto the trail that leads down to the campground. It just seems a lot longer coming back than going up.
Soon after we returned, we got another visit from the campground host to tell us wind were going to be even worse the next day, sustained 50 mile per hour winds with gusts up to 100 mph. We were supposed to stay two more nights, but we didn’t want to endure those winds at the campground or on the road.
So we decided to leave the park a day early. We had reservations in El Paso for the following two nights, but conditions there were forecast to be just as windy. So we opted to move directly to our next stop in Alamogordo, N.M., and another national park— White Sands.
Days: 72
Miles Traveled: 10,464
Next stop: White Sands National Park
