Established 5/14/1930 Size 46,766.45 acres (189.3 km2) Carlsbad Caverns has 117 caves, the longest of which is over 120 miles (190 km) long. The Big Room is almost 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long, and the caves are home to over 400,000 Mexican Free-tailed Bats and sixteen other species. Above ground are the Chihuahuan Desert and Rattlesnake Springs.[16]
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.
The park entrance is located on US Highway 62/180, approximately 18 miles (29Â km) southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The park has two entries on the National Register of Historic Places: The Caverns Historic District and the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District.[3] Approximately two-thirds of the park has been set aside as a wilderness area, helping to ensure no future changes will be made to the habitat.
Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000Â ft (1,220Â m) long, 625Â ft (191Â m) wide, and 255Â ft (78Â m) high at its highest point. The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world.[4]
In 1930, Carlsbad Caverns was established as a national park and was also recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1995. According to The Travel, it is renowned globally for being "one of the most accessible and best-preserved cave complexes in the world".