Carlsbad Caverns, NM

Carlsbad Caverns is a national park in southeastern New Mexico. After driving through a desert canyon, there is a short drive up to the high point where the visitor center and entrance to the cavern are situated.

You enter the cavern through a natural entrance. It is quite spectacular. You descend 750 feet (75 stories) to reach the main "room" which is enormous. It took us an hour to descend and we spent another hour + circumnavigating the cathedral-sized room.

I wasn't about to ascend the way we came in so we took the elevator back to the surface. Hint on getting out quickly...be willing to split up. They take groups of 8 or 6. Dave and I were able to join odd-numbered groups and so jumped to the front of the line.

The natural entrance.