Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park

This is our first of a series of posts regarding our New Mexico Trip. A trip which covered 2000 plus miles over a ten-day period. This has been my favorite vacation so far. The first stop on our trip would be Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

New Mexico is a beautiful state with very diverse scenery. That scenery changes depending on what part of the state you are in. From our home base near Dallas it is a 527 mile trip to get to Carlsbad, New Mexico. There’s no doubt that it is a long ride for our two dogs, so there were a couple stops along the way to give them each a break, and some water. I usually figure that if the trip is supposed to be eight hours of driving; that we’ll need to add at least an hour on for dog breaks.

The first few hours of the trip we drove through some steady rain but then it turned into a beautiful day. The majority of the way to Carlsbad was on a major highway so gas stations were not an issue. Once we turned off the major highway then gas station access became more spotty. We pulled off the road several times to take photos of the beautiful scenery.

Beautiful New Mexico

Our destination in Carlsbad was the Carlsbad KOA. I am not pushing the KOA chain on anyone but this particular KOA was beautiful. There are a couple of things that make this Campground great, large sites and outstanding scenery. In addition it felt very secluded here as there were not a lot of folks camping.

Carlsbad KOA Entrance

The next morning our plan was to visit Carlsbad Caverns and then head south and visit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Once we arrived at Carlsbad Caverns we were told that the elevator was out of order. The only way to view the cave was the long trek down on foot, and then back up. The drop into the cave is a traversing path that takes you four thousand feet below the entrance. Obviously walking 400 stories down and back was not something we had really planned for time wise; so we decided to go half way down and then return on another trip to go all the way.

The first thing that you will notice is that it is very dark as you journey downwards. Although it is not incredibly steep, there will be excursion required on your way back up. The second thing you may notice is the smell which is bat guano. The smell which wasn’t to bad at first became increasingly strong as we descended into the cavern. If you have problems breathing or allergies you may want to think about limiting your stay in the cavern.
You also need to be careful in the very low light environment. It is very important that if you choose to take the trail that you wear shoes or boots that are made for slippery conditions. One other important point; bring a jacket or you are going to get cold.

Carlsbad Entrance

Here we are at Carlsbad Caverns Entrance

Tammy heading down the trail.

Carlsbad Caverns

This next picture should give you a good idea of how the trail traverses as it drops into the cavern. I took this picture by leaning over the rail and looking down into the cavern. Since the light is so low in the cavern look for the shiny lines in the picture, they are the handrails of the trail downward.

The Traversing Trail Downward

The walk back up was not exhausting but it is not easy either. Take your time as you come up and you will have no problem. There was a steady stream of people coming past us as we walked back up. Everyone was courteous and friendly with some asking “how much further is it?”. There were really no markers that we could see that told us how far down we were, but then maybe we just missed them.

That being said we saw many people descending into the cavern that, in my humble opinion, probably should not have. If it is a struggle to go down into the cavern, coming back up will be an impossibility. The only reason I bring this up is that we sometimes think we can handle more than our bodies are willing to do. Just make sure you are up to the task at hand.

Once we came back up to the surface we hopped in the truck and headed to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

It is less than an hour away from the Carlsbad Caverns and just over the Texas border. I don’t even know how to describe this Park other than breath-taking. There are over 86 miles of trails in the park, and so many activities that this really is not a one day stop. In addition there are 19 RV spots for camping but there are no hookups and no dump station. There is a bathroom but no showers,, so this will be primitive camping in your travel trailer. Again, one thing to remember on this trip is to make sure you have plenty of gas in your tank as the park has no nearby gas stations and cell phone coverage is sketchy.

There is a nice picnic area near the entrance to the park, so we had lunch before we started exploring. We decided on the Pinery Trail which is only three-quarters of a mile to the old Pinery Station. The Pinery Station was a stop on the old Butterfield Overland Mail Route. There are some waste high ruins still standing with a sign that shows how the station and barn area were laid out.

Guadalupe National Park Entrance

Pinery Stage Marker

The Pinery Stage Stop Ruins

After the Pinery Trail we decided to take the Frijole Trail and visit the Frijole Ranch. The first structure at this site was built in 1876 by two Brothers, namely the Radars. They operated a ranch out of this native rock wall house. They moved away from the property in the late 1800’s and the house was occupied by the Herring Family. There would be more owners as time went on with the ranch becoming larger as a result.

In the 1920’s many changes were made to the ranch including a spring room to capture water, a second story, rear kitchen, bedrooms, and a school-house. Since it was the only major building in the surrounding area it also served as the local post office. There is a much more you can learn about the ranch by going to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park Website.

Frijole Ranch House

The Ranch House is open for you to see, it is really quite remarkable.

This is a beautiful park, it is a must see if you are anywhere near the area. You could take pictures of the landscape all day and never have a bad picture.

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