Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay


Regional map showing Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks.

Regional map showing topography ofGuadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks.

Map of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

U.S. 62, from El Paso to Carlsbad Caverns, would be another worthy contender for "Loneliest Road in America."
West of the highway, the hills are an erosionally resistant Paleozoic reef.
Entrance to the park.

Below: the drive to the caverns leads up a tedious and not especially scenic canyon.
The garish orange streak is fire retardant sprayed during a recent fire.
Carlsbad, rather than Mammoth Cave, is the place to see cave formations.
 
 
Above: looking south into Texas. Imagine you're on a Paleozoic sea floor, standing on the reef edge, with deep sea stretching off into the distance.

Left and below: El Capitan and the Guadalupe Mountains to the southwest.

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Created 7 April 2003, Last Update 08 June 2020