kittygirl

Hello!
My husband and I have 4 days to travel in mid to late September.
While there are no direct flights, we are considering the Caverns, roswell or other areas that may be appropriate for 4 days of hiking and sightseeing, preferably not to warm a climate.
I welcome any suggestions on these areas.
For the Caverns it appears we fly into El Paso then have a drive for a bit.
Any tips? Or other areas worth while?

Thanks!

jayne1973

Hi kittygirl,

Instead of Roswell, which really just has the UFO museum and is otherwise kind of "blah," you might want to look into the Ruidoso/Cloudcroft area as a complement to your visit to Carlsbad Caverns. There's cool Old West Billy the Kid history in nearby Lincoln, too. White Sands National Monument is also is that area. Here are some links:

www.discoverruidoso.com
cloudcroft.com
www.nmmonuments.org/lincoln
www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

WhereAreWe

You will drive right past Guadalupe Mountains National Park on your way to Carlsbad.

http://www.nps.gov/gumo/index.htm

There are some state parks near El Paso but it may be too warm for your liking at that time of year.
http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/franklin-mountains
http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/hueco-tanks

Guadalupe and Carlsbad will be warm as well, but there's significant elevation at Guadalupe so it will be cooler as you hike up. The caves will be cool inside, of course so no worries about the temps there. Stay for the evening bat program if you can.

kittygirl

Thank you, will check them out and pass on Roswell!

spirobulldog

Guadalupe National Park is worth a stop. Guadalupe Peak is a good hike and it is the tallest point in Texas.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND the 2 wild cave tours offered at Carlsbad Caverns. RESERVE ASAP. This is on Sat and Sun only and is limited to 10 people per week.

White Sand Dunes is a unique place to see.

If possible see the bats at both Dusk and Dawn. Nobody see them in the morning and it's every bit as spectacular then.

Dukey1

If you do the caves consider staying in the hotel in town as opposed to those nearby motels.

DebitNM

On Fridays at dusk, you can volunteer to help band the cave swallows. That enables you to be IN the caves as the bats fly out! They fly right over your head!

DebitNM

(Cave swallows are birds)

kittygirl

Thanks all~
I would love to see the bats fly, what is "banding" cave swallows? Sounds great! Now to figure out how far the drive is from El Paso airport and if much on the way, hard to fly so far and 2 flights then still drive.

DebitNM

Note: bird banding and ringing are same things, just different names [ US vs UK]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_ringing