3 Best Sights in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

In the amphitheater at the Natural Entrance (off a short trail from the main parking lot) a ranger discusses the park's batty residents before the creatures begin their sundown exodus. The bats aren't on any predictable schedule, so times are a little iffy. Ideally, viewers will first hear the bats preparing to exit, followed by a vortex of black specks swirling out of the cave mouth in search of dinner against the darkening sky. When conditions are favorable, hundreds of thousands of bats will soar off over the span of half an hour or longer.

As natural daylight recedes, a self-guided, paved trail twists and turns downward from the yawning mouth of the main cavern, about 100 yards east of the visitor center. The route is winding and sometimes slick from water seepage aboveground. A steep descent of about 750 feet, much of it secured by hand rails, takes you about a mile through the main corridor and past dramatic features such as the Bat Cave and the Boneyard. (Despite its eerie name, the formations here don't look much like femurs and fibulae; they're more like spongy bone insides.) Iceberg Rock is a massive boulder that dropped from the cave ceiling millennia ago. After about a mile, you'll link up underground with the Big Room Trail and can return to the surface via elevator or by hiking back out. Footware with a good grip is recommended.

With a floor space equal to about 14 football fields, this subterranean focal point of Carlsbad Cavern clues visitors in to just how large the cavern really is. The White House could fit in one corner of the Big Room, and wouldn't come close to grazing the 230-foot ceiling. Entrance can be accessed by elevator or through the Natural Entrance and a 1.25-mile descending trail. Either way, at 750 feet below the surface you will connect with the self-guided 1.25-mile Big Room loop, a relatively level (it has some steps), paved pathway through the almost hallucinatory wonders of various formations and decorations. You also get a layman's lesson on how the cavern was carved. This self-guided tour costs $12; kids under 15 are admitted for free but must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are not necessary. An audio guide is available from the visitor center bookstore for $5. Even in summer, long pants and long-sleeved shirts are advised for cave temperatures in the mid-50s.