8 Best Sights in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

Within this user-friendly facility at the top of an escarpment, a 75-seat theater offers engrossing films and ranger programs about the different types of caves. Exhibits offer a primer on bats, geology, wildlife, and the early tribes and settlers that once lived in and passed through the Carlsbad Caverns area. Friendly rangers staff an information desk, where maps are distributed and tickets are sold. A gift shop, café, and bookstore also are on the premises.

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.

More preserve than traditional zoo, this park contains an impressive collection of plants and animals native to the Chihuahuan Desert. The Desert Arboretum has hundreds of exotic cacti and succulents, and the Living Desert Zoo is home to mountain lions, javelinas, deer, elk, bobcats, bison, and a black bear. Nocturnal exhibits let you view the area's nighttime wildlife, a walk-through aviary houses birds of prey, and there's a reptile exhibit. The park also sponsors some great educational events. Though there are shaded rest areas, restrooms, and water fountains, in summer it's more comfortable to visit in the morning before the desert oven heats up. The expansive view from here is the best in town.

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.

The third Saturday in July each year, early risers gather at the cave's entrance to watch tens of thousands of bats return home from their nocturnal search for food. Nature walks and other special ranger programs are offered as well during this free event.

Enormous cottonwood trees shade the picnic and recreation area at this cool, secluded oasis near Black River. The rare desert wetland harbors butterflies, mammals, and reptiles, as well as 90% of the park's 357 bird species. Don't let the name scare you; there may be rattlesnakes here, but no more than at any similar site in the Southwest. Restroom facilities are available, but camping and overnight parking are not allowed.

Coinciding with the new or first-quarter moon of every other month, star parties are held outside Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park about six times a year. A laser tour and powerful telescope bring the heavens closer. Call for dates.