Exploring Carlsbad Caverns: Underground Wonders
The main event for us while staying in Carlsbad was Carlsbad Caverns National Park
.
Did you know that the Big Room in Carlsbad Caverns
is the largest single cave chamber by volume. But this doesn’t make it the biggest cave system! That record goes to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky
(longest cave system in the world!)
Carlsbad Caverns became a National Park in 1930 and was named a National Monument in October 2023. You may wonder what the difference is between the two and how one site can be both!
Here’s some info from the National Parks Portfolio: “The principal qualities considered in studying areas for park purposes are their inspirational, educational, and recreational values.
National monuments, on the other hand, are areas reserved by the National Government because they contain objects of historic, prehistoric, or scientific interest.”
