I visited Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Park during a weekend trip in February.
Getting There
Flying into El Paso International Airport (ELP) is a great way to access both parks (optimizing for low drive time and reasonable cost).
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park: 2.5-hour drive from El Paso
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park: 1.5-hour drive from El Paso
- Both parks are in the same direction, making it easy to visit them on the same trip
White Sands National Park is also about 1.5 hours from El Paso, but in the opposite direction. I visited White Sands in 2024 on a separate trip, but if you have more time than me, it’s a great stop to add if flying into and out of El Paso.
A rental car is essential. There’s no practical public transportation between and within these parks.
Carlsbad Caverns
In my opinion, Carlsbad Caverns is a very underrated national park. The cave system is massive, visually unique and diverse, and unlike any other cave I’ve visited. It’s not too busy and it’s very accessible.
If visiting during the summer, there’s also a bat flight program, where thousands of bats fly out of the cave at dusk. It’s one of the most iconic experiences the park offers.
Big Room
The Big Room is the main, and most popular, attraction at Carlsbad Caverns.
- It’s a self-guided loop through enormous chambers and formations. The path is fully paved (wheelchair accessible for part of the loop), generally well lit, and easy to navigate.
- Highlights include the Bottomless Pit, Mirror Lake, and the Chandelier.
- The Big Room is accessed either via the Natural Entrance, walking down into the cave (more scenic, takes longer), or the elevator from the Visitor Center, which drops you directly into the Big Room.
Timed entry reservations are required to enter the Big Room, but rangers told me that you’re allowed in at any time on the day of your reserved time slot. In February, last entry into the Big Room (via either entrance) was 2:30pm.
Lower Cave Tour
The Lower Cave Tour is one of the ranger-guided tours offered by the park. The tour takes you through a cave system below the Big Room via a rope and ladders, and features history, geology, and discovery stories. It felt like a quieter and more personal way to experience the park. The path can be uneven and slippery, and there’s even an opportunity to crawl through the cave and to marinate in total darkness in one of the tunnels.
The tour runs once a week, on Saturday at 9:30am and costs $30 per person, paid in person at the visitor center. The tour must be booked in advance and reservations open 30 days prior, at 8am MT. Tickets often sell out within minutes.
Hiking shoes or trail runners (shoes with good grip) are required. Two people who had reserved the tour were turned away for wearing tennis shoes.
Where to Stay
We stayed in Carlsbad, NM, about 30 minutes outside the park. The city was larger than expected, but there wasn’t much to do. I highly recommend the Airbnb I stayed in. The host provides customizable breakfast burritos for each guest, which were fantastic.
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Peak
Guadalupe Peak is the tallest mountain in Texas, at 8,751 ft. The hike to reach the peak is 8.2 miles round trip and roughly 3,000 ft of elevation gain. The trail is well-marked and easy to find but rocky.
Even in February, it was hot by late morning (we started at 10:30am). Rangers strongly recommend carrying plenty of water (a gallon per person). The hike was not too crowded and had lots of parking, even with our late start.
There were very unique views of El Capitan from the summit, along with a pyramid marker from American Airlines.
Texas had experienced snow a couple weeks before our visit, so there were a few icy patches near the top, but they were melting quickly and microspikes weren’t necessary.
We completed the hike car-to-car in 5 hours and 20 minutes at a moderate pace, including about 30 minutes at the summit.
Final Thoughts
Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains were both pretty underrated parks to me. They have interesting and unique landscapes, low crowds and mild weather in February, and made for a great weekend trip.
ADJENTURING 