big room

The size of this room in the caverns is just hard to comprehend. It is stunning in its depth, breadth and magnitude. The formations are amazing and the park service has done a fantastic job with walkways, rails and lighting. Before you set out on your self-guided tour of the Big Room I highly recommend you take a guided tour and learn the history of the caverns from a ranger. (There are also audio tours you can rent, but I did not so can't speak to that.) What would really rock is if they discovered Lechuguilla cave connects to Carlsbad caverns!

Was so happy that my hubby and I got to see this cavern. It was very very awesome . Loved all the stalactites and stalagmites. So unique. Very interesting . We have been to the Cango caves in Oudtshoorn South Africa and I think this one is very massive.So unbelievable ... spectacular. Wanted to do the tour but unfortunately it was fully booked.We will definitely go back and make reservations in advance.A give it a big Wow.

If you have minimal time don't take the hike down the natural cavern but take the elevator down and just do the walk around the Big room. The staff on the front desk didn't explain that so we didn't have as much time in the Big Room as we would have liked. It's not to be missed - absolutely spectacular. I would advise taking a tripod for your camera to get the best shots. It's pretty dark down there. Another thing to take is a flashlight so you can see the settings on your camera.

My wife and I visited Carlsbad Caverns in September 2013 as part of a tour around New Mexico. We did a loop, stopping in Carlsbad as our last stop. When passing through, the largest draw to the area is the Caverns. It is breathtaking to be among the natural beauty of the caverns in one of the United States' largest cave systems. The Big Room has everything you would want in a cave: stalactites, stalagmites, fans, icicles, etc. We did the self-guided tour, and walked around ourselves. Don't miss the huge columns in the middle of the room. They are the stars of the show. :) One tip: if you are wheel-chair bound, be prepared to have a lot of the park closed off to you. The park is only semi-friendly to wheelchairs. I guess it is to be expected in a place like this, where the original explorers were on their hands and knees crawling around.

This self guided tour is gorgeous. We took our time and had a blast enjoying all of the variety of formations that appear in the caverns. The only challenging part of the huge crowds [even in February] on such a narrow pathway. We had to move aside several times to let people through and taking photos was challenging at times due to the crowds. This walk is a must do when you visit. I would recommend also doing a ranger led tour with fewer people/distractions to complement your visit.

My family and I decided on a whim to take a trip to Carlsbad Caverns. It is about a two and a half hour drive from El Paso, so you can drive there, visit, and drive back in the same day. However, we decided to spend the night because we got a late start and the entrance ticket for Carlsbad Caverns is good for three days. We arrived with a few hours of time on our first day and took the elevator down. Our almost three year old son was scared when he first entered the elevator, but he was no longer scared after a few minutes of talking to after we got off of the elevator. Our four year old daughter was not scared at all. Because of the limited time on our first day, we saw the first quarter of the Big Room and the last quarter (we took the shortcut). It took us about an hour and it was outstanding. You have very few chances to see anything like this in your lifetime. Words simply cannot describe what it is like and pictures do not do it justice. Because we arrived in the afternoon, the crowds were dying out and it was not that busy at all. It seemed like that we were the only ones left in the caverns at about 3:45 or so in the afternoon.We arrived the next day somewhat early (around 9:00 AM). The weather was very cold and rainy (which later turned into snow). This, along with it being a Sunday morning, probably kept the crowds at bay because there were again not many people visiting. Because we had all day, we took the natural entrance into the caverns. It is not as great as the Big Room, but definitely worth taking (see my review). After the natural entrance, we had lunch in the Visitor Center. The food is nothing great, but they have a pretty good selection and the food I had was pretty solid. The Visitor Center also has plenty of bathrooms, a large gift shop, a relatively large bookstore, and some exhibits. This is also where you take the elevator down if you do not want to take the natural entrance down. We took the elevator down and toured the whole Big Room. The first quarter and last quarter are much better than the middle half, but it is still worth taking the whole tour.It is probably a once in a lifetime experience for most people and you should definitely make a visit if you are anywhere within a few hours radius. My father is visiting in a few months and we are going to bring him to see the caverns as well. It is not to be missed!

The cavern loop that goes in and around the Big Room can get crowed. It's best to go early. If you can get there early and be one of the first groups down the path then you can keep to yourself and not be bothered by others. Take plenty of water with you and bring a jacket. If you plan to take photos do yourself a favor and bring a real camera and a tripod so you can use longer exposures and not flash. Caverns and caves are not a flashes friend. Typically what you want to light is too far away anyway and so you ar just throwing light into the darkness. This can temporarily blind yourself or others around you in such a dark place. Also when down in the cavern and the big room be respectful of others and be quiet! It's so annoying to hear kids yelling 'echo' every 10 seconds!!

We love all National Parks and this is no exception! The caverns are enormous and beautiful. We were so thankful for all the hard work of the NPS staff who made it so easy to enjoy the cavern!

Walk quietly, take pictures galore, explore with your eyes and enjoy the feeling of the largest underground natural room in the USA. Water dripping, cave features, and volunteers working on cleaning mud from water pools were to be found.

The formations are huge as well as the room. Well worth the walk through it. If you are a first time visitor definitely walk through this room.

Wow. Just wow. I can't even really put into words how amazing this place is. The drive in to the park is a nice change of pace from all the flat land around it. Once you get into the park it's like being in a whole other world. I've been to a lot of great national parks and this one is the most unique. I really wish I would have visited here sooner. Entering the caves was breathtaking. I was in absolute awe pretty much the entire time I was there. The formations were just gorgeous. I was lucky enough to get a pass for the Kings Canyon guided tour and if you get a chance it's well worth it to do. I will be making repeat trips without a doubt.

Hard to believe that, in such a big space, we were so far underground. The room itself does not make the experience at the park worthwhile. Only in combination with many other, smaller rooms and features is the park as amazing as it is.

You can reach this room via an elevator, or, as we did, walk down the long steep trail from the natural entrance. Words are totally inadequate to describe what you will see down there. Amazing doesn't come close! This room is large enough to hold 14 American football fields, but football would be impossible, because the room is filled with enormous stalactites and stalagmites. Some of them are 60 feet tall! The ceiling is nearly 300 above your head in places. You'll also see thousands of other strange formations, and deep pits. I was disappointed that the lighting did not appear to be as bright as it was during a visit in 2002, and a ranger told me some bulbs have not been replaced when they've burned out, but the park is working on improving that situation. I hope so. On this visit, the cave appeared more like a wild cave to me than a tourist cave. I wanted to see better! My wife said, "Uh, it's a CAVE!" but I was disappointed by the dim conditions, since I remembered better lighting a dozen years ago. The trail is long and winds up and down and around, and alongside steep pits in places, but the railings are very sturdy and the pavement is roughed up for good traction. Elevators to the surface were self-operated (at least in November), and ours stalled briefly shortly after take off! No one appeared to be staffing the little lunchroom/souvenir shop. Overall, The Big Room is amazing and worth your time. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

This is amazing. You have to see it to believe it. Be sure to take a rechargeable spot light, because a 5 cell mag light is like having a candle in your back yard.

You take the loop, you can't get lost, the path is level. Take your time and walk at your own pace. There are park rangers walking the path, very helpful and will show you things you wouldn't even notice on your own.