Start by downloading the Action Tour Guide app, which will function as your personal tour guide, audio tour, and map all in one. Note: This 2.5-mile-long tour covers the essentials of Carlsbad Caverns in 1-2 hours.
Once downloaded, your tour begins near the start of the Natural Entrance Trail. From there, you’ll begin your descent into the caverns, taking a moment to learn about the cave swallows flitting in and out of the entrance as you do.
During your 750-foot descent into the bowels of the cave system, you’ll learn all about Jim White, who found the caves as a boy and explored them on his own for years. Follow his story as you marvel at the breathtaking vistas and immense chambers of ancient rock.
You’ll learn how different formations are created, from stalactites and stalagmites to more complex shapes like curtains and straws. Plus, get a look at the enormous Iceberg Rock, which crashed down from the ceiling hundreds of thousands of years ago.
At the bottom of the Natural Entrance Trail, you’ll find a seemingly impossible lunch room situated deep underground, where you can pause before embarking on the Big Room Trail, the park’s main attraction.
Following the Big Room Trail, you’ll hear more about the formation of the caves themselves and discover how this amazing place became a national park. Witness startling landmarks like the Mirror Pool, the Bottomless Pit, and much more as you explore this unbelievably vast cavern.
Eventually, you’ll loop around and end up back at the lunch room, where elevators are waiting to take you back up to the surface. Your tour concludes here.
