Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
The cave is decorated with a large number of calcite formations such as this column and array of stalactites
Location	Eddy County, New Mexico, U.S.
Nearest city	Carlsbad
Coordinates	32°10′31″N 104°26′38″W / 32.17528°N 104.44389°W / 32.17528; -104.44389Coordinates: 32°10′31″N 104°26′38″W / 32.17528°N 104.44389°W / 32.17528; -104.44389
Area	46,766 acres (18,926 ha) 339 acres (137 ha) private
Established	May 14, 1930
Visitors	466,773 (in 2016)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Carlsbad Caverns National Park
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii
Designated	1995 (19th session)
Reference no.	721
State Party	United States
Region	North America

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a United States National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave, Carlsbad Cavern. Carlsbad Caverns National Park is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.

The park entrance is located on US Highway 62/180, approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad Caverns National Park participates in the Junior Ranger Program. The park has two entries on the National Register of Historic Places: The Caverns Historic District and the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District. Approximately two thirds of the park has been set aside as a wilderness area, helping to ensure no future changes will be made to the habitat.

Carlsbad Cavern includes a large cave chamber, (The Big Room), a natural limestone chamber almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at the highest point. It is the fifth largest chamber in North America and the twenty-eighth largest in the world.

An estimated 250 million years ago, the area surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park served as the coastline for an inland sea. Present in the sea was a plethora of marine life, whose remains formed a reef. Unlike modern reef growths, the Permian reef contained bryozoans, sponges, and other microorganisms. After the Permian Period, most of the water evaporated and the reef was buried by evaporites and other sediments. Tectonic movement occurred during the late Cenozoic, uplifting the reef above ground. Susceptible to erosion, water sculpted the Guadalupe Mountain region into its present-day state.