subject: Self Guided Tours at Carlsbad Caverns [print this page] If you're one who likes to make choices on your own and just do life at your own pace, you might not enjoy guided tours in places like Carlsbad Caverns. Maybe you prefer to explore and discover all by yourself. If that's the case, you can enjoy the self guided tours at Carlsbad Caverns. For these tours, you can buy one ticket that will be good for three days in a row. When you purchase these tickets, you'll have an option of trying two different tours: the Natural Entrance Tour and the Big Room Tour. Both of these are fun and interesting, and you might want to try them both on your trip to Carlsbad Caverns.
The Natural Entrance Tour is one of the most popular Carlsbad Caverns National Park tours. This tour is about one and a quarter miles, and it's not for the faint of heart. Although it's well marked so that you won't get lost, it's still physically challenging. During the hike, you'll end up about 750 feet below where you start off, and the steep terrain makes for an interesting hike. You definitely want to make sure you're wearing something warm as well as rubber soled shoes with some good traction for this particular trip! Along this tour you can see spectacular sights like the Bat Cave, Great Lake Overlook, Boneyard, and Devil's Spring.
The Natural Entrance Tour actually ends up at the other popular self guided tour, the Big Room Tour. The Big Room is a little bit more accessible for those who aren't in top physical condition. The Big Room is so big that you won't even believe it. It's about 30,000 square yards of total space, and it's one of the most famous features of Carlsbad Caverns. In the Big Room Tour, you can walk around the perimeter of the room and enjoy audio commentary that helps you learn what you're looking at as you tour. For the most part, the trails around the Big Room are very well lit, and they're fairly level. To get to this tour, guests can actually just take an elevator down, so it's very accessible.
These aren't the only tours in Carlsbad Caverns. To see some of the more interesting sites, you may need to go with a guided tour. However, these self guided tours are great for those who want a cheap way to spend the day!
