Three diverse national parks with one common factor – The Capitan Reef
Here is some fun historical information:
Over two hundred million years ago, a tropical ocean covered portions of West Texas and New Mexico. During this time, sponges, algae, and other lime-secreting marine organisms formed a 400-mile-long horseshoe shaped limestone reef, named Capitan Reef. Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried in sediment and mineral salt. Millions of years later, a mountain-building uplift took place and exposed part of the reef. These mountains, now named the Guadalupe Mountains (and National Park), is the largest marine fossil reef in the world. Researchers from around the globe come to study the fossils.
As the reef dried up, salts dissolved in the water formed large deposits of gypsum, and in a clear crystalline form, it is called selenite. Weathering of large selenite deposits formed the sand dunes of the White Sands National Park. The fine-grained gypsum sand particles stay in place due to a shallow water table, just a few feet below the surface, which keeps the sand moist and anchored. Another fun fact: What is a common item we use that contains gypsum? Drywall!
The last of these three national parks is Carlsbad Caverns, which was formed when part of the Capitan Reef was uplifted and exposed, and acidic groundwater began dissolving the limestone, creating the vast Carlsbad Caverns system. There are over 120 miles of mapped passages with the “Big Room”, 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, with a height of 255 feet. It is the size of 14 football fields. The Big Room is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America and one of the largest in the world.
Okay, enough of the historical information. Here is a bit about Dave and my visits to each of these unique National Parks.
Carlsbad Caverns
Amazing. Stunning. I cannot tell you how many times I said “wow” or “Oh my gosh” as I was touring the caverns. Carlsbad Caverns were by far the best caverns I have visited. Although you can take an elevator down 750 feet to the spectacular “Big Room”, walking down 1.5 miles of steep switchbacks from the natural entrance into the caverns was spectacular. And, then another mile of walking around the Big Room. The pictures below do not do it justice as you cannot really see the big picture (‘cause it’s dark down there!) It was so hard to choose which pictures to post.
Note: If you click on the first picture you should be able to scroll through this section of pictures at full screen.
Dave and I also went back at sunset to watch the bats come out for their nightly feast. So cool! They were zipping out right in front of us. In mid-summer, there are over 400,000 migrating bats (and bat pups) that call the Carlsbad Caverns their home. Visitors are not allowed to bring any electronic devices, cameras, etc. in the amphitheater; the picture is courtesy of the National Park Service.
White Sands National Park
Besides hiking amongst the dunes, White Sands is known for sledding. Dave had bought a sled for me as a Christmas gift and I was ready to try it out! White Sands is dog friendly, so Murphy enjoyed traipsing in the sand too. The sand was pretty soft, so I did not go very fast down the dunes, but it was fun nonetheless.
The National Park is adjacent to the White Sands Missile Range and a small part of the park was closed off due to a military mishap. They do close the park when there the military is performing testing.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
The Guadalupe Mountains are about 30 minutes south of Carlsbad Caverns and although the caverns are in New Mexico, the mountain range is in Texas. The Guadalupe Peak is Texas’ highest mountain at 8,749 feet. El Capitan, with its sheer wall, marks the south end of the Guadalupe range.
More Fun Activities…
In addition to the national parks, we had lots more fun. In Carlsbad, Murphy and I found the boat ramp at our campground so he could swim during our morning walks (after watching the glorious sunrise), the three of us went on a hike which started on Skyline Blvd (gorgeous views and flora), and we enjoyed Pizza, Beer, & Cider at a dog friendly brewery after the hike.
On the way to our next stop, we passed through Roswell, NM. If you remember, Roswell is famous for a 1947 UFO incident where it was believed a UFO crashed, based on materials found at a nearby site. The military reported it was a high-altitude military balloon. Despite the official explanation, UFO researchers and conspiracy theorist believe that an extraterrestrial spacecraft crashed near Roswell and the U.S. government covered it up. What do you think? Below are some fun pictures taken in Roswell.
When we first entered New Mexico, we saw a billboard for PistachioLand. And then we saw another, and another and yes, another billboard for PistachioLand and the largest Pistachio in the world. We googled it and found it was right near our stop for White Sands National Park, although that was over 200 miles away. As Dave said, they must have a large marketing budget! But their marketing worked and we visited. I wished I counted how many billboards we saw.
The McGinn family, who owns PistachioLand, has over 12,000 pistachio trees on 90 acres, plus 14 acres of vines. After dropping off Mini-T and leaving Murphy in the air conditioning (it was hot!), Dave drove us to PistachioLand for wine tasting and yes, pistachio tasting. (I could not resist and bought cocoa roasted pistachios). Corny as it was, it was a fun stop.
Our final adventure in this area was driving up to Cloudcraft, NM, at an elevation of 8,676 feet, with hiking trails as well as unique shops, art galleries, and eateries. Oh, and did I mention bakeries? Several! Yes, I did succumb and bought a blueberry cheese Danish for me and a brownie for Dave. Will I ever get enough will power to say no? Dave and I also enjoyed hanging out at the Noisy Water Winery where I had tasty Pomegranate Cider and Dave enjoyed a glass of red wine. Murphy was a hit hanging out on the sidewalk where we were enjoying our drinks.
Phew! That was a lot for this blog. Sorry it was so long. Our next stop is about an hour west of Las Cruces, NM. Thanks to Chris (our looper friend that was aboard Betty Gail), we have an excellent Mexican restaurant recommendation along our route.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is AMAZING Brenda, Sorry I missed the caverns, but nope! Dave, and Thanks for the swims Mom–Murphy
Thank you so much for the excellent travel blogs! Almost like being on the adventure with you.
Wowsa!