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Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. NPS Photo.
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. NPS Photo.
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Located in the Chihuahuan Desert in
southeastern New Mexico west of the Pecos River, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is outstanding in its
profusion, diversity and beauty of mineral formations that occur in a network of more than 100 limestone
caves. Lechuguilla Cave, in particular, is an underground laboratory where geological processes can be
studied in a virtually intact setting.
The park was established to preserve Carlsbad
Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. The park contains 109 known caves,
including Lechuguilla Cave, the nation's deepest limestone cave (1,604 feet) and third longest (over
112 miles). Carlsbad Cavern, with one of the world's largest underground chambers and countless
formations, is also highly accessible, with a variety of tours offered year-round. Established first
as a National Monument on October 25,1923, it was made a National Park on May 14, 1930.
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. NPS Photo.
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Inscribed in 1995 as a Natural site, under Criteria N (i) and (iii).
Links
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
World Heritage Convention
