Beautiful Carlsbad Cavern Spelunking Paradise.

If you are a person that is looking to explore Caving and get involved in Spelunking, one of the sites on your overall list should be Carlsbad Caverns. Located in Carlsbad New Mexico, it is one of the most beautiful areas to venture out on a Caving experience.

According to one of the legends, a 12 year old child was one of the first people that entered the caves, lowered on a rope by his father back in the year 1883. Supposedly the child, young Roth Sublett only ventured a few yards into the darkness, then rushed out and was hauled up by his father. This tale then relates that the rest of the Caverns awaited further discovery around 1900 by someone else.

Ancient Native American tribes were scared to enter it. It was missed by explorers to the region including Cabeza de Vaca in 1535, and Antonio Espejo who was on the Pecos river in rafts in 1583. Both explorers were very near but show no signs of being aware that it was there.

Even a U.S. Army military explorer on a charting and Survey mission in the Permian Basin in 1854 failed to see and discover the Carlsbad Caverns and all of their beauty. Captain John Pope of the U.S. Army traveled and made charts of the region but they conspicuously do not list the Caverns.

Many think the Caverns are the Eighth Wonder of the World, and it is surrounded by beautiful country and unspoiled natural wilderness of the Guadalupe Mountains,  The Lincoln Forest, the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and the Carlsbad Caverns National Park itself.

Carlsbad Caverns have been around for about 200 million years, back when New Mexico was connected to the Gulf of Mexico. The sea eventually dried up leaving a long horse type reef about 400 miles in length. It is believed that the entrance to the Carlsbad Caves were formed about 900, 000 years ago.

If you descend into the caves you will see rock and geological strata that is older and Older as you descend deeper and deeper. One of the marvels is that about 17,000 years ago researchers believe that bats first discovered that Caves, and the caves are a rich source of bat guano.

There are guided tours in areas of the Caves that will allow you to crawl and explore, and participate in real Spelunking. Much of the modern Caves have become a popular tourist attraction, but as part of the Carlsbad Caverns system there are several smaller areas that are excellent to explore expecially if you do not have a lot of experience in Spelunking.

This is one of the best areas to explore if you lack practical experience in Caving and Spelunking and the Cave Systems have many cracks and crevices that can be explored. Spelunking and Caving is a sport that you can enjoy in many different areas of the country and one of the rewarding to explore is the Carlsbad Cavern System in New Mexico.