The National Parks Service administers just over 73 square miles of area. The known part of the cave has about thirty miles of length.
The area of Carlsbad Caverns National Park is 1,371,884.3271936001 square meters.
Carlsbad Caverns is primarily formed by dissolution, a type of chemical weathering, of the limestone bedrock by acidic groundwater. This process creates the spectacular caves and caverns found in the area.
The Mescalero Apaches did not live in Carlsbad Caverns but they did utilize the area for shelter and resources for thousands of years. They used the caves as temporary shelters during hunting trips and as a place to gather resources.
In 1930, US Congress created Carlsbad Caverns National Park from the same area previously protected as Carlsbad Cave National Monument by President Calvin Coolidge.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park got its name from the nearby town of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The town was named after the Carlsbad mineral springs in Bohemia, which were thought to have healing properties. The caverns were discovered in 1898 by a local rancher, and their unique limestone formations and large cave chambers led to the area being designated as a national park in 1930. The name reflects both the geographical location and the influential mineral springs that inspired the town's name.
The Carlsbad Caverns were discovered by a 16-year-old named Jim White in 1898 when he saw a black cloud of bats rising from the area. He explored the caves and later helped bring attention to their beauty and size.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park covers an area of approximately 46 square miles. The park is known for its stunning limestone caves, including the famous Carlsbad Cavern itself, which features one of the largest cave chambers in North America. The park's diverse ecosystems and geological formations attract visitors from around the world.
The earliest people known to have lived in the Carlsbad Caverns area were the Native American tribes, primarily the Mescalero Apache. Evidence suggests they used the caves for shelter and spiritual purposes. Artifacts found in and around the caverns indicate that they inhabited the region for thousands of years before European exploration. These indigenous peoples held a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the land and its natural features.
Carlsbad Caverns, located in New Mexico, has a rich history that includes the discovery of the caverns by local rancher Jim White in 1898, which sparked interest and led to the establishment of the site as a national park in 1930. Additionally, the area was inhabited by Indigenous peoples, particularly the Mescalero Apache, who have a long-standing cultural connection to the land. During the 1920s, the caverns were also explored for guano mining, which contributed to the early economic history of the region.
The deepest point in Carlsbad Cavern, the park's tour cave, is 1037 feet below the surface, or 0.196 miles. However, this area is not open to the public. The deepest point the public visits is about 830 feet underground.
Carlsbad Caverns has an explored length of 48 kilometers. Its largest room, "Big Room," has a floor space of 3.2 hectares. Within the park is Lechuguilla Cave, completely unknown to anyone until 1986, but now recognized as one of the longest caves in the world. Almost 200 kilometers of this cave are known to exist, and exploration is still ongoing.
Carlsbad Caverns began forming approximately 250 million years ago, with the majority of the cave's development occurring during the last 5-10 million years. The caves were formed by sulfuric acid dissolving the surrounding limestone bedrock to create the magnificent caverns we see today.