Carlsbad Caverns National Park Is Cutting Cave Tours & Visitor Center Hours 

News Update

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico is home to more than 119 caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone. Over 300,000 people visit the caves every year. But for 2025, the experience is changing.

Federal Workforce Cuts Hit the Park Hard

Representative Gabe Vasquez (D) confirmed that 20% of the federal workforce at Carlsbad Caverns has been cut. These staffing reductions now directly impact the tours and services you can access during your visit.

Popular Ranger Tours Are Now Canceled

You can no longer join these guided tours due to staffing shortages:

• Lower Cave
• Kings Palace
• Slaughter Canyon

These tours once gave you access to cave sections that you can only explore with a ranger guide.

What You’re Missing on Ranger-Led Tours

Ranger-guided tours let you access caves that you can’t enter on your own.

You could choose from easy walks on paved trails to more challenging off-trail adventures or learn all about the cave’s history, geology, and ecosystem from an insider.

Lehman Caves Tours

You can still tour Lehman Caves, the longest cave system in America, by, as staffing permits.

Currently, only the Parachute Shield Tour is offered, and all tours are limited to 20 visitors.

Tours have been entering these caves since 1885. You can only visit with a ranger-guided tour – it’s impossible to enter without tickets.

Check at the visitor center starting at 9 AM for same-day tickets.

Kings Palace Cave Tours

You can no longer explore the Kings Palace, where you once descended 830 feet underground. You would walk about a mile past unique formations including helictites, draperies, columns, and soda straws.

Slaughter Canyon Cave Tour

The moderately strenuous adventure of Slaughter Canyon Cave takes you into underground wilderness.

Nature without electricity, paved walkways, or modern conveniences.

You’d navigate narrow, uneven, and slippery trails where darkness was broken only by your headlamp.

Inside the Slaughter Canyon is the 89-foot high Monarch column, the sparkling Christmas Tree formation, and the delicate Chinese Wall rimstone dam.

Self-Guided Tours Are Changing Too

Starting March 23, 2025, you can no longer join the 8:30 AM self-guided tours. This limits your options if you prefer to explore the caves at your own pace. Visitors used to be able to explore the Big Room and Natural Entrance trails on their own.

What Goes On During a DIY Tour

You could explore Carlsbad Cavern on your own along two trails—the Big Room and Natural Entrance. You spent about 1.5 hours hiking the Big Room Trail and one hour on the steep Natural Entrance Trail.

Big Room Trail

The Big Room is North America’s largest single cave chamber by volume.

Visitors follow a 1.25-mile mostly flat trail that takes about 1.5 hours to complete. You’ll see spectacular cave formations and a rope ladder that explorers used in 1924.

Natural Entrance Trail

This 1.25-mile steep trail with a 750-foot elevation change is fun but challenging. With the elevation, it’s like walking up or down a 75-story building.

You’ll follow the path of early explorers and pass formations like Devil’s Spring and Whale’s Mouth in about one hour.

Visitor Center Hours Are Also Reduced

You now have one hour less to visit the center, which operates from 9 AM to 5 PM instead of 8 AM to 5 PM.

At the center, you’ll receive your mandatory safety orientation, pick up helmets, headlamps, and gloves for tours.

You can explore hands-on exhibits, watch the 16-minute “Hidden World” film, browse the gift shop and bookstore, and grab a meal at the restaurant.

Timed Entry Tickets Are Required

You can still visit the amazing Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

But keep in mind that you need timed-entry tickets to do so. You can make reservations online or by calling 877-444-6777.

The reservation only selects your entry time—you’ll still need to purchase entrance tickets when you arrive at the visitor center.