Visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids: A Guide
The Camping Kiddos on Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park
Head to New Mexico for a unique, kid-friendly vacation in one of the world’s longest caves!
Known for its expansive cave system, including the awe-inspiring Big Room, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in southeastern New Mexico less than 20 miles from the Texas border.
While the cave system gets nearly all of the focus, there are so many other incredible areas of the park to explore with your kids, including the seasonal bat flight program, desert hiking trails, the Natural Entrance, and ranger-led tours.
In our comprehensive guide below, you’ll find everything you need to create a wonderful experience at Carlsbad Caverns National Park as you explore both above and below the earth’s surface.
You’ll get important arrival tips, the best things to do in Carlsbad Caverns with kids, accommodations and camping suggestions, and much more.
This post contains affiliates. If you purchase through the links, I will receive a commission at no charge to you.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park: An Overview
Before we dive into what to do with your kids while you’re here, let’s focus on where you’re going.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park covers 47,000 acres in the southeastern corner of New Mexico, with roughly 2/3rds of that acreage being devoted to wilderness/backcountry areas.
The adventure begins at the Carlsbad Caverns visitors center!
4 Caves, Endless Exploration
PIN ME!
The park has 120 caves (and counting!) within its borders, but these are the 4 main ones:
Carlsbad Caverns. This 32 mile long cave is what people think of when they visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. You’ll find the famous Big Room here, which covers more than 8 acres! This area is the only cave in the park that’s publicly accessible. You can do a self-guided tour of the main cave areas, take a ranger-led tour of the Lower Cave, take a ranger-led tour of King’s Palace, or all three!
Lechuguilla Cave. Open to researchers only, this cave spans more than 150 miles. To access it, you’ll need to apply for a permit that clearly showcases your specific scientific inquiry in that location.
Spider Cave. This is the least developed caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and covers just under 6 miles. To visit here, you’ll need to sign up for a ranger-led tour.
Slaughter Canyon Cave. This is the smallest of the known caves in the national park and covers only 3.7 miles. You can access this cave via a ranger-led tour.
NOTE: Due to staffing concerns, the only ranger-led tours currently available in 2026 are those in Carlsbad Caverns. I hope that the regularly scheduled tours to Spider Cave and Slaughter Canyon Cave return at some point in the future.
Areas of the Park
Both areas of the park are accessible from Highway 62/180 south of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
When traveling from Carlsbad, you’ll come to the first and main entrance when you turn off of Highway 62/180 at Whites City.
Near the main entrance to the park
At this main entrance, you’ll find:
The visitors center, where you’ll access the main caverns and natural entrance,
Walnut Canyon Desert Drive, a 9 mile loop road through scenic areas of the park,
The national park’s entrance sign for photos, and
The trailhead for Rattlesnake Canyon Trail
The second entrance is 5.5 miles past Whites City and attracts far fewer visitors than the main entrance. If you’re interested in seeing areas of the park where you aren’t fighting a lot of people, be sure to add in time here.
The Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area,
The Rattlesnake Springs Historic District,
The Slaughter Canyon Cave,
The trailhead for Yucca Canyon Trail, and
The trailhead for North Slaughter Canyon Trail.
Just keep in mind that this part of the park doesn’t have as much infrastructure as the main entrance.
Is Carlsbad Caverns National Park Good to Visit with Kids?
Yes, Carlsbad Caverns is an excellent family vacation destination on its own, or as part of a longer Southwest itinerary.
This national park is a great place to learn about cave systems alongside your child, and to see incredible examples of stalactites and stalagmites. The delicate cave features were created when this entire area was covered by an inland ocean more than 250 million years ago.
Today, your kids can learn about geology and fossils while down in the cave as they explore the remnants of the Capitan Reef (which isn’t to be confused with the similarly named Capitol Reef National Park in Utah).
Above ground, your family will see the beautiful desert landscape with canyons and the Guadalupe Mountains in the distance. There are opportunities to learn about wildlife, riparian zones, and pioneer history.
NOTE: Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park are less than 35 miles apart. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is south of the NM-TX border, while Carlsbad Caverns is just north of it.
It’s the perfect excuse to do BOTH national parks!
When is the Best Time for a Family Vacation to Carlsbad Caverns?
Thanks to the many ways that you can explore it, Carlsbad Caverns is equally good for spring break trips and winter vacations.
While the park does have a reservation system, those tickets are for entrance to the cave, and not to the park as a whole. (More on the reservations below!)
Because of this distinction, your trip to Carlsbad can be much more flexible than a visit to Glacier National Park in Montana, Arches National Park in Utah, or Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida, all of which have far stricter entrance reservations involved.
Year-Round Adventure
Since the cave does stay a consistent temperature throughout the year, that portion of the park is equally enjoyable no matter the timing of your visit.
If it’s scorching outside, you can still enjoy a wonderfully cool day exploring the main cave and visitors center.
If the temperatures are cooler, you can still visit the caves, but then add on a mid-day hike on one of the park’s desert trails.
On the day-to-day, summers and holiday weekends are always busier, but I also know that those are often the only times that families can visit due to school schedules.
I will note that, if you’re planning to get a ticket for the King’s Palace or Lower Cave guided tour, you’ll want to arrive as early in the day as possible to nab one of those if your kids are interested.
As of the writing of this post, those tickets are first come, first served. I’m hoping they will eventually add in the online lottery for a portion of those again, but that was one thing eliminated by Covid that hasn’t returned again.
Carlsbad Caverns, Season by Season
If I had to pick the perfect time to visit Carlsbad Caverns, it would be either late March/early April or October.
Again, I know those times are hard to swing if you’ve got school aged kids since school is usually in session for both of those months.
But, if you can get away on a long weekend, spring breakm or fall break, the weather is wonderful those times of the year in this part of New Mexico. It’s not too hot or too cold, so you can head out on a hike and not worry about overheating or getting chilled.
The crowds won’t be as bad on these shoulder seasons either.
If you have to go in the summer during your kids’ break from school, try to go as early in the summer as possible. The temperatures start climbing towards the end of May and don’t let up until early fall.
When your family is visiting during this time, drink plenty of water (more than you think you need!), wear appropriate protective gear for your time in the sun, and limit your mid-day exposure outdoors. I’d recommend doing any hikes early in the morning, then have a snack before heading into the caves mid-day.
If you’d like to visit over winter break, the day time temperatures are cool and pleasant, but the nights often dip below freezing in December, January, and February. So, keep that in mind if you’d planned to go tent camping during your time here, and come prepared with comfortable gear.
Remember your reservation!
On the self-guided tour with the Camping Kiddos
Accessing Carlsbad Caverns by car doesn’t require a reservation. You are welcome to visit either entrance day or night with your vehicle with no pre-planning.
Self-guided Cave Tour Timed Entry Tickets
You will need to make a reservation to go down into the cave for the self-guided tour. You can do this via Recreation.gov.
These are released about a month out, and you can usually get the day and time you’d like. Have a back up time in mind in case your first choice gets snapped up before you can get that reservation. (This is unlikely, but I like to be prepared!)
The available cave entry time reservations are provided once you input your selected date, and you can see, in real time, how many tickets are available for each time slot.
If you’re on a strict timeline with little wiggle room in your vacation plans, I recommend booking your entry time as far out as the system will allow you to do so. Once you have your chosen entry time to the caves set, you can then organize the rest of your time at the park around that.
Cave Entry Timed Tickets vs. Entrance Pass
The timed entry ticket to the self-guided tour only provides you a specific time to turn up for your cave exploration. It doesn’t cover your entrance fee into the park itself.
Once you get to the park on your arrival day, you will also need to purchase a 7-day park pass or show your annual pass.
As a note on that, the NPS annual pass is well worth it if you’re visiting 2 or more NPS sites—including national historic sites, national seashores, national battlefields, and national memorials—in one 12 month period. We are avid parkgoers and have saved hundreds of dollars using our annual pass!
You can bundle your NPS annual pass with an annual subscription to AllTrails+ for even more savings.
Tips for Visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids
The Camping Kiddos and I at the main entrance sign
Parents know that traveling with your kids isn’t like traveling solo or alongside a bunch of adults.
When you’ve got your kids in tow, you’re juggling a hundred questions a minute like: where can I stock up on snacks? Where can I change my baby? What will help me keep my kids engaged in this activity? How can I keep my kids comfortable on this hike?
To help you plan the best family vacation yet, I’ve included the answers to all of that and more in this section.
All you need to do is read it—and you’ll be prepared to head out on your trip.
If this is your first trip to a national park, you’ll want to read through my comprehensive guide to the U.S. National Parks for beginners, which explains in detail everything from how the Junior Rangers program works to how to nab accommodations in the parks.
The park is in a remote part of New Mexico.
An oil rig on the way to Carlsbad, NM
New Mexico, in general, is fairly rural, which means there are countless ways to explore the beautiful outdoors here.
However, the southeastern corner of the state, which borders Texas, is not really on the way to anywhere. No major interstates serve this part of the state, and the biggest road in the area is the 4-lane divided Highway 285.
While you’re in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the closest town of significance to the national park, you’re in the middle of oil country.
You can drive for miles without seeing another car, but you will see dozens and dozens of oil rigs on the horizon in that same time.
For this reason, always fill up your gas tank when you have the opportunity since there can be more distance than is comfortable between stations.
It’s also important to have extra water and snacks on hand in case you do have car trouble. The climate here in the New Mexico desert is dry with sweltering days in the summer and cold nights year round.
Once you get out of Carlsbad and head south to the national park’s entrance, there aren’t any stores or gas stations until you hit the tiny community of White’s City at the final turnoff to the park.
Stock up on groceries and supplies in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
While there is a small cafe inside the Carlsbad Caverns National Park visitors center and a convenience store in Whites City, you won’t want to rely on those to fill all of your snack-and-drink needs.
Not only will that be far more expensive than it needs to be, but you’ll get a much better selection if you shop before you head out of Carlsbad.
Carlsbad isn’t a huge town, but it does serve as the main hub for the oil industry in this area. You’ll see a lot of oil workers here after their shifts in the surrounding desert. (As an aside: If you’re not sure if someone works for the oil industry here, look at their vehicle. If it’s a white Ford F150, it’s about a 99% chance that they do.)
The town has both an Albertson’s and a Walmart Supercenter. I like the baked goods and deli items better at Albertson’s, while Walmart is always great for stocking up on baby goods, chips and snack foods, and your picnic basics.
There’s no place in the park to buy formula or diapers, so if you have a little one who needs those, be sure to add those to your cart in town.
The closest airport is Roswell Air Center.
The Roswell Air Center is located directly north of the national park and is likely your best bet for accessing Carlsbad Caverns.
As an added benefit, you can spend a few hours exploring the quirky town of Roswell, where something strange happened back in 1947. Was it an errant weather balloon, or something alien?
You can try and get to the bottom of the mystery at the UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, which is campy and fun in the best way possible.
The town has leaned heavily into its (potential) alien visit, and you’ll find little green men on everything here, from light posts to decor at the Mexican restaurants to murals outside of the visitors center.
However, you should also compare flights into Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ). It’s much larger than Roswell Air Center, but it’s also further away.
While Roswell Air Center is 1.5 hours from Carlsbad Caverns by car, Albuquerque is more than 4.5 hours away by car. You’ll have to run a cost-benefit analysis to see if your time or money is more important to your overall budget and trip planning.
You will need a rental car.
Unless you plan on going the private tour route with shuttle, you’ll need a rental car.
Not only are the private tours really expensive, you’ll have more flexibility to do what you and your kids want with a rental car.
All parents know that kids don’t stick to a schedule, and you often have to be ready to change plans depending on the overall mood that day.
You can rent a car right from the airport, but we suggest booking ahead as the airport inventory is quite small.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park isn’t just the cave.
While the sprawling caverns are the most well known thing about this national park, there’s much more to the property.
Try to balance your time in the cave system with explorations above ground.
Doing so will give your family a full picture of what this park has to offer.
Another benefit of doing anything other than the main self-guided cave tour is that you will immediately find lower crowd numbers since most people are here for the caves.
So, drive the scenic loop route beyond the visitors center, attend the bat flight program, go for a hike, or explore the Rattlesnake Springs area.
Plus, I found that the caves were super interesting for my kids, but we did feel a little bit like we were in a library there. Because of the acoustics in the cave system, people tend to talk with more hushed voices, and there’s not a lot of room for younger kids to get their wiggles out since you have to stay on a defined path.
Adding in outdoor time elsewhere in the park easily offsets that experience and gives your kids some time to use their outdoor voices!
Wear the right clothing.
The caves are naturally cool no matter the time of the year, so expect to experience temperatures below the surface between 55-60 degrees (F) whether you’re visiting early in the morning in January or mid-afternoon in June.
Because of this, you should consider bringing a light jacket for your family in case you get chilled while walking around in the caves. You easily spend a couple of hours on the self-guided cave tour if you linger, which might be longer than your kids would like to spend in those cooler conditions.
On the flip side, be aware of the heat and sun when you’re on the surface, especially mid-day in the summer.
Temperatures in June, July, and August can soar into the upper 90s and low 100s. That intense heat combined with the dry climate can have you and your kids getting sunburnt far sooner than you’d expect.
Bring sunscreen for your time exploring outside of the caves. A hat and long sleeved sun shirt is also a good idea. We love these lightweight, inexpensive kids’ sunshirts from Amazon.
Pace yourself.
Many people arrive at the visitors center, see the elevators to the cave, and think it’s going to be a few minutes of walking around some rock formations.
While I guess you could make your visit that brief, you’re going to miss out on some incredible sights if you only do that.
Plan at least 90 minutes for the self-guided cave tour, and be sure to include the walk down into the natural entrance of the cave. It’s so much more momentous than taking the elevator down!
If you’re also planning to do some hiking while you’re here, be sure to keep your kids hydrated and take plenty of breaks. Keep in mind that the trails are completely exposed, so you don’t have regularly spaced areas to get out of the sun.
Ready to plan?
For even more help on planning your vacation here, check out my free and extensive collection of Carlsbad Caverns National Parks resource posts!
10 Best Things to Do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids
Don’t make the mistake of taking the self-guided cave tour and thinking you’ve seen all that there is at this incredible national park.
I’d recommend at least a 2 day Carlsbad Caverns National Park itinerary to truly get a feel for the park’s layout and scope.
Below are the activities that my kids and I experienced while exploring the park. At the time of travel, they were 6- and 9-years-old.
I’ve indicated the age appropriateness of each activity so that you can best determine which ones suit your family’s needs.
Surface Hiking in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Best for: ages 6 and up (if hiking independently)
Nature Trail at Carlsbad Caverns Visitors Center | source
Hiking in the park probably isn’t at the top of most visitors’ lists, which is a shame. The mountains and canyons of the park are truly breathtaking and well worth a bit of your trip.
Plus, doing some hiking on the surface helps you appreciate the fact that more than 100 caves are beneath your feet with even more hidden away until someone discovers them!
TIP: It’s always helpful to get up-to-the minute notes on hiking trails, so I recommend scoping out the area trails on AllTrails+ before you go.
Here are some kid-friendly trails to tackle while you’re visiting Carlsbad Caverns:
Walnut Canyon Trail
Nature Trail
The Walnut Canyon Trail has beautiful views of the desert, and a short nature trail with informative signage. You can access this trail from the Walnut Canyon Drive, a gravel and dirt loop road off of the main entrance road.
This is also an excellent area from which to take photos of the winding entrance road and scrubby rolling foothills of the Chihuahuan Desert. The trail is very short at only 180 yards and little elevation gain.
Another great and easy surface hike is on the Nature Trail near the visitors center, where you can learn about some of the flora and fauna supported by the desert landscape.
This paved, well marked, and half-mile trail has interpretive signage to help your family learn as you soak in the desert views.
NOTE: After a terrible flood in 2022, many of the more challenging trails in the park suffered such extreme damage that they are still being fixed and upgraded years later. Several of the trails off of Walnut Canyon Drive including Juniper Ridge Trail, Rattlesnake Canyon Trail, and Guadalupe Ridge Trail. Check the Carlsbad Caverns NPS site for the latest updates on trail closures.
Taking the Self-Guided Tour
Best for: all ages
This is one thing your family cannot miss when visiting Carlsbad Caverns as it is the main event!
The self-guided tour is what you made those advanced, timed entry reservations for (see above if you need a refresher!). The tour itself doesn’t cost anything, but the timed reservations will set you back a dollar or two per person.
When you get to the park, head over to the ranger desk to your right. Here, you will show the ranger your timed entry, and you’ll then be allowed through the entrance doors or elevators at the appropriate time.
The timed entries are recent addition to the park and are there to 1) keep the caves from feeling overcrowded, and 2) help protect the fragile cave environment.
The self-guided tour takes you through multiple areas of the main cave, including the Big Room. The Big Room is massive at over 8 acres, and it’s the single biggest cave chamber in North America!
To put that in perspective, the largest room at Mammoth Cave National Park, the Rotunda, is only about a quarter of an acre!
All of the cave features on the self-guided tour are beautifully lit, so you can easily examine the stalagmites and stalagmites.
The pathway through the tour is paved and well defined with handrails.
The Natural Entrance
Best for: all ages
You will have two options for entering the cave when you arrive for your self-guided tour:
1) The elevator, or
2) The natural entrance.
While it’s not everyday that you get to ride an elevator surrounded by solid rock, the natural entrance is absolutely the way to go.
The natural entrance is far more dramatic and immediately gives you a sense of how just how big this cave is.
You’ll slowly ascend down into the mouth of the cave via a series of paved switchbacks. It’s a fascinating reminder as to how far development and exploration has come on this cave system since a local teenager first noticed bats pouring out of the rock here in the late 1890s.
When you approach the Big Room this way, you’ll also get to see several additional areas of the cave that you’d skip if you just rode the elevator down to see the Big Room.
Bat Flight Program
Best for: 7 and up
If you stick around until the early evening during the late spring and summer, you’ll fully understand why the Mescalero Apache called this place the “Home of the Bat.”
Each evening, a ranger leads a free program for guests to teach them more about the bats who migrate to this area each year.
Then, as the sun sets, you’ll be treated to something truly spectacular: hundreds of thousands of bats will pour out of the natural entrance to the cave and above your heads as they head out for their nightly meal.
It’s unlike anything you can see anywhere else in the national parks system, and it’s well worth your time.
King’s Palace Guided Tour
Best for: 6 and up
If you want to get a bit further off of the usual cave path, Carlsbad Caverns currently offers two guided ranger tours, the King’s Palace tour and the Lower Cave tour (more on the latter below).
Both of these tours provide access to sections of the cave not seen on the self-guided tour, and the rangers do an excellent job of providing information that builds on what you learned on the self-guided tour.
The King’s Palace Tour requires a separate ticket from your timed entry ticket for the self-guided tour, and you can only get these special tour tickets at the on-site ticket desk. They are $12 per person and include a 1.5-2 hour guided tour by one of the rangers.
They’re also first come, first served, so plan to arrive early if you want a chance to get your entire family on the same tour.
My kids, my dad, and I really enjoyed this tour, and we felt that it was well worth the extra time and expense. The ranger who led our tour is also a caver, and he had been a part of many of the research expeditions around the Carlsbad Caverns cave system.
That provided such an interesting glimpse into what it takes to learn about the caves and then prepare them for public tours.
Read my complete review of the King’s Palace tour here.
NOTE: Due to staffing issues, this tour is only offered on days when the park is able to be fully staffed. Ask at the information desk as soon as you arrive about the tour’s availability.
Lower Cave Guided Tour
Best for: 12 and up
This guided tour is a bit more intense than the King’s Palace tour, so it is limited to kids 12 and up. It’s also a 3-hour long tour, so that alone would discourage families with young kids, not to mention the uneven cave flooring, tight squeezes, and crawls that you’ll need to do.
But, for a pre-teen or teen who is looking for a bit of caving adventure, this might be the perfect fit!
You’ll also need to do more preparation for this tour than the King’s Palace one, as you will not be allowed on the tour if you show up wearing flip flops or sneakers. You’ll need hiking boots or hiking shoes to help you keep your footing throughout the tour.
If you’re not sure where to start when buying footwear, check out my comprehensive post about hiking boots, hiking sandals, and trail runners!
The tour is more expensive than the King’s Palace program, at $20 per adult and $10 per child. You are provided a helmet, head lamp, and gloves to help you navigate the areas of this part of the cave.
If you’re deciding between the King’s Palace tour and the Lower Cave tour, here are some things to consider for you and your child:
Are you okay with heights?
Are you comfortable in small spaces?
Are you able to crawl on your hands and knees?
Are you able to climb up and down ladders?
Are you able to deal with periods of total darkness?
If you answered “yes” to all of these, then the Lower Cave tour should be a fun challenge.
If you answered “no” to any of them, you’ll really want to think long and hard about if you want to go on this tour. Once you’re on the tour, there’s no turning back.
NOTE: This tour is currently only offered on Saturday mornings. Ask at the information desk as soon as you arrive to see if tickets are available. I’d recommend arriving as soon as the visitors center opens to have the best chance at these first come, first served tickets.
Junior Ranger program
Getting sworn in as Junior Rangers after having their booklets checked
Best for: 4 and up
We love the NPS Junior Ranger programs, and my kids have gotten badges at NPS sites from Virginia to Arizona!
These programs are usually free—or very low cost—and they’re an amazing way to get your kids to go beyond the surface material about the park.
Kids will be assigned a specific number of pages to complete based on their ages.
After they complete those, they can bring the booklet back to the informational desk to get sworn in by a ranger.
For their work, they’ll get a wooden badge custom to that particular park.
They can attach their pin to a sun hat, a Junior Ranger vest, or a backpack. These are such fun souvenirs!
Free Ranger Programs
Best for: all ages
These free programs include the bat flight talk each spring and summer evening, night sky talks and observation, guided night hikes, and more.
We’ve participated in many ranger programs from a guided hike of the Canyon Rim in Yellowstone National Park to a talk about wildlife in Glacier National Park, and they’re always fantastic.
The available programs change by the season, so ask at the information desk in the visitors center about the ones being offered during your visit.
Park Film
Best for: all ages
If you want a quick overview of the park, head into the small theatre in the visitors center.
Here, you can learn about the history and geology of the caves, and how the natural forces of wind and water helped create this incredible space.
It’s free with your entrance fee, and only lasts about 20 minutes.
Interpretive Materials in the Visitors Center
Best for: 3 and up
While it’s tempting to rush through the visitors center, there are several things here that are worth your time.
There’s the park film (above), a gift shop, interactive learning materials, and a small Junior Ranger table.
The interactive learning materials are a great way to help your kids understand what they’ve seen, or will see, down in the caverns. They can crawl in pretend caves, pose for a photo in a cut out of a caver, and learn more about the wildlife of the caves.
You can find these in the large room between the informational desk and the theatre.
If your kids are completing the Junior Ranger program or just need a quiet space, there is a small room off of the larger room with the interpretive materials. Here, you’ll find a kid-sized table and coloring pages.
Rattlesnake Springs Historic Area
This section of the park is accessed via the second, less used entrance (not the main entrance to the visitors center).
The property here dates from the 1880s, when it served as a homestead for a local family. This area was highly coveted as it has a stream running through it, which creates a grassy, green oasis in the middle of the desert.
The park service bought the property from the original family about a hundred years ago, and added the buildings you now see there.
While you can’t go in any of the buildings, this area is worth a visit to see how lush the oasis is and to let your kids run around in the grassy areas near the picnic tables.
Explore even more in the Southwest with these outdoor family activities:
Where to Eat in Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids
Larger parks like Grand Teton National Park or Yellowstone National Park will have multiple options on site for snacks, drinks, and meals.
However, your options are much more limited at a park like Carlsbad Caverns, where annual visitation numbers hover around 400,000 people (compare that to the 4 million people who come to Yellowstone each year!).
There is one on-site cafe and a small snack bar, but these have limited hours and menus.
Learn more about those options and what else you can do for meals at Carlsbad Caverns below.
Carlsbad Caverns Trading Company
If your kids like Tex-Mex inspired dishes, including taco pie and tortas, eating at the Carlsbad Caverns Trading Company might be a good option for lunch.
You’ll also find other kid favorites here, including grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The small restaurant is located in the visitors center next to the gift shop, and it has a sit down area with counter service.
It does close at 4 PM, so you’ll need to bring something extra or drive into Carlsbad for dinner if you want to see the bat flight program at sunset.
Snack Bar in the Big Room
For a unique spin on snack time, stop by the snack bar that’s in the cave!
While food and drinks aren’t allowed elsewhere in the caverns, you can pause for a tasty treat in the designated area in the Big Room.
It’s run by the same company as the Trading Post in the visitors, but you’ll get a much smaller menu here.
You’ll find chili, nachos, yogurt parfaits, cookies, drinks, and other light fare.
This snack bar is only open on Friday-Sunday, so you’ll need to time your visit carefully to take advantage of this fun snack stop.
Picnic with a view at the visitors center
Picnic areas
If you have picky eaters or want more flexibility in your dining, I recommend packing a cooler to bring along items you purchased at the grocery store in Carlsbad.
There are picnic tables outside of the visitors center, though nearly all of these are uncovered. If you luck up, there are a few under the trees at the edge of the parking lot.
You’ll find all of the visitors center picnic tables on the exit end of the parking area. If you get one on the edge of the parking lot opposite the visitors center entrance doors, you’ll get uninterrupted views of the Chihuahuan Desert below.
Just watch kids on the slope beyond the picnic area.
The park has a second picnic area in Rattlesnake Springs, an oasis that was originally the homestead of the Harrison family.
The green grass and trickling stream is a stark contrast from the surrounding scrubby hills and rolling desert, and it’s an excellent place to let your kids play for a few minutes after you eat.
Unlike the picnic area at the visitors center, the tables here are shaded nicely by the trees surrounding the springs.
Cactus Cafe in Whites City
This is the only restaurant in Whites City, the closest town to Carlsbad Caverns. It serves breakfast and lunch daily. The Cactus Cafe is located at the Whites City Cavern Inn.
Breakfast includes kid-friendly food like pancakes, scrambled eggs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The lunch menu has grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, nachos, and pizza for the younger crowd, and a wide variety of comfort food including country fried steak, wings, tacos, and burritos.
Recommended Places to Stay with Kids near Carlsbad Caverns
Our travel trailer at Brantley Lake State Park
Despite the fact that this corner of New Mexico is very rural, you’ve got some good options on where to stay with your kids while you’re here.
If you plan on RV camping, I highly recommend the Limestone Campground at Brantley Lake State Park. This is about 35 minutes north of the main entrance to Carlsbad Caverns, and it is one of the least expensive, but prettiest campgrounds we’ve stayed at yet.
>> See all of my interactive map of the campground reviews from across the U.S. here! <<
There’s also a separate tent camping area elsewhere in the state park. These sites are on the shores of the lake, which is a great option if you’re visiting during the spring or fall when the temperatures are comfortable.
If you prefer to stay in a hotel, I recommend the Home2 Suites by Hilton Carlsbad New Mexico. This hotel offers all suite-rooms, which I love when I’m traveling with kids.
Having separate living and sleeping spaces means we don’t all have to go to bed at the same time as my younger kid.
You’ll also have your own kitchen, which is great for packing snacks and picnics, and saving money on your overall food budget.
Plus, this hotel has a beautiful outdoor space with a fire pit (perfect for impromptu s’mores) and lawn games.
The Home2 Suites is located close to the Walmart for food and supplies pickups.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park with Kids FAQs
You can see how huge the entrance is compared to my kids on the left!
How long should my family plan to stay in Carlsbad Caverns?
If you only want to see the cave via the self-guided tour, you could manage this park in about half a day.
But, I promise, you should stick around a little longer!
One day here would allow you time to do the self-guided tour, explore the visitors center, have a picnic, do a short hike and enjoy the bat flight program.
If you extended that to a 2-day itinerary of Carlsbad Caverns, and that will give you time to add in a ranger-led tour, the Junior Ranger program, an additional hike or two, and Rattlesnake Springs.
Where are the bathrooms in the caverns?
I’m a parent of 2 kids, and I know that when your kid has to go, you’ve got to find a bathroom right then.
With that in mind, it might be daunting to take a potty training or younger child down into the caves.
But, the NPS is already two steps ahead! There is a full bathroom built into the cave, which you can access at any point in your self-guided tour. You’ll also find a baby changing station here if you’re traveling with little ones.
Above ground, there are restrooms in the visitors center, and over in Rattlesnake Springs.
Where can I get snacks for my child while in the national park?
There aren’t a lot of food options in the park, but you can grab a full meal at the Carlsbad Caverns Trading Post in the visitors center.
There are also a few candy bars and souvenir candies in the gift shop.
The weekends-only snack bar in the Big Room has some grab-and-go drinks, salty snacks, and sweets, but these can only be eaten in the designated area.
If your child is picky or very young, I highly recommend bringing your own food.
You won’t find baby food, purees, or formula at the park, so come prepared.
What is the best time of year to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
If pulling your kids out of school isn’t an issue, than I’d go in April, early May, or October since this is when the weather is the mildest.
However, you will enjoy a visit here at any point in the year, especially if your plans emphasize the cave and visitors center over hiking.
Since the caves stay consistently cool throughout the year, you can enjoy exploring it equally no matter if you’re visiting at winter break or summer break.
What's the best age to take kids to Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
While I’m a huge believer of taking your kids on adventures from their baby years, your kids will likely get more out of the park if they’re 6 and up.
Going at this age means that your entire family can go on the King’s Palace Tour, walk down the Natural Entrance, and enjoy some of the shorter hikes.
That being said, there’s really something here for families at any age and stage.
What else can we do nearby?
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is only 30 minutes from the visitors center at Carlsbad Caverns, so that’s an easy add-on.
Despite the parks being so close, they have different focuses: Carlsbad, on the caves, of course, and Guadalupe Mountains on the mountain landscape. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is great if you want to do more hiking than what Carlsbad Caverns currently has available.
If you fancy a day near the water, Brantley Lake State Park is an excellent option. There are 2 different day use areas if you want to splash around a little.
Sitting Bull Falls is not what you’d expect to find in a desert climate, but it’s a beautiful little oasis. There’s a (very cold) swimming hole at the base of the falls, which is fun to splash around in on a hot day.
The incredible White Sands National Park
White Sands National Park is more than you’d want to do for a day trip at over 3 hours from Carlsbad, New Mexico, but it is well worth your time. The pristine white dunes are made of gypsum, so they don’t get hot the way that regular, quartz based sand does.
If you’d like to add on a trip here, check out my complete White Sands National Park planning resources.
