We are planning a road trip for next year and would like to stop to see one of the two if not both. I went many years to Natural Bridge, but don't remember much of it. For those that have been to both which one is better? Is there enough of a difference between the two that it would not seem like the same thing days apart?

Thanks. We are thinking that we are going to do both. Since we will be doing Natural Bridge first we wanted to make sure that Carlsbad would not be a letdown after already seeing some the day before.

We went in August to Carlsbad. Keep in mind that the elevators have been out, and have been out for quite some time. So the walk in is nice and downhill. The walk back out can be brutal. I believe its about a 1000ft climb over a couple of miles coming back out.

Google indicates back in service, but who knows. The park rangers joked that there is a bit of conspiracy that they are limiting the elevators in order to limit access to the cave. Who knows.

I was there about 3 weeks ago. We were pushing it for our tour so we took the elevator down and walked back out. I can confirm they are back to working. I do recommend walking in or out or both. I wanted to do both, but due to time we only hiked out.

Thanks for all the replies. The goal is to leave from Houston, possibly go to San Antonio and stop at Natural Bridge Caverns and tour those. Then head to Carlsbad and tour those the next day. Once done in Carlbad we will head to Tuscon to do the Air museum and Tombstone.

For those that have been to Carlsbad, how long should we expect to be there. It is an all day type deal or 2-4 hours?

I would like to make a suggestion of just doing Carlsbad. If they really enjoy it then a trip to natural caverns would be fun if you ever go to comal, san antonio or even austin area on another trip. And if they really enjoy the trip try Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.

Whatever you do get back to us. A trip to new mexico/ colorado is our plan for family trip soon. Welcome all suggestions as it has since i was a kid to visit the area

n_touch said:

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Thanks for all the replies. The goal is to leave from Houston, possibly go to San Antonio and stop at Natural Bridge Caverns and tour those. Then head to Carlsbad and tour those the next day. Once done in Carlbad we will head to Tuscon to do the Air museum and Tombstone.

For those that have been to Carlsbad, how long should we expect to be there. It is an all day type deal or 2-4 hours?

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Second question first. I'd figure most of a day. It's a bit of a drive from a motel to the cave. And I'd hang around for the bat flight at sundown.

As far as the whole trip, that's pretty ambitious. A 2,200 mile round trip doesn't leave a lot of time for sightseeing. And the drive across West Texas and southern New Mexico can be pretty desolate.

I don't know if I'd bother with Tombstone, it's supposed to be pretty much of a tourist trap. I haven't ever been to Bisbee, but you might look into it.

At Tucson, yes the museum is very good. They have a tram to take you around a lot of the outdoor exhibits, and you can also walk them. Plus there are extensive displays inside several buildings. One of the top air museums.

But I'd add to my list the Arizona-Sonora desert museum. Much more than a museum, it's a bio park and zoo. And you'll see more Saguaro cactus than you thought existed. More than in all the Road Runner cartoons combined. Well worth a stop.

Again, do what you like, but there is a lot in West Texas and southern NM. Off the top of my head

Ruidoso, Roswell, Lincoln County, White Sands, Space museum in Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, VLA radio telescope, Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge, Big Bend, Ft. Davis, Marfa, Indian Lodge, Marathon.....

If you want diversity in what you see, go see the bat emergence at Bracken Cave instead of touring natural bridge caverns, then go to Carlsbad for the caving. Bracken is right next door to Natural Bridge, so conceivably, you could visit the cave during the day and then watch the bats at Bracken at dusk. The Bracken viewings are booked out way in advance though, so get on their website way ahead of your trip if you are thinking of going there.

San Antonio to Carlsbad NM is 7 hours of driving, going to Natural Caverns then making that drive and spending the entire next day at Carlsbad Caverns would be brutual I would think. If you're going to Carlsbad, you should check out Guadalupe National Park just down the highway. I haven't been since the fire but it was gorgeous seeing a pine forest in the middle of the Texas desert.

We went to Carlsbad and tombstone this summer. We walked in and out of Carlsbad with a 4yo and we were there about 4 hours. We were there in June and and the elevators were working. We were planning to walk in and elevator out. No line to ride down but an hour plus to ride out so we walked out. Walking in and out wasn't that bad but we were worried that the 4yo wouldn't make it but he did no problem. I was afraid I was going to have to carry him out. I would ride the elevator down and walk out if I had to do it all over.

My wife wanted to go to tombstone, but I figured it would be a tourist trap. We were there for about 2 hours and I enjoyed it. We saw the gunfight at the original ok corral. It was corny but tolerable because it was short. We had lunch at big nose Kate's saloon and enjoyed it. The waiters have a schtick and made it fun. Food was good. I enjoyed touring the birdcage theatre. It is in original condition and was the highlight of tombstone for me. Most of the buildings are not original.

We stayed a night in Tucson and would have done the air museum, but I forgot it about it until I saw a billboard for it as we were leaving town. I think I had seen a thread on here about it tears ago.

We did white sands a year or so ago. It is fun to sled down the sand dunes. Kids really enjoy it.

I have spent a lot of time in Carlsbad for work (oil and gas) over the last five years. If you're looking for good dinner options, Yellow Brix and Trinity Hotel are good options, my favorite is Lucky Bull, though it is more of an informal bar and grill type place. If you're a craft beer fan, I highly recommend La Cumbre's Elevated IPA, which can be found around town.

Never been to the Caverns, need to make it happen, just always usually too busy.

Going by memory here, so please check all of the below before you head out.

Keep in mind that the Pima Air Museum is a different museum than the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB. You will have to clear security (i.e., no firearms) is you want to go into D-M AFB. And I believe that all they offer is bus tours. Also, they will not be open most weekends amd Federal holidays.

Pima has a tram tour of their outside exhibits. Good way for a quick look, older folks, and for a little extra info. You can always go back and walk the outside exhibits, too.









And as I said earlier, definitely go to the Arizona-Sonoran Desert museum

Thanks for all the replies. We are still in the planning stages, and this helps a lot.

We did a road trip to the Grand Canyon through Carlsbad four years ago. White Sands and Santa Fe Rafting as well as Carlsbad Caverns were nice stops in NM.

Just found out our buzzard photos in the Grand Canyon are actually condors.

Any pictures? I'm looking to do Carlsbad caverns in 2 weeks

n_touch said:

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Hey all. Just a little update to this thread. We are currently in Tuscon and finished the Air Museum today.

We did both caverns at Natural Bridge on Sunday and Carlsbad on Monday. The walk down was fun and the walk up was not as bad as we thought. Tomorrow we will head to Tombstone for a little while and head back to Las Cruces and White Sands.

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Might want to check out Kartcher Caverns near Tombstone

https://azstateparks.com/kartchner/

+1 for paying for a ranger guided tour at Carlsbad. We did the lower cave tour and loved it. You'll need to wear jeans, bring gloves & batteries for a headlamp. Buy tickets in advance on the website: