Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Just For Kids

Parks › New Mexico › Carlsbad Caverns
CONTENTS

Park Fun

Carlsbad Caverns National Park offers a variety of wonderful opportunities to learn about the natural resources of the park for children.

Caves are amazing places for curious kids—an often heard question in the cave is "Where does that hole go?" Participating in the self-guided tours of Carlsbad Cavern—there's even an audio guide just for kids—or a ranger-guided tour, attending an evening bat flight program, and becoming a Junior Ranger are great ways to discover what is special about this national park.

Here are just a few of the fun things you can do while you're here...

Bat Flight
From mid-May to mid-October, watch as several hundred thousand Brazilian (or Mexican) free-tail bats exit Carlsbad Cavern right around sunset.

Cave Tours
Everyone in the family can go on the self-guided tours of Carlsbad Cavern. Strollers are not allowed in the cave, so you might want to bring a baby backpack.

Children must be at least 4 years old to go on the Kings Palace tour; 6 years old to go on the Left Hand Tunnel and Slaughter Canyon Cave tours; and 12 years old to go on the Lower Cave, Hall of the White Giant and Spider Cave tours.

Junior Ranger
The Junior Ranger program teaches children about the parks surface and underground resources. Younger children will color and draw, and find objects in a visual scavenger hunt. Older children will complete word searches, and write stories and poems. The Junior Ranger booklet is available for a nominal fee at the bookstore in the visitor center.

KidsCorner
KidsCorner is our summer visitor center program, designed for elementary-aged kids. They'll learn about bats, caves, plants and animals of the desert. Then they'll participate in a fun activity that might include an arts and crafts project or a game.

ParKids
Each summer, the park hosts two week-long daycamp sessions (known as ParKids) for local school children. The daycamp teaches children about the natural environment and the need to protect its resources, while helping them become better stewards of the land.