Establishment of Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico, protects a network of more than a hundred caves formed by sulfuric acid dissolving the limestone of an ancient reef. The best known is Carlsbad Cavern, which includes the Big Room, one of the largest single cave chambers in North America, filled with stalactites, stalagmites and other formations. A cowboy named Jim White explored the cave in the early twentieth century and helped to publicise it, and it was protected as a national monument before it became a national park. Visitors can also watch thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats fly out at dusk in summer. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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