Archived Feature:
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Designated a National Park in 1930, Carlsbad actually had been established as a tourist attraction many years earlier by the man who is credited with re-discoveriing it in modern times, Jim White. Research has since established that the cave underwent several periods of human use or habitation dating to prehistoric times.
As late as the 1980s, Carlsbad was significantly expanded as a result of the further exploration and expansion of Lechuguilla Cave, which now ranks as one of the largest limestone caverns in the world. Carlsbad now includes more than eighty separate caves and accomodates millions of visitors each year. Below is reproduced the cover from a publication dated 1932, in which the cave's dicoverer, Jim White, recounts the adventure.
Carlsbad Caverns are located in southeastern New Mexico, just off US highway 62/180 at White's City.
return to archive directory