Amid the arid rocky environment, a hedgehog cactus blooms in the spring.
High ancient sea ledges, deep rocky canyons, flowering cactus, and desert wildlife—treasures above the ground in the Chihuahuan Desert. Hidden beneath the surface are more than 119 caves—formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone leaving behind caverns of all sizes.
A new National Park Service report shows that 394,000 visitors to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 2023 spent $29.1 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 359 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $31.9 million.
Swabs collected from cave Myotis bats in the Left Hand Tunnel area of Carlsbad Cavern and near the Rattlesnake Springs day use area tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS).