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HISTORY & CULTURE

The Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a national park located in the southeastern corner of New Mexico, between the Guadalupe Mountains and Eddy County. Visitors can enter the caves through the natural entrance or take a lift. About two-thirds of the park is considered "wilderness", which helps avoid changes that could ruin the habitat.

The park area is included in what is called the Dalaware basin; located in western Texas and southern New Mexico, it's famous for containing rich oil deposits and for the presence of fossil remains.

Carlsbad Caverns is one of over 300 limestone caves in a fossil reef created over 250 milion years ago: the city of Carlsbad and, consequently, the national park, owes its name to Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) which literally means The Baths of Carlo in German.

The park's cultural resources represent a long and varied human use; it started in prehistoric times and it illustrates the many adaptations to the Chihuahuan Desert environment. Human activities, including prehistoric and historic American Indian occupations, European exploration, industrial exploitation and tourism have left their signs, and have contributed to the history of the area. Jim White was the first person known to explore the depths of Carlsbad Caverns and gave them their names.

October 25, 1923: Creation of Carlsbad Cave National Monument

May 14, 1930: Creation of Carlsbad Caverns National Park

This is the natural entrance where people can start visiting the caves.

HISTORY & CULTURE

The Regional Natural Park of the Gola della Rossa and

Frasassi is the "green heart" of the Marche Region.

Established in September 1997, with its 10.026 hectares, it's the largest protected area in the region and includes the underground complex of the Frasassi Caves; the park concerns the little towns of Serra San Quirico, Genga (with the famous Frasassi Caves), Arcevia and Fabriano. Inside the park there is the Hermitage of Grottafucile suggestively overlooking the Gola della Rossa,and also so many very rare botanical species, among which we mention the "Moehringia papulosa" that around the whole world can be found only in the Frasassi, Rossa and Furlo gorges.

Fossils and calcareous nature of the Gorges reveal that millions of years ago there was a seabed that suffered the accumulation of sediments. At the appearance of the elongated ridges and land made of massive limestone,the action of the rivers generated the deep Gole della Rossa and Frasassi. These two close cave Gorges are amazing; inside of them, in addition to stalactites and stalagmites,there have been found the bones of prehistoric animals,such as the Bear of the cave,Stambeccho, Brown Bear, Deer which are no longer present in the area.

Here's the official logo of the Park --->

FEATURES

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is situated in the northern portion of the Chihuahuan Desert region; an overlap area that is influenced by ecosystem components of the Sierra Madre, Rocky Mountains, and Great Plains. The Chihuahuan Desert, shared by two nations (Mexico and USA), is the most biologically diverse desert in the world.

The Carlsbad Caverns have also more than 119 known caves-they are some of the biggest and longest caves in the world. All of them reveal a very unusual ingredient in cave creation- sulfuric acid.

Most of the world's caves are typically very wet and have streams, rivers and sometimes lakes or large waterfalls in them. However,there are no flowing rivers or streams in any of the hundreds of caves in the Guadalupe Mountains.

About all the "rooms" (21) just a few can be defined karst.

the Bell Cord Room

so called for the high and narrow stalactite that disappears through a hole in the ceiling. This room is at the end of the tunnel of the left hand.

the Guadalupe Room

Discovered by a ranger in 1966, it is the second largest hall in the

Carlsbad Caverns. It is famous for the concentration of stalactites due to the dripping of soda.

the Hall of the White Giant

A large room containing an immense white

stalagmite. Tours are regularly organized and

include visits to this cave.

the Spirit World

It is located above the ceiling of the Big Room.

It is full of white stalagmites that

resemble angels.