The next stop on our trek farther west was a small state park known for ancient cave paintings and natural water retaining pits in granite hills. The hills formed 30 some odd million years ago as an igneous intrusion (blobs of magma that formed under ground and eventually became exposed through erosion), and the same continued erosion created the hollows on the surface known as hueco’s to the Spanish. The first traces of human presence through pictographs and artifacts dates back to the Paleo Indians and has maintained being a sacred site to various groups through history to today’s Native people. The place definitely has a “vibe.”

Because of the fragile ecosystem and history in the area, access is closely restricted. Almost half the park isn’t accessible unless with a guide. Weeks before our arrival, I booked our campsite and daily passes over the phone with an onsite park ranger. Once there, we were required to watch an orientation video detailing the rules of the park. Each day before hiking in the self guided area, we had to check-in at the headquarters, check out once we were done and then were to remain at our assigned campsite until the next day.

The campsites are large with awesome awnings over the picnic tables and large tent pads. If there is a next time, I scouted some even cooler sites that back up to the hill and cozy up under boulders! We spent the rest of the evening setting up camp and managed to eat dinner before the rain rolled back in.

The next day, we explored the open access area. When we checked in, we were offered a cryptic “map” that would lead us to some of the more popular pictographs in the park. It took effort on everyone’s part to cipher the riddles, but we did eventually make it to the cave and checked out hueco’s along the way.

Once in the cave we forgot about the frustrations of the map and literally laid there in awe of the “masks.” The people of Jornada Mongollon group are credited with this art. They were the first to create a village at the base of the hills ceasing their ancestors nomadic ways. They managed close to 700 years there before series of drought made the huecos unsustainable. We spent some time picking out favorites and discussing who or what they were representing.

That evening we managed to get through dinner and Dad made some adjustments to his tent in time for it to pour again. I guess we can be grateful it wasn’t coming during the day.

We met our tour guide the next morning and set off to see the exclusive pictograph sites. We started at an area with Apache art work from the 1600s that also displayed “historic graffiti” from the mid 1800s scrawled over much of it. The area was used as a stagecoach station during that time and people got bored, I guess. Our guide explained that while much restoration and laser removal of graffiti has taken place in the park since the 90s, anything over 50 years old is considered historic and must remain untouched. Even if it is destructive to previous history.

After that location, we got to see some evidence of Desert Archaic people art dating back to over 2 million years ago! Its shocking any imagery is left, but the combination of minerals used to make the paint and a weathering effect doing the opposite of what you would think, some images remain. One could ponder a long time what exactly they were trying to depict, but the truly astonishing image is a hand print! When our guide pointed it out, no one could see it other than some color on the rock. But, through the powers of technology in a handy dandy app on her phone that detected pigmentation….bam! Caveperson handprint! Wow!

On the way to the last location, we passed some areas where a ranching operation owned the area starting in 1890s and made “improvements” for water retention. El Paso county took over the land on behalf of historical societies in 1956 after the family put the property on the market. After a decade of debate on who the land should belong to, El Paso gave it to TPWD and it became a state park. Local Native tribes still have special access to the sacred land for ritual practices and the last area we went to is still in use.

Our final stop was tucked under a serene outcrop alongside a small pool of water. The outcrop displayed the most modern art work from the Tigua Tribe also known as The Pueblos. They are still an active culture in the area and practice coming of age ceremonies on the site. But their ancestry dates back to the 1600s. Part of their history entailed scouting and guiding Spaniards. One of the images on the rock that they commonly use represents a “way home” and they would often draw it while travelling. That one became my favorite of them all 🙂

Our last night was rough. The rain blew in shortly after we returned to camp that afternoon and behind the rain the wind pounded the rest of the night. I was worried about the canvas most of the night and it was shocking Dad had a tent left. We packed up quickly that following morning feeling pretty worn out and water logged.

Weather aside, this park is in my top 5! The work that TPWD is doing to preserve it is commendable. They are still having to remove graffiti, but at least their protocols are making it easier to catch and prosecute the trespassers. Beyond all the astounding history and geology, there truly is something sacred feeling about the entire area. I guess millions of years of people being drawn to it speaks for itself.

-Lindsay

After hiking to the top of Texas the day before, heading underground the next seemed like the only sensible thing to do! Dad had visited as a kid and still had vague memories of the experience, but it was brand new for the kids and I. I had my reservations about visiting something so “touristy,” but the whole experience was streamlined and crowd maintenance was efficient. We reserved a time slot online 2 days before and we simply showed up before hand and checked in that we were in fact there. We ate our lunch, poked around the gift shop and explored the indoor exhibits until our entrance time. You had the option of starting at the elevator and going straight down then hiking up and out or reversing the order. We opted for some downhill hiking since the previous day’s uphill experience was still with us haha. After a brief orientation with a ranger about staying on the path and not touching formations, we made our descent.

The beginning of the caverns are litter with piles of guano and are quite pungent. Peak season for the Mexican Freetail bats had just ended, but a few full timers remained and a viewing of their evening emergence was a possibility later on. The park hadn’t resumed it’s ranger guided tours yet post covid. Instead, we rented audio guide handhelds. They were easy enough to use and all of the points of interest were clearly numbered for reference, but it was still slightly disappointing as Dad remembers the guide from the past visit as really adding to experience. Also, there are certain areas you can only access via guide that we didn’t get to see. But, the audio was very informative and did its best to be entertaining.

We continued to follow the paved path, taking in the unique and beautiful structures and listening to interesting history until we came into the Big Room. There, you could take a cut off to the elevator and exit or go the longer loop around the perimeter that ceased to be handicap accessible and see more structure. Obviously, we opted for the maximum experience.

Photography in the caverns was allowed, but quite tricky. Dad got better pictures than I could, but it really all comes down to, “you just had to be there.” Nothing will compare to laying your own eyes on it. My favorite “exhibit” was the area called Fairyland. It is covered in short stalagmites that resemble little “people” each with their own characteristics. You could stand there for hours and keep seeing something new. Ashlyn compared everything to food appearances. Archer theorized that the whole thing was made out of clay by some master architect and Weston wasn’t as interested in the main attractions as he was in shining the flashlight he brought in the all the dark corners looking for something new.

We moved through the tour slowly and hit every location on our guide, but still only managed to spend about 2 hours down below. We wanted to make it to 5 o’clock in the caverns so we could see the bats emerge after. But it was only 3:30 and a stormy cool front was making its way into the area. We opted to stay ahead of it and made our way to the hotel in Carlsbad. Our caverns visit was originally going to be a day trip from our camping location in Guadalupe Mountains, but the pending forecast and the previous nights struggle to sleep made us pack up camp and take it with us to Carlsbad. Glad we did! We enjoyed dinner out and rested well while it poured overnight.

Visiting the caverns is definitely something that should be visited at least once. I mostly feel like I am one and done with it. However, a new adjoining cavern was discovered in the mid 80s that is still only accessible by approved scientific researchers while they explore its pristine and unique ecosystem. If Lechuguilla Cave ever opened to the public, I would be persuaded to see what is going on back there. The kids would go back tomorrow, though!

-Lindsay