Stuck at home or in the office? If you're itching to explore the Land of Enchantment but are unable to leave for an extended period of time, we have you covered. One New Mexico National Park has been made available to tour without even leaving your couch (or desk)! Check out the amazingness that is Carlsbad Caverns National Park - for free - on this amazing virtual adventure.
If you’re planning an IRL visit to this incredible national park, there’s no better time to visit than during National Park Week. Learn all about this celebration of America’s great outdoors — including fee-free days throughout the year!
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico is a place unlike any other.
While it is best visited in person, the park will still knock your socks off in photos and videos.
That is where Google's Arts and Culture website and app come into play.
The website has a number of activities, games, articles, and even virtual tours that allow you to learn all you want about art and culture around the world. Among these online activities are virtual tours of five national parks, which including New Mexico's very own Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
In this virtual tour, you'll begin with a stunning video of a park ranger guiding you through the cavern, entering popular and lesser-known areas.
From there, you'll be led to the cavern's impressive entrance and have the opportunity to learn about their bat population.
Click on the bat icon and learn how bats use echolocation to find their way around the caverns and locate food.
Next, explore Carlsbad Caverns' most famous area, the Big Room.
Icons will lead you to videos, photos of secret areas, and even see what it would look like to hike through the dark caves with a park ranger as your guide. It's an incredible sight to see all those stalactites, stalagmites, and other cave formations towering overhead.
What kinds of views do you hope to see, in person or in the virtual tour?
To access the Carlsbad Caverns virtual tour, visit the Google Arts and Culture page, Hidden Worlds of the National Parks. It also has links to four other national parks in Alaska, Hawai'i, Utah, and Florida you can "tour."
Want to take another trip without leaving your home? You can catch a glimpse of New Mexican winters in decades past in Here Is What Winter Looked Like In New Mexico More Than 75 Years Ago.
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