Our next stops in our adventure to travel the USA were White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks in New Mexico.
White Sands NP covers an area equivalent to 111,000 football fields and shares this space with the White Sands Missile Testing Base. We were so pleased to see that there was a trail, the Interdune Boardwalk, that had been designed to provide those in wheelchairs access to view the dunes and its unique landscape. We next explored the West Filming Area of the park where such films as Transformers, Book of Eli and Young Guns were shot. Walking to the peak of the dunes, we were taken aback at the vastness of the park. Amazing!
After our scenic drive of White Sands NP, we headed out towards Carlsbad via the US-82 which takes you through the Sacramento Mountains. What a change in scenery and weather! As we climbed in altitude, we began seeing evergreens and feeling the crisp cold of imminent snowy weather.
Using iOverlander, we found Chosa Campground, a square gravel lot fenced in on three sides with a trash dumpster. It is located 14 miles south of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which was a great location since that would be the next place we would be visiting. We stayed three days at the Chosa Campground and met such wonderful, kind and generous folks of like-mind. Here are some of their IG accounts, give them a follow:
· @voyagearrr: Bill, Denise, Owen, and their pups, Cocoa & Charlie
· @solace_eats, @alife_outsidethebox, and @transformationpsllc: Chef Auggie, Dani & their pup, Macy
· @schmecks_treks – Angela, Trey & their pup, Stella
Carlsbad Caverns National Park have three main tours available and require reservations made ahead of time (check the park link down below). We booked a self-guided tour time of 8:30 AM, the first one of the day, and were glad we did as it allowed you the time to walk the tour at your own pace. We opted to take the elevator down 756 feet to the caverns. What an amazing experience! Pictures and video were difficult to take as the lightning in the caverns was obviously not conducive to digital documentation, but we did our best to give you an idea. We were taken aback from the size and vastness of these caverns, and in awe that there is still more they have not explored and discovered.
It took us 3-hours to complete the 1.25 mile tour of the Big Room. After, we were ready for some lunch and continue on towards our campsite for the night at Monahans Sandhills State Park in Monahans, Texas.
Links:
- White Sands National Park: https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm
- Chosa Campground: https://www.nps.gov/places/gumo_chosa...
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park: https://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm