Carlsbad Caverns area RV parking

[Blazing_Zippers]

Good Morning! Carlsbad Caverns might be a stop in the next few months, and I'm asking for ideas on where to stay in the area. Google Earth views are limited and we don't know anyone that has been there in several years. Would staying in Whites City be an option?
Thanks.....

[BB_TX]

Reading a post about Carlsbad on a different forum the poster said there is a waiting list to get in better Carlsbad area RV parks due to the oil boom.

[2gypsies1]

We've stayed at Brantley Lake State Park.

If you're going to be around Tucson I highly recommend that you take the tour of Kartchner Caverns in Benson, AZ not far from I-10. It's a state park and the campground is great, too; along with hiking trails. Kartchner is a living cave meaning it's still growing so there's a lot of awesome dripping sounds. The lighting is gorgeous and it's a well-run tour. We gave them! 🙂 Carlsbad is not growing.

[Blazing_Zippers]

I did not know about the bats migration.
Thanks for the info about the KOA, Whites City, and the other options. I'm thinking about a trip in the first quarter of 2019, somewhere that direction, Tucson, and California. I might have to cash in my beer cans for gas money-------

[enblethen]

I would not be taking trailer to Caverns. TV, yes.

[docsouce]

We visited Carlsbad Caverns this last July. We stayed at The Carlsbad KOA. Nice desert park, the folks that work there are great, nice pool and they serve a great BBQ dinner too. Very few long term RV's there. It's about a 30 minute drive from the campground to the Caverns. Plenty of parking at the Caverns. They have a kennel service too. Very clean and air conditioned. Came in handy. Don't forget to visit Sitting Bull Falls while you are there!!!
We were sitting in our RV at the campsite and a big dust storm kicked up. Lasted about 15 minutes. Being from the east coast and never seeing anything like that, except on TV, it was pretty cool.

[jfkmk]

enblethen wrote:
The bats migrate. They are there normally May-October. That is one of the great items about Carlsbad for us. Very unique!Bats

Exactly. We were there in early November and missed the bats. 😞
Nonetheless, it is an awesome place where we will return. As someone stated, the area has a lot of oil field workers. We were not camping, and the hotel was probably 60% oil field workers. No issue there, just an observation.

[enblethen]

The bats migrate. They are there normally May-October. That is one of the great items about Carlsbad for us. Very unique!Bats

[Blazing_Zippers]

jfkmk, I'm not certain about the comment about the bats. Explain??

[jfkmk]

enblethen wrote:
Yes, White City is a good choice. Saves a lot of driving after the bats come out in the evening.
We dry camped in a parking area across from the RV park.

They won’t be seeing bats if they’re going in the next few months.

[BB_TX]

md_procouple wrote:
We stayed at the KOA while in Carlsbad a few years ago, Staff was great as well as the C/G itself. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

Same here. But it was 4 yrs ago. But at the time it was the only one in the area with good reviews. The one at White City was most convenient but had poor reviews. Things may have changed.

[Weldon]

As mentioned before, there is a ton of activity there due to oil field workers.

[md_procouple]

We stayed at the KOA while in Carlsbad a few years ago, Staff was great as well as the C/G itself. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

[huachuca]

Brantley Lake State Park is about twenty miles and a half hour's drive from the Caverns Visitor Center. It has hookups with modern and clean restrooms. I'd also recommend a stop at the Living Desert Zoo and Museum State Park while in the area.

Our favorite camping spot in that area is Dog Canyon campground in Guadalupe Mountain NP. The facilities aren't much, just a gravel lot backing up to a horse corral, but the canyon is beautiful and we usually have the place to ourselves other than maybe a few tent campers. Its about an hour from the Caverns. If interested, drop me a PM and I can give more specifics.

[Second_Chance]

Good luck. Most RV sites in eastern New Mexico and west Texas are taken up by oil and gas industry workers. I am a native New Mexican and we wanted to take the grandkids to see the caverns this past spring. No RV sites within 100 miles and the only hotel rooms within that radius were going for $300 - $400 a night! All the businesses were very up-front with us - with the new pipeline construction and restarts on drilling, the oil companies will pay the prices and the workers are happy to have a place to stay. Dry camping someplace you won't get a knock on the door at 2:00 AM may be your only choice.

Rob