点评:We went on a Sunday (drove from Dallas) and arrived at 3:15. The last entry into the Natural Entrance is at 3:30, so we lucked out with not very many people entering at the same time as us. It took us 35 minutes to make the 1.2 mile / 800 foot descent. We were moving at a pretty good pace- we took the elevator back up and we spent 65 minutes total from entry to exit. If the park had been busy it would have taken a lot longer. We wore hiking “sandals” & were fine. Most important thing is to have shoes with good traction. Most people wore sneakers. We were in shorts & t-shirts & it was comfortable, not at all chilly. Lots of people had little kids & they did pretty well, but some got tired & had to be carried. The elevator in and out is the best option for people with mobility restrictions, but my boyfriend with bad knees did ok on the natural entrance. Some people walked back out but that would be maddening g on a busy day, fighting against incoming traffic.
We decided not to wait for the 7:45 pm bat exodus, but we did listen to a ranger talk about the cave (short & sweet but very interesting). We also did the 9 mile scenic drive on the way out. It was nothing spectacular but it was nice. We saw 2 mule deer and a tarantula along the way. We stayed at the LaQuinta in Carlsbad, which is new, clean, and nicer than we expected.
翻译:我们是周日去的(从达拉斯开车),3:15 到的。自然入口的最后入场时间是 3:30,所以我们很幸运,没有多少人和我们同时进去。我们花了 35 分钟走完 1.2 英里/800 英尺的下行路程。我们的速度相当快——我们乘电梯回去,从进到出总共花了 65 分钟。如果公园很拥挤,会花更长时间。我们穿着登山“凉鞋”,感觉还不错。最重要的是鞋子抓地力要好。大多数人都穿运动鞋。我们穿着短裤和 T 恤,很舒服,一点也不冷。很多人带着小孩,他们表现得很好,但有些人累了,不得不被抱着。对于行动不便的人来说,乘电梯进出是最好的选择,但我膝盖不好的男朋友在自然入口处表现还不错。有些人选择步行回去,但在繁忙的日子里,这样会让人抓狂,还要与来往的车辆争抢。
我们决定不等晚上7:45的蝙蝠大迁徙,但我们确实听了一位护林员讲解洞穴(简短而有趣,但非常有趣)。我们还在离开的路上开了9英里的风景车。虽然没有什么特别的,但感觉很棒。沿途我们看到了两只骡鹿和一只狼蛛。我们住在卡尔斯巴德的拉昆塔酒店,它很新,很干净,而且比我们预想的要好。