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White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns – Summer 2021
- By Michael Lakus
- Read Time: 7min
White Sands Wonderland
This month, I was able to sneak in a little solo weekend warrior fun right at the end and visit two National Parks:
- White Sands
- Carlsbad Caverns
The plan was simple, and made for some excellent lite travel. With all engines go, I set out to roam the desert and delve deep into a subterranean environment. Here’s a look at the action firsthand.
Travel Logistics
Avis was used for the rental, Marriott for the hotel and a surprising Bank of America points redemption for part of the flight. Since I had my National Parks pass, the total came out to around $400 for logistics.
This time around I ABSOLUTELY made sure about unlimited miles with Avis (see SLC to LAS failure). Flying into El Paso made the most sense, even though I paid a slight premium. It gave me an opportunity to check out the area for future National Park trips. Although the home base was in Texas, White Sands and Carlsbad were just across the New Mexico boarder about 2 hours away. Easy peasy.
The state of Flying
With respect to the current times and ongoing situation, I've found booking airfare with any connecting flight is still risky given how many delays and cancellations are happening. This definitely complicated logistics.
El Paso Neander Meandering
My flight route took me from Orlando (MCO) to Dallas (DFW) to El Paso (ELP). The first thing I liked was the quaintness and Southwestern “Sante-Fe” style of the airport. COVID-19 protocol were in full-swing, too. After a quick switcheroo with the Avis rental, I drove downtown, checked into the hotel, unpacked, and hit that catnap.
When I was not at White Sands or Carlsbad, I made sure to get a good feel for El Paso from driving and walking around. The first thing I did was get a little elevation by taking the scenic drive overlooking the city. This was the classic “nice house” road, and provided views of both El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. By car I also visited a small rose garden and local park for tamales and a sunset. Nothing crazy, but honestly the areas were just pleasant to be at.
Fortunately my hotel location made El Paso super walkable, and I was able to walk the districts in just a few hours. Downtown, there are some upscale, outside seating restaurants and lines of thrift stores just a few blocks apart. I was definitely eyeing those cheap bucket hats…
El Paso Meaning
El Paso is derived from El Paso de Norte or "The Passageway to the North"
Tex-Mex?
Now to the food. Maybe it’s surprising, but I believe El Paso offered many other options than Tex-Mex, and mainly in the carnivorous department. With limited time and many choices, my picks were:
- Coffee Box for the pick-me-up and coffee chug
- Gussie’s Bakery for the local neighborhood feel (and my sweet tooth)
- Cafe Central for the treat yo-self.
Gussie’s was your local bargain bakery, dishing out the goods. I picked up two tamales and a raspberry frambuesa for $4. On the other hand, Cafe Central was a top restaurant from what I could tell. Gotta go big with that beef tenderloin paired with a mamacita. Porque mami?
Additionally, I sampled the regional McDonalds nugs and green chile burger which was just straight jalapenos and wrecked my mouth. To top it off, I tacked on some Taco Bell in the spirit of our southern neighbor. Live mas, viva Mexico.
Journey to the Desert
The entire reason for this trip was really to visit White Sands National Park. And it was a fantastic day to walk on the sand. Driving into the park, I took a winding road that started as pavement to later become hard-packed sand and dunes on either side. I went as far as I could go to reach the furthest most trailhead before parking.
During the several hours out there, White Sands let me experienced all the changing weather – blue skies, overcast, windy sandstorm and even rain. Look at the pictures. It was awesome!
Most people stayed in the parking area; setting up a tent and using the dunes to sled down. There were very few who decided to take the trail. I only saw 3 others on the hike around the Alkali Flat trail, so I definitely got the solo experience. My first mission was a tribute to coffee chug Friday. You don’t get to chug in a desert often. Carpe diem.
Following that, I was pumped and ready the slay those dunes on the sled. I probably spent hours building ramps and launching myself off dunes alone in this sandbox. Who am I? Nevertheless, it was a righteous day at White Sands and another unique memory to look back upon.
Night Hike for full moon!
White Sands offers a monthly night hike that you can reserve in advance and also keeps the park open late for one night during the full moon. Sounds like I'll need to take a second trip for this...
Carlsbad Caverns
After enough fun on the good ol’ terra forma, the next stop was beneath the surface. Can’t get a sunburn here. Carlsbad Caverns, a name which I’ll continually confuse with Carlsberg beer, is an expansive cavern formed thanks to the receding ancient sea levels and sulfuric acid. It was smart thinking to get here in the morning because this place was packed by noon!
The round-trip hike was a few miles, taking me more than 1,000ft below. The descent started with several switchbacks until entering the “Whale’s Mouth” and eventually opening up into the “big room.” It was here that the walkways took me around the stalagmites, stalactites and columns formed over millions of years (100% used wiki for those geological formations). Check the video out to see what I mean.
See Carlsbad without hiking
Though I didn't personally take it, there is also an elevator somewhere that'll allow for much quicker entrance to the cavern floor.
Fiasco in El Paso
With White Sands and Carlsbad checked off, the straight shot to El Paso commenced for my afternoon flight. Earlier I talked about connecting flights, and here, I’ll explain. The past 3 flights I’ve had required connections to the final destination. I not a huge reader of news, but the current state of the airlines is wild. Between maintenance issues and limited flight availability, it seems inevitable right now to not run into a real fiasco.
Fortunately, this time wasn’t “too” bad, but it did force me to take a red eye to get back. On the flipside, I do see an opportunity for flexible travelers. With all the delays, cancellations and overbookings, airlines are offering generous vouchers / credits to switch flights or will comp an overnight stay. This seems worth it to me, especially if the connection is somewhere of interest.
Weekend warrior trips have always had a place in my heart. They force me to hit the ground running, adapt, and soak in the surroundings all before a manic Monday. Let’s do it again!
-ML
Recap of Places
Check out the MAP for links!
- Gussie’s Bakery – bang for your buck backery
- Coffee Box – central coffee-to-go
- Cafe Central – upscale eats
- White Sands
- Carlsbad Caverns
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Michael Lakus
IT professional, athlete, musician, ponderer of many things... Born and raised in Florida, I began traveling internationally after college. I created this site primarily to remind myself of where I've been and to share my experiences on traveling with a quirky, stress-free, travel attitude.
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