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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

Don’t take a flash picture here, that’s all I can say – at least when the bats are flying. It apparently blinds them, and makes them fly into things and die. And they are protected. So take a flash photo of them at the ranger talk when they are flying out of the cave, and you will be removed by an armed ranger. At least that’s what happened when we were there. The caverns are really great to visit. One thing I really like here is that they have self-guided tours. Sometimes the places that have ranger only tours are harder to visit because you need reservations and you need to time everything out perfectly (hard to do sometimes with kids in tow). Also, our kids have a habit of becoming bored on ranger guided tours because, well, there’s all that TALKING. So they respond by screaming to hear their echo. Not great when you are in a cave. They have ranger guided tours here too, and you can’t see many of the areas without going on one.

My favorite things to do here

• Watch the bats
• Tour the cave

Things I want to come back to do

• Take a longer cave tour
• See some of the above ground hiking trails

Fun Facts

• 17 species of bats live in the cave
• A 2005 study with thermal imaging cameras found over 700,000 bats

National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/cave/

NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=cave

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

Another in my top 5 list of parks. This one is out of the way (really – the only way in is via a  L O N G  washboard dirt road) but it’s worth the trip! Great camping, hiking, thousand plus year old ruins, and an honest to goodness star observatory await those who brave the road and the elements. We found some good mountain biking spots here too, mostly along roads shared with cars – but there are so few here that it doesn’t represent a big hazard.

This is a big park, and you could spend many days here, and still not see everything. But some hikes stand out as being exceptional, even in the context of their being Nationally protected areas of interest.

And in case you’re wondering why there is  a large telescope here, there are 2 reasons. One is that the peoples this place commemorate clearly used the stars and heavenly bodies to plan out where their cities were, and even how buildings were aligned within those places. Secondly, since we are hundreds of miles from civilization, and the air is dry – nighttime skies are clearest I have ever seen. If you live in the country, you will still be impressed. If you are from a major city, you will be amazed at how many stars there really are. They open the telescope  up at night, and you can actually use it (with some guidance). I actually saw the rings of saturn here. In great detail.

The other thing that always amazes me is that there are corn cobs in the ruins that have been there since people stopped living here. And that was over a thousand years ago. Reminded me to not try to compost those things…

My favorite things to do here

• Camping at Gallo
• Observatory at the visitors center
• Pueblo Alto loop trail
• Tsin Kletzin loop trail
• Pueblo Bonito

Things I want to come back to do

• Pictograph Trail

Fun Facts

• People moved out of the area around 1140

National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/chcu/

NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=chcu

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have visited this site, but I have not done a blog post yet. I started with the National Parks. I’m then going to work through the Monuments. Then the rest. Stay Tuned! Add a comment if you like.

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have visited this site, but I have not done a blog post yet. I started with the National Parks. I’m then going to work through the Monuments. Then the rest. Stay Tuned! Add a comment if you like.