any lines or wait at cave?

I%26#39;ve read everything on TA and online that I could find about Carlsbad Caverns. I can%26#39;t seem to find anything that says I need to get my tickets early or that afternoon entrance is limited due to crowds...etc. (I%26#39;m not talking guided tours, just self-guided entrance.)

We may be driving from SLC to Houston and not touring or anything, but since we will be in the neighborhood I would love to see what I can of the Caverns.

Right now we would be in Mancos CO the night before and if we get up real early we may be able to get to Carlsbad caverns by 3pm before the natural entrance is closed for the day. But would there be a line to get in??????

I%26#39;ve never been to a cave where there wasn%26#39;t a wait for a tour or a line to get in. But no one seems to mention it here.

We would be going the first week of August.

The elevator entrance will be open till 5 so I am thinking if all else fails we hopefully would still get to that, and the bat flight. But there seems to be more and great things to see on the way in from the natural entrance that I would hate to miss.

We%26#39;d be leaving very early again the next morning so no hope for a next day visit.

Any ideas? Thanks

any lines or wait at cave?

The drive from Mancos to Carlsbad will be over 9 hours... I don%26#39;t think you will have the energy to see the caverns after that huge drive.

I wish I knew about tickets.. I would contact the park service there.

Too bad you can%26#39;t visit the next morning, the Natural Entrance Trail is awesome and much more fun than the elevator in!

any lines or wait at cave?

Casa, I fully intend to get up and leave by 5am in order to get to the park in time to go in the natural entrance by the 3:30 closing time. What I am hoping is that I won%26#39;t have needed to be there by 9am in order to get a ticket to do so....

Are there limited number of people allowed in and do they sell out early?

I don%26#39;t know how quickly they sell out. We have only been there early in the morning. Maybe give them a call. Sorry, can%26#39;t be of more help.

The natural entrance is a great hike in!

';call them'; what a simple solution. Thanks

We visited on a Monday afternoon and the place was empty. We were the only ones in the complex and when we got down to the ';Big room'; we only saw one guy at the small store and heard a few people on the walk. Maybe the economy is killing the tourist trade down there but it was pretty deserted.

You%26#39;re really cutting it close. If it were, I would wait until the next morning and just enjoy the drive down.

The Caverns get a lot more crowded in the summer. People also will tend to come later at that time of the year in order to do the Cave tour, then see the bats come out at sunset.