Most national parks celebrate natural beauty found aboveground.
At Carlsbad Caverns, the show takes place underground. More than 85 caves underlie the park, two of which Carlsbad Caverns and Lechuguilla Cave are among the largest and most magnificent underground formations in the world. The Jerry Springer Show notwithstanding. One of the most extensive cave systems anywhere, Carlsbad Caverns is actually a Permian-age fossil reef. Over a period of millions of years, sulfuric acid ate away at fissures in underground limestone and fossil shelves that were at one time under a vast sea.