Bree’s National Park Chronicles: Part 2

Happy Friday, Friend! I hope this week has been as good to you as it has been to me. Even though I picked up an extra shift in the ER where I work part time as an RN, I was still able to get so much done on my photography business, and I even had time to go on a few hikes with my puppy Luna. All in all, it was an amazing week! 

You might remember part one of this blog post from last summer where I decided to document all my visits to national parks, and I’m so excited to now be writing part two which includes two new-to-me parks and a repeat visit to a third park. One of the biggest blessings of marriage for me is getting to travel and explore with my husband, and this trip was one for the books! Driving 2,316 miles and spending 49:10 hours in the car together in eight days is not for the faint of heart, but we survived to tell the tales.

One of the challenges we had on this trip was that we brought our dog Luna with us. The last time we’d had to board her was over two years earlier, and while we were on that trip (to Maui) she lost 10 pounds in 10 days. Not wanting to repeat that traumatic experience, we decided to bring her to New Mexico with us. And we have now decided that we will not be bringing her on a trip like this again – we were very limited as to what hotels we could stay at, dining options, and more (I’ll get into that later). But, thankfully, since then we have found a wonderful place to board her where she actually eats and gets along with the staff and dogs (if you live in Northwest Arkansas and would like a recommendation as to where to board your dog, send me a message on Instagram and I’ll tell you all about it!). 

Carlsbad Caverns NP, NM – October 15, 2023

Thankfully (and this is part of the reason we decided to bring Luna with us on the trip), Carlsbad Caverns has a dog kennel on site. It’s nothing fancy, and the dogs just stay in a crate the whole time, but it’s air conditioned and it’s safe. If you plan to kennel your dog there, be aware that it is first come first serve. The hours of operation are between 8:00 am and 3:30 pm, and it costs $15/day. You also must bring rabies vaccine information. 

Although I had been to Carlsbad Caverns National Park when I was younger, there was nothing about the park that I recognized when we first got there. It wasn’t until we reached the gaping mouth of the cavern that I started to remember it. We hiked all the way down from the Natural Entrance to the bottom of the cave and the entire Big Room Trail. If you are visiting, be sure to purchase a reservation online (info can be found on the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Service website), and then be aware that you will have to purchase an entrance ticket on arrival to the park. 

After hiking around the Big Room, we decided to ride the elevator back up to the visitor’s center, where we looked around (and met a cashier in the gift shop who used to live about 20 minutes from where we live in Arkansas!) and bought a few souvenirs before picking up Luna and heading back to town. 

The town of Carlsbad, NM is about 30 minutes north of the park entrance, and honestly we were not impressed. It didn’t help, of course, that we were limited in which hotels we could stay at because we had Luna with us. I highly recommend doing your research and reading reviews before choosing where you’ll stay when you visit. 

After relaxing in our hotel room for a few hours, we grabbed a quick supper on our way back to the park for the Bat Flight Program. Be aware that neither pets nor electronics are allowed during this program, due to the sensitive ears of the bats. In order to minimize disruptions to the bats’ habits and patterns, after the initial presentation followed by a Q&A session with one of the park rangers, everyone in attendance must be completely quiet. If you have the chance to attend, I highly recommend this program! It was very cool to see the bats rising like a dark cloud out of the cavern, and it was incredibly beautiful. Of course I wish I had a photo or video to remember it by, but I understand why it’s not allowed. If you’re planning your visit, be sure to arrive at the park by no later than 5:30 pm in order to get good parking and seating in the amphitheater. 

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX – October 16, 2023

The next day we once again drove to Carlsbad Caverns NP to drop Luna off at the kennel before heading further south into Texas to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We started off our visit at the Pine Springs Visitor Center to fill up our water bottles, use the restroom, buy souvenirs, and figure out which trail we should hike. 

We very quickly realized that this park caters to backpackers. Known for having the highest peak in Texas, many of the trails in this park were very long and to campgrounds that are unreachable by car. Since we had to be back to pick up Luna from the kennel before 3:30 pm, we decided to do a shorter loop from Frijole Ranch Trailhead to Smith Spring. It turned out to be a great hike, but I do recommend having full water bottles before doing any hiking in this park (or anywhere else for that matter), because despite being mid-October, the temperature was easily in the 80s and possibly 90s that day. Most of that trail is in full sun – I think we even got sunburned! Reaching Smith Spring at the halfway point of the hike is a nice reprieve from the desert – it’s a small oasis with bubbling water and shady trees.  

White Sands National Park, NM – October 17-18, 2023

The morning after we visited Guadalupe Mountains NP, we drove to the town of Alamogordo, NM which is the closest town to White Sands National Park. Arriving around lunchtime, we ate lunch in town (and marveled at how much nicer Alamogordo is than Carlsbad) and then drove out to the park,which took about 15 minutes. Of all of the parks we visited on this trip, White Sands was my favorite! It is truly like nowhere else I have ever been – it reminds me of both driving on snow and also of driving to the beach. 

After stopping at the visitor’s center, we drove out towards the dunes. The transition from feeling like we were driving out to the beach on South Padre Island to feeling like we were driving through Nebraska in the dead of winter was really interesting. The sand at White Sands National Park is made of gypsum (which is essentially what drywall is made of), so it packs down much more firmly than regular sand does. This allows for easier driving and walking on this sand compared to walking on the beach. 

We explored and played on the dunes with Luna (dogs are allowed in the park as long as they are leashed and cleaned up after) until we got hot, then headed back to check in to our hotel. While there, we stayed at The Classic Desert Aire Hotel, which was amazing! We were sad that we were only staying there for one night (we were heading to Santa Fe the next afternoon), and it turned out to be our favorite hotel of the whole trip. If you’re planning a visit to Alamogordo with your dog, I highly recommend The Classic Desert Aire Hotel. *Be sure to call ahead on the day you are checking in to make sure they assign you to one of their many pet friendly rooms. 

For supper we got pizza from one of our favorite New Mexico pizza chains, Pizza9 (we ordered so much of our favorite green chile pizza from them while staying in Farmington, NM for my travel contract there that they called us a few months after we had moved on to see why we hadn’t ordered from them in a while!) and drove back out to the park to watch the sunset. 

One of the rangers in the visitor’s center told me that the best views for sunset can be found in the area of the Alkali Flat Trail, so that is where we headed. It’s really cool though because there are no trails, so if an area is too crowded you can just keep walking to another dune. I of course asked Keith to take some nice photos of me while we were there, and then we sat on a blanket together with Luna and watched the sun go down over the mountains, the shadows lengthen over the sand, and the colors change from gold to blue. It’s one of my favorite memories from the trip. 

The next morning we got up semi-early to go sledding on the dunes. Our hotel offered complimentary sand sleds to their guests, so we took advantage and went back out to the park one last time. I don’t know that I would do it again unless I had small children with me. Also, I think that due to the nature of the sand, it is probably easier to sled at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. 

After returning our sleds and packing up the car, we bathed Luna in the dog bath area that the hotel provides. They have one of those sinks that the side opens up like a door to easily get your dog in and out, and they even provided special towels to dry her with. It was just another reason to love that hotel! 

So there you have it, three more national parks for the bucket list! Well, really two new parks plus one repeat park. I am glad I got to see the bats as an adult, though, since I barely remember seeing them as a child. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, let me know if you’ve visited any of these parks and what your favorite parts were! 

*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. This blog post contains images that I took myself for personal use and enjoyment and are not intended to be used for marketing purposes. Most of them were taken on a cell phone, and most of them are unedited. If you are interested in viewing some galleries of my couples, intimate wedding, and elopement photography, click here. If you’re interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!

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