Guadalupe Peak, Carlsbad Caverns & White Sands

Three active days covering the three defining natural experiences of the Trans-Pecos region: the Guadalupe Peak summit hike, Carlsbad Caverns' bat flight and cave exploration, and a sunrise dune walk in White Sands National Park. The three sites form a loose triangle northeast of El Paso: Guadalupe Mountains NP (110 miles east), Carlsbad Caverns NP (165 miles northeast), and White Sands NM (90 miles northeast). Carlsbad Caverns is the anchor of day two: the Natural Entrance route descends 750 feet through the massive cave entrance into the Big Room (14 acres underground, 255 feet tall), and the evening bat flight — 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats exiting the cave in a spiraling column at dusk from April through October — is one of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles in North America. White Sands on day three is the world's largest gypsum dune field: 275 square miles of pure white gypsum sand in the Tularosa Basin, bounded by the San Andres Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains.