Carlsbad Caverns National Park Travel Forum

The Caverns are on my wishlist. We are driving from Portland,OR area to Reno middle of June with a group and thinking of keeping going to Carlsbad. What are the roads like (we are driving a Corvette) and the safety of leaving it unattended while looking at the caverns. Is the Best Western in Whites City OK?

> What are the roads like
Well-traveled highways. Are you worried unpaved roads?

> the safety of leaving it unattended while looking at the caverns
Pretty safe, but you shouldn't leave anything of value, like cameras, jewelry, a smaller scale model Corvette, etc., in plain view. That goes for almost everywhere though. There are always lots of people milling about in that parking lot, on all sides, so I would say it's actually safer than most.

> Is the Best Western in Whites City OK?
Never stayed there personally, but I've heard bad things. In fact, I'm fairly certain they've lost their branding and are no longer a Best Western.
Honestly, Carlsbad has some really bad motels. Just a whole slew of them. The only one I would feel comfortable recommending is the Holiday Inn Express or, if you want something interesting and different, there's the Trinity (http://www.thetrinityhotel.com/).

thank you that helps a lot. Yes, worried about gravel. Don't want to chip paint on the Vette. Hey, Anacapa Island! Way to go. We took our 36ft sailboat thru the Channel Islands back in 1987. Fantastic!

We also drive a vette, and I don't remember there being any problem with roads. I second the opinion that you shouldn't have to worry about parking it at Carlsbad. Just leave the cloth up that hides items in the back of the car so that they can not be seen.