Carlsbad Caverns National Park brings back history-inspired Rock of Ages tour

Maria Cortes Gonzalez, El Paso Times
·1 min read

For six nights in December, Carlsbad Caverns National Park will offer visitors an opportunity to experience special guided tours with staff in historical costumes.

The tour times will be 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-3, 9-10 and 16-17. The cost is$55 per person.

The tradition, brought back in 2000, gives visitors a chance to meet some of the men and women, so to speak, who helped weave the fabric of the national park. Park staff, dressed in historical costumes, will guide visitors on a lantern-lit tour of the front half of the Big Room at the caverns.

The natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns is pictured Sept. 23.
The natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns is pictured Sept. 23.

The tour will feature a re-creation of the historic Rock of Ages Ceremony, which was regularly conducted in the Big Room during the 1930s and 1940s. During this portion of the tour, visitors will experience a “blackout,” being immersed in total darkness, as a mysterious voice fills the cavern, singing the hymn “Rock of Ages.”

Reservations are required as each tour is limited to 30 people. Tickets may be purchased by phone by calling 575-236-1375 from 8 to 10 a.m. Nov. 25-30. For safety, wheelchairs and strollers aren't permitted on this tour.

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com, @EPTMaria on Twitter; eptmariacg on TikTok.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Carlsbad Caverns National Park brings back Rock of Ages tour