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Government Shutdown Closes Carlsbad Caverns

NPS

  You can still visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeastern New Mexico during the federal government's partial shutdown but don't expect to go underground to see the namesake cavern itself.

Park officials say all park roads and trails remain open but that the cavern and the park's visitor center are closed to visitors.

Carlsbad Cavern has a huge underground chamber called the Big Room with ceiling formations called stalactites.

The entire park has more than 100 caves formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone.

Above-ground features in the park include deep, rocky canyons, desert wildlife and ancient sea ledges.

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10:20 a.m.

A national monument in northern New Mexico is mostly closed to visitors because of the federal government shutdown.

Officials of Bandelier National Monument at Los Alamos say campgrounds, the visitor center and other main areas of the monument are closed as of Saturday but that the entrance road and some trails remain open.

Some trails and access roads were already closed for winter.

Superintendent Jason Lott says the closure is necessary for visitor safety and preservation of the monument's fragile archaeological features and natural resources.

Lott says the closure will last until the budget situation allows monument employees to return to work.

However, Lott says law enforcement rangers are patrolling in the meantime and that people needing to reach a ranger should contact the Los Alamos Police Department dispatcher.