The core clears 10 degrees during full darkness on most nights from February to October. In January, November and December it's out of reach, either too close to the Sun or too low in the dark.
Core score by month
| Month | Core score | Best week | Moon-free core hours a night | Average cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | No moon-free core hours | 0 | 40% |
| February | 11 | February 10 to 16 | 0.8 | 44% |
| March | 31 | March 9 to 15 | 2.1 | 42% |
| April | 52 | April 6 to 12 | 3.3 | 36% |
| May | 64 | May 3 to 9 | 4.4 | 36% |
| June | 65 | June 1 to 7 | 5.7 | 35% |
| July | 54 | July 1 to 7 | 5.5 | 46% |
| August | 47 | August 1 to 7 | 3.6 | 49% |
| September | 30 | September 21 to 27 | 1.9 | 37% |
| October | 11 | October 18 to 24 | 0.7 | 33% |
| November | 0 | No moon-free core hours | 0 | 36% |
| December | 0 | Core not visible | 0 | 43% |
Times are for the best seven nights in each month. Moon-free means the moon is below the horizon. The core counts as visible above 10 degrees in full darkness, when the Sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon.
The best nights in 2027
- May: May 9 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 11:58 pm to 4:28 am, with the moon 19% lit that night.
- June: June 4 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 10:18 pm to 4:08 am, with the moon 0% lit that night.
- July: July 1 is the best night. The core is above 10 degrees and the moon is down from 9:58 pm to 3:38 am, with the moon 5% lit that night.
Clock times are Mountain time with daylight saving applied. The best nights fall around the new moon, so the dates shift by about 11 days each year.
About Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns sits in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. A walk down through the natural entrance takes you into a limestone chamber, the Big Room, which is large enough to hold several football fields. From spring to mid-October, several hundred thousand bats spiral out of the cave mouth at dusk.
In 1898 a teenager named Jim White explored the cave, and he spent years telling people about it. It became a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1930. Nearby Lechuguilla Cave, one of the deepest caves in the country, is reserved for scientific exploration.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a national park in New Mexico. The National Park Service places its center at 32.14 degrees north and 104.55 degrees west, and the sky calculations on this page use that point. Visitor information, fees and alerts are on the park's own page. National Park Service (opens in a new tab).
How Carlsbad Caverns National Park compares
Its best monthly core score of 65 ranks 20 of 54 national park units that can see the core. The highest is Lassen Volcanic National Park at 86, and the lowest is Voyageurs National Park at 13. Cloud at Carlsbad Caverns National Park runs from 33% in October to 49% in August.
The score ranks months and parks. It isn't a forecast for any night, and it leaves out local weather, smoke and light from nearby towns. How the core score works.
How dark is the sky?
The Park Service models how much artificial light brightens the sky across the lower 48. At the point used for Carlsbad Caverns National Park, it puts the added glow at about 1.1 times the natural brightness of a moonless sky (a ratio of 1.072). That makes it 36th darkest of the 47 parks it covers. Lower is darker. This is a model, not a reading taken at the park, and it describes one point, so the edges of a large park can differ.
Questions people ask
When is the best time to see the Milky Way at Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
May, June and July are the best months. The best week of 2027 is June 1 to 7.
Can you see the Milky Way at Carlsbad Caverns National Park all year?
The core clears 10 degrees during full darkness on most nights from February to October. In January, November and December it's out of reach, either too close to the Sun or too low in the dark.
How dark is the sky at Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
The Park Service models how much artificial light brightens the sky across the lower 48. At the point used for Carlsbad Caverns National Park, it puts the added glow at about 1.1 times the natural brightness of a moonless sky (a ratio of 1.072). That makes it 36th darkest of the 47 parks it covers. Lower is darker. This is a model, not a reading taken at the park, and it describes one point, so the edges of a large park can differ.
Does the moon matter at Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
Yes. A bright moon hides the Milky Way. The best night in June is June 4, when the moon is 0% lit and the core is above 10 degrees from 10:18 pm to 4:08 am.
