Permit required to enter the caves. Go to the El Malpais Visitor Center in Grants to get a free permit.
Apr 29, 2018 — A fun little area of El Malpais known as the Big Tubes Area has access to three fun caves and a couple other features. Get a permit to enter the caves. From the parking area, cairns mark the route easily to Big Skylight Cave, where you can also find a natural bridge amde of volcanic rock. From here, I went to the Giant Ice Cave (no ice this time of year, and it was also a pretty small cave, so that's misleading), and then to Four Windows Cave. With a headlamp, it's easy to see the entirety of these caves in only a few minutes each. From Four Windows Cave, I checked out Caterpillar Collapse and then also part of the Seven Bridges feauture.
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