Established in 1931, Carlsbad Museum is New Mexico's oldest municipal museum. Admission is free to all visitors and the museum offers an array of traveling and permanent exhibitions including the Carlsbad Hall of Fame, local and regional history displays, archeological specimens, contemporary Southwest art, and pioneer ranching artifacts. The McAdoo Gallery features paintings by the founders of the Taos Society of Artists, while the Feezer gallery contains Will Shuster's paintings of Carlsbad Caverns, the intricate bird carvings of Jack Drake, and work by Fremont Ellis, Sheldon Parsons, Peter Hurd, Rufino Tamayo, and others.

Carlsbad Museum is one block west of Canal Street (US 285) at 418 West Fox Street in Halagueño Arts Park.