Sitting Bull Falls

Sitting Bull Falls is a rare oasis in the dry canyon country of southern New Mexico, where springs feed streams and pools before a 150-foot waterfall drops into the canyon and some of its water disappears into rock and gravel to reemerge farther downstream or enter the Pecos Valley aquifer. In Lincoln National Forest southwest of Carlsbad, the site includes picnic areas, swimming and wading access, trails, and permit-only caves. The canyon is also part of the ancient Capitan Great Barrier Reef from the Permian period, preserving evidence of a landscape formed about 250 million years ago. Civilian Conservation Corps stonework from 1940 still remains, despite wildfire damage and repairs in 2011–2012.

New Mexico · United States