Sitting Bull Falls, New Mexico

[ThePimento]

This past weekend, I took a day trip to Sitting Bull Falls in New Mexico. It's about 30 miles southwest of Carlsbad, NM out in the middle of nowhere in the Lincoln National Forrest. Basically, out in the middle of the desert is a 130ft waterfall. You can even follow a trail that will take you to the top of the waterfall. There are a few pools of water that stream into the next, and people usually swim in them. The water is quite cold and felt pretty good on the 101 degree day when I visited. Anyway, hope you enjoy these selected shots. There are more in the Flickr set.

Thanks for looking, comments are always appreciated.

Yeah, no problem...


Some sort of weird tentacle plant...


Near the falls...


Sitting Bull Falls...

[Jim Bryant]

what a cool place ( no pun intended) to go too!

[Desert Rose]

Nice to see the waterfalls in the middle of nowhere. The plant is an Ocotillo. It is native to the Southwest desert. Hummingbirds love nector from the bright orange flowers. Nice collection of photos.

[ThePimento]

Originally Posted by Desert Rose

Nice to see the waterfalls in the middle of nowhere. The plant is an Ocotillo. It is native to the Southwest desert. Hummingbirds love nector from the bright orange flowers. Nice collection of photos.

You must've been the one to comment on Flickr about the plant. Thanks for letting me know. It was very interesting indeed and I thought they really made for some cool looking cliffs:

[n5kc]

Nice shots. How far away is it from White City NM? Must be real close to Carlsbad Caverns.

[Desert Rose]

Originally Posted by ThePimento

You must've been the one to comment on Flickr about the plant. Thanks for letting me know. It was very interesting indeed and I thought they really made for some cool looking cliffs:

Yep, it was me. I have an Ocotillo in my front yard. They are all over the desert here (Tucson). When they are dormant, they look like dead spiny stick plants. The rain brings out the deep green leaves and bright orange flowers.

[pjflan7]

can't help but wonder where the water comes from (higher elevation, underground spring?) and how is it so cold in that environment? Sounds like it would be an underground spring. Do you know where the water originates?

[ThePimento]

Originally Posted by n5kc

Nice shots. How far away is it from White City NM? Must be real close to Carlsbad Caverns.

You take Dark Canyon Road, which is just north of Whites City. It's a faster way than going through Carslbad and coming in from the north. Is is very close to Carlsbad Caverns.

Originally Posted by pjflan7

can't help but wonder where the water comes from (higher elevation, underground spring?) and how is it so cold in that environment? Sounds like it would be an underground spring. Do you know where the water originates?

I do believe it is an underground spring. There's not a river out there nearby.

[Fred flyfisher]

Nice set of photos, thanks for sharing.

[idcrewdawg]

Thanks for sharing! I will be out there in the next month or so, and plan on finding everything there is to do within an couple hours drive of Alamogordo.