Sitting Bull Falls is a 170-foot spring-fed waterfall in Eddy County, New Mexico, the centerpiece of a Lincoln National Forest day-use area in the Guadalupe Mountains west of Carlsbad. Its stone picnic shelters, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, opened in 1940, and the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The falls
Lidar measurements place the drop at about 170 feet in a single horsetail, while other records cite 150 feet and describe a series of spring-fed falls pouring into a large pool. Above the brink the water runs through a chain of streams and pools. The canyon walls are a remnant of the Capitan reef, which grew along the edge of an inland sea in the Permian period about 250 million years ago. Even in April 2011, after six months without rain, the falls remained flowing from their spring sources.
Getting there
The recreation area sits 42 miles west of Carlsbad. It is reached from the north by Highway 137 off US 285, or from the south by Dark Canyon Road (County Road 408) off US 62/180; both lead to Forest Road 276. From the parking lot an ADA-accessible paved path runs a short distance to the viewing area near the base. Concession documents from 2025 list a day-use fee of $10 per car and $25 per van or bus, with no reservations; a visitor paid $10 in February 2026. The day-use area was closed from April 2011 to April 2012 after a wildfire damaged the site.
When to go
Springs keep the falls running even in dry spells, and the site operates year-round.
On site
The area has sheltered picnic sites with tables and grills, drinking water, trash cans and restrooms. Hiking trails climb from the day-use area to the springs above the falls. Apache pictographs in a distinctive purple pigment have been recorded at the falls and in nearby Last Chance Canyon.
History and name
The Forest Service bought the falls in the mid-1920s. In the late 1930s men from CCC camp F-37-N in Dark Canyon built the rustic shelters, a restroom and a small stone dam from local limestone and sandstone, keeping the design close to the natural setting. Chief Sitting Bull never visited. One local story credits "Old Mose", a man who befriended the Jones family and remarked near the falls that Sitting Bull was close by; another credits a settler known for tall tales. Mescalero Apache knew a camping place near the falls as "hidden gulch".
Nearby
No other waterfalls are recorded in Eddy County. Last Chance Canyon, with its old homestead and orchard remains, lies about a mile north of the picnic area, and Carlsbad is 30 miles away to the east.
Distances are straight-line.