I don't know about you but when I think of the desert I think arid, dry, dusty..... without water. Everything in shades of beige. Imagine our surprise when we saw Sitting Bull Waterfalls on our list. That's it, we're going to the waterfall.
The falls are located twelve miles north of Carlsbad in the Chihuahuan Desert and ascend about 3,000 feet into the Guadalupe Mountains. What we saw on the way.
The terrain got rugged quickly. Here large patches of prickly pear cactus grow out of cream-colored limestone outcrops. 
The desert landscape, beautiful as it is, conceals beauty and riches perhaps unsuspected by its earliest Paleoindian inhabitants 10,000 years ago. Paleoindian? I must have been absent from the school the day they told us about Paleoindians.Hidden beneath the land we were on are caves which draw scientists from all over the world. (A permit is needed to explore the caves) Seven to twelve thousand feet farther below the surface are the oil and natural gas reserves of the Permian Basin, one of the largest oil and gas provinces in the United States.
Oil was first discovered in southeastern New Mexico thirty miles south of Carlsbad in 1901. The drillers were actually looking for water but hit oil at only 80 feet. The first oil well along this byway was drilled in 1917. Today, over 28,000 wells produce oil and gas in the region.
We finally reached the area where the falls are located. It wouldn't have mattered if it was another 10 miles because the scenery was just that captivating.
We were pleasantly surprised at what we found when we reached the parking lot. All the grassy areas were nicely manicured and the buildings well taken care of. This is one of the larger picnic shelters available for day use.
Oil was first discovered in southeastern New Mexico thirty miles south of Carlsbad in 1901. The drillers were actually looking for water but hit oil at only 80 feet. The first oil well along this byway was drilled in 1917. Today, over 28,000 wells produce oil and gas in the region.
We finally reached the area where the falls are located. It wouldn't have mattered if it was another 10 miles because the scenery was just that captivating.
We were pleasantly surprised at what we found when we reached the parking lot. All the grassy areas were nicely manicured and the buildings well taken care of. This is one of the larger picnic shelters available for day use.
A closeup of whats inside.
Me standing next to an information board.
We stopped to talk with a young Ranger and the park host. We asked where the water was coming from being here in the desert. We learned that the water comes from underground where it comes to a spring. The spring itself is located farther up the canyon from where we were standing and from there it travels down the canyon until it reaches Sitting Bull Falls.Our next question was did Sitting Bull actually stay in this area? If not, where did the name for the falls come from? We learned that no one really knows where the name originated. Some accounts say that the name is from Sitting Bull, the Sioux medicine man, others say it was from an early explorer who was known for telling tall tales.
We finally started our way up to the waterfalls and viewing decks. I was expecting this great rush of water and while it was definitely a waterfall, it wasn't as big a flow as I expected. It was nice all the same! On the way to the viewing decks we could really tell we were in higher altitudes, breathing didn't come as easy.
And then the falls came into view.
Bob was feeling adventurous and made his way away from the viewing decks and went to the bottom of the falls.
Heading back to the truck.
We finally got settled in the truck and started making our way back to the campground, just as amazed by the scenery.
We are so thankful to be able to live this lifestyle!
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