Sitting Bull Falls: Hidden Gem Near Carlsbad, NM
If you’re exploring Carlsbad, NM, one place you might find interesting is Sitting Bull Falls . It’s about 40 minutes SW of town, but a nice drive. It is part of the Lincoln National Forest , which is actually a HUGE area of land encompassing what used to be multiple separate forest reserves (Lincoln, Gallinas, Sacramento, Alamo and Guadalupe).
In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation that combined four of the forests together under the name Lincoln (under a consolidation executive order). Woodrow Wilson signed legislation about 10 years later that pulled in the Alamo National Forest under the Lincoln. Eventually, the Gallinas mountains were pulled out of the Lincoln and into the Cibola National Forest , which is located further west in New Mexico. As the Lincoln National Forest is mapped out today, it accounts for over 1.1 MILLION acres of land in New Mexico.
We made our way out to the falls on a Friday afternoon. We found this place a lot of fun to explore!
