Cattrail Falls
Brewster County, Texas
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- Brewster County, Texas
- Access status
- Guide: unsigned park trail to a spring-fed falls
- The walk
- 1.5 miles one way, including 0.5 mile along the access track (3.2 miles round trip from the parking area)
- Ground & access
- Desert trail with log steps and a short descent into a wooded canyon. Some boulder scrambling near the falls.
Cattail Falls is a spring-fed waterfall that drops about 80 feet into a pool in Cattail Canyon on the west side of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. The trail is not on the park map and the trailhead is not signed from the highway. Take the unsigned gravel road that forks east off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive opposite the Sam Nail Ranch pull-out and drive 1.3 miles to the Oak Spring trailhead parking. Walk around the gate and up the road about half a mile into the Oak Creek drainage, where a large oak and a sign mark the Cattail Falls Trail branching right. The trail climbs log steps over a low ridge, crosses a flat area, follows the rim of Cattail Canyon east and drops to the pool at the base of the falls. The sign asks visitors not to wade in the pools, to stay on the path and to walk on rock rather than soil near the falls. Return the same way.
Plan your visit
Oak Spring trailhead parking on the gravel road off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive opposite Sam Nail Ranch, walk up the gated road to the signed Cattail Falls Trail, then south and east into Cattail Canyon to the falls
American Southwest gives 1.5 miles one way including 0.5 mile on the access track. Hiking Walking gives 3.2 miles round trip from the trailhead parking area, or 5.8 miles round trip if the 1.3-mile gravel access road must be walked from Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
Desert trail with log steps and a short descent into a wooded canyon. Some boulder scrambling near the falls.
Where to start
Oak Spring trailhead parking, 1.3 miles up an unsigned gravel road that forks east off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive opposite the Sam Nail Ranch pull-out. If the road is closed or rough, park on the scenic drive and walk the road.
Timing & water
Usable all year; avoid midday heat. The falls may be nearly dry in midsummer and are fuller after rain.
Before you go
Big Bend National Park entrance fee: $30 per private vehicle, valid for 7 days. No separate booking is mentioned for day hiking. Dogs are not allowed on park trails.
Visitor informationVisit sources
- American Southwest: Cattail Falls Trail, Big Bend National Park
- American Southwest: Cattail Falls Trail, Big Bend National Park
- American Southwest: Cattail Falls Trail, Big Bend National Park
- American Southwest: Cattail Falls Trail, Big Bend National Park
- Hiking Walking: Cattail Falls
- Hiking Walking: Cattail Falls
- National Park Service: The Window Trail
- Big Bend National Park: Fees and Passes
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.