Bluff Springs Falls

If you're passing

Is it plungeworthy?

20feet tall

A waterfall on Rio Peñasco.

Scale32/60

Documentation10/20

Character8/20

The details

Watercourse: Rio Peñasco
Coordinates: 32.83081, -105.73901

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About Bluff Springs Falls

Bluff Springs Falls is a 20-foot waterfall in New Mexico, on Rio Peñasco.

Fed largely by snowmelt, it runs hardest in late spring and early summer and can thin to a trickle by late season.

Plungeworthy rates Bluff Springs Falls 5/10 — if you're passing. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.

What you'll find

A spring-fed falls of about 50 feet that weeps off a bluff in the high Sacramento Mountains south of Cloudcroft — moss, ferns, and spruce framing a curtain of water that starts as a marshy meadow seep up top. Locals call it a twin waterfall when both channels run.

It's one of the easiest waterfall walks in the state — a couple hundred yards from the trailhead — with a whole network of longer trails radiating out if you want a real hike.

Getting there

Trailhead: Bluff Springs day-use area, about 10 miles south of Cloudcroft via NM-130 and the Rio Peñasco road
Parking: At the trailhead — restrooms on site
Road: Paved partway, then about 2 miles of dirt
Hike: 0.4 mi round trip, 110 ft of climb (Easy)
Heads up: An area closure order through August 31, 2026 bans dispersed camping, OHV use, and campfires here after years of resource damage. Day hiking isn't named in the prohibitions, but confirm with the Sacramento Ranger District before you go

When to go

Year-round; spring and early summer for the best flow.

Rules & fees

Fee / pass: None — free site, Lincoln National Forest
Dogs: Under control
Hours: Day use
Camping: Prohibited under the current closure order (through August 31, 2026)
Warnings: No campfires or OHVs under the closure order.

Researched from Cloudcroft Reader — Bluff Springs Closure Order · Focus NM Daily — Bluff Springs. Conditions change — verify before you drive. Been to Bluff Springs Falls recently? Post a conditions report below.

Where it is

Planning a visit? We want your photo.

Bluff Springs Falls doesn't have a photo yet. If you make the trip, send one to hello@plungeworthy.com and we'll publish it here with credit to you.

Before you go

The pin marks the feature, not a trailhead or a legal route in. Some sit on private land or need a real hike, and conditions change with season and rain. Check local access, don't trespass, and never enter water — hot or cold — where it isn't safe.