Rattlesnake Springs Trail

Rattlesnake Springs is one of the most important birding sites in New Mexico, a National Natural Landmark and historic water source located in a separate section of Carlsbad Caverns National Park south of the main cavern area. The spring creates a lush riparian oasis of cottonwood, willow, hackberry, and walnut trees in an otherwise arid Chihuahuan Desert landscape, attracting an extraordinary concentration of bird species during spring and fall migration. Over 300 species have been recorded here.

The trail loops through the cottonwood gallery and adjacent desert scrub, passing the spring itself — a natural seep that has sustained human habitation since prehistoric times and was used as a water supply by the Mescalero Apache before European contact. The birding is exceptional from late April through May during peak migration, when western tanagers, painted buntings, vermilion flycatchers, and numerous warbler species crowd the cottonwood canopy. Yellow-billed cuckoos nest in the willows in summer, and roadrunners are year-round residents of the scrub margins. Picnic facilities are available at the springs. The separate park unit requires driving down the main highway and turning onto a marked road; the area is sometimes overlooked by visitors focused exclusively on the underground cavern experience.