This waterfall blew my mind! I didn't know that such a large waterfall existed in NM! I'm so glad we hiked it, and I'll be back! The water was pretty frigid, but still fun! read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Stupid ranger Lady got mad because we drove over the speed bump at 10mph and would let us in. We drove 3 hours just to have this stupid bitch turn us away because she was on a power trip, i also think it had something to do with my caucasian ethnicity! She treated me less than because of my ethnicity! someone need to take this ladies job immediately! read more

The staff here is rude and act like they are doing you a favor by letting you pay them $20 to see a falls, the view of which is ruined by the dam, clearly built above it. I do not recommend. read more

BEWARE OF LONG-HAIRED WOMAN/RANGER !!! MEAN GIRL Amongst other things, a simple Google search regarding Park Ranger Etiquette will reveal the following: "Park ranger etiquette emphasizes respectful interaction with visitors and wildlife, .... This includes being approachable, informative, and enforcing rules with fairness and understanding...." Here's a more detailed breakdown of park ranger etiquette: Interacting with Visitors: -Be approachable and friendly: THIS WAS NOT THE CASE! THE LONG-HAIRED RANGER PERSON/WOMAN, WAS VERY ILL-TEMPERED, IRATE, AND RUDE. THE MOST DISRESPECTFUL SERVICE ONE COULD BE GIVEN. BE CAREFUL NOT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHY YOU ARE THERE AT A PUBLIC INSTITUTION IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO BE BELITTLED, DISRESPECTED, AND ANNOYINGLY QUESTIONED OVER AND OVER AND OVER ABOUT YOUR VISIT. KINDA GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF GOOD OLD FASHIONED PREJUDICE OR EXTREMELY HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Google further says "Park rangers should be welcoming and helpful to all visitors, creating a positive experience in the park. Be informative and knowledgeable: Rangers should be able to answer questions about the park's history, natural features, and regulations, according to the National Park Service (.gov). -Be patient and understanding: NOT THE PENCIL HAIRED/IRATE POCAHONTAS. Visitors may not be familiar with park rules or etiquette, so rangers should explain things clearly and patiently. Be firm but fair when enforcing rules: Rangers have a responsibility to uphold park regulations for the safety and preservation of the park, but they should do so with courtesy and understanding, according to the National Park Service (.gov). Communicate effectively: Use clear and concise language, and be mindful of visitors' needs when providing information or assistance. Respecting Wildlife and the Environment: Maintain a safe distance: Park rangers should lead by example in observing wildlife from a distance and avoiding actions that could disturb them, according to CheapOair. Never feed wildlife: Rangers should educate visitors about the dangers of feeding animals and ensure that food is stored properly to prevent wildlife encounters, according to gestalten. Promote Leave No Trace principles: Rangers should encourage visitors to minimize their impact on the environment by staying on designated trails, packing out all trash, and respecting natural features, according to the National Park Service (.gov). Be aware of weather conditions: Rangers should be prepared for changing weather patterns and advise visitors on how to stay safe during storms or extreme temperatures, according to the National Park Service (.gov). General Professionalism: Maintain a professional appearance: Rangers should wear their uniforms properly and maintain a neat and tidy appearance, according to the National Park Service (.gov). Be punctual and prepared: Rangers should arrive on time for their duties and be prepared to address any issues that may arise, according to a Reddit thread. Respect park resources: Rangers should use park resources responsibly and avoid wasting time, energy, or materials, according to the National Park Service (.gov). -Be mindful of personal conduct: NOT POCAHONTAS Rangers should be aware of their actions and words, as they represent the park and its values. By adhering to these principles of etiquette, park rangers can create a welcoming, safe, and enjoyable experience for all visitors while also protecting the natural and cultural resources of the park. YOU ARE LOVED AND FORGIVEN, MA'AM. read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Follow the directions on the road signs to the Nambe waterfalls, the Yelp directions are 3.5 miles off. Rangers are at the park base, right towards the waterfall and straight ahead for the lake. It's $15/car. 15 minutes uphill climb up to the falls and it's a decent hike too. I have boots on and not the right shoes for hiking. :/ read more

See all

This place is a very beautiful hike/fishing spot. However, it is not controlled on the permits sold. We went up for a hike and to relax and fish. For 3 ppl $46.00 cash only! This place was so overcrowded. Being that it is private and well taken care of we paid but come to find out they do not care about the people, only the money. The hike was super crowded, which we expected. We also expected there to be a high volume due to it being Father's Day. What I didn't expect was to pay to fish and not have any places to actually fish. When we drove to each "road" and found vehicles just parked on the single car roads we figured not today. We back to the rangers box and informed them kids were playing in the water and there was no fishing access. They laughed and snarled no we don't give refunds nor do they honor any type of resolution ie: rain check. I understand fees are probably the bread & butter and like I said of course we paid thinking we were actually going to fish since they have to write up the tickets. Who ever runs the Facebook page blocked the acct so I will put this here to warn others before you waste the gas all the way out there. Be prepared to take your chances... you may or may not get to fish but guaranteed they will collect their money. And depending on who is working you may or may not get someone who is skilled to work with the public. We did not appreciate the rudeness to our family's dad on Father's Day. Not to mention the resale of individual water bottles at $2 each! read more

The falls come out of a pipe below an ugly concrete dam. The hike up to the falls overlook (pipe) is steep and dangerous. read more

I just LOVE this place! I find so much peace and comfort here! The little trek to the waterfall is fun, wet, and enjoyable. Day fee is super expensive and there is a cranky woman working the pay area. But once you are past that, only beauty and nature appear. read more

This was a day well spent! Drove from Albuquerque for the day to spend some chill time celebrating our anniversary, and will most definitely return next summer for a repeat sesh! We hiked first week of September which was lovely. July and August would definitely be a great time. As you get towards the end of September, the water just starts getting too cold for real enjoyment. Note: $15 per car for the day Nambe Falls has two trails ~ The Overlook trail is dry and takes you to the top for a nice view of the falls. Appx 1/4 mile, not strenuous, and I would advise taking this trail first. The left trail at Nambe Falls is wet, so bringing good water shoes is a must *I swear by my keens* - even if you don't want to hike to the other levels of pools, you must hike through river, slippery rocks and such to get to the lower level of the falls. Bringing dogs is a toss up. I lean towards not taking dogs. If you are just hiking to the overlook and then the lower part of the falls, larger dogs would proooobably be ok (must be on a leash), but smaller dogs would likely struggle. If you plan to hike to the other levels of falls, no bueno for the dogs. So think about that before hand, or you might miss out on some of the experience for that fact alone. Happy Trails! read more

See all

Mamba Falls only accepts cash!!! We made the mistake of not having enough and had to turn around. Very annoyed, so please don't make that mistake. Entry as of 08/2022 is $15 cash per car read more

We stopped here on our way from Taos to Santa Fe and it was so much fun! We highly suggest you take the time to go here if you too are in the area. It was only a small hike from the parking lot to the water falls, and is definitely worth it. It is easily accessible and something you can do with the whole family. Bring your bathing suit and water shoes, and don't be afraid to get in. You can camp out there and enjoy time at the lake if you have time to spend. Make sure you check it out! For more on what to do near Santa Fe, check out our blog. https://kasventures.org/2019/09/11/road-trip-from-taos-santa-fe-nm/ read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

See all

So you like to hike, spend time in the great outdoors, camp, fish. Have I got a place for you. Nambe Falls. It is one of the most beautiful places in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Just north of Santa Fe - about 17 miles. Take Hwy 84 to State Route 503. Make a sharp right, towards the mountains, as if you were going to Rancho de Chimayo for dinner (hey, you can do that after the hike!). Don't go that far. Turn at Nambe Pueblo and pay the small use fee. This land belongs to the Nambe Pueblo, but they generously share its use for a small camping, fishing, hiking fee. There are three falls just a short 15 minute hike from where you park. A short hike further up gets you to a bird's eye view of the falls. The Falls are a beautiful and popular place with filmmakers. John Carpenter's "Vampires" movie, as well as the movie "City Slickers," starring Billy Crystal were both filmed here. Worth seeing. This is definitely God's country! Whether you believe in God or not, the breathtaking beauty of this place will make you a believer in something and will take your breath away! Take a picnic, spend the day. read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Found this while we were traveling. The cost was $15.00 to inter but was worth it. Just an FYI the upper falls was quit a hike so make sure to ware the proper shoes. The lower falls was really a nice walk but you do have to walk through the chilly water but so fun, everyone we encountered were having such a great time. If you take a lunch sitting by the lake would be a great spot for that. read more

See all

A must see! Take some good water shoes that you can go through the water crossings in... definitely a beautiful and uniques spot to see in New Mexico. read more

See all

I love this place! Although the trails are short, it's a definitely a must visit place if you're in town. There's two trails, one going up to get a better view of the falls and one going straight to the falls (This one you will get wet). read more

I would recommend going to see this! It's a $15 entrance fee. You have to walk through a stream about ankle deep to get to the first part of the falls this takes about 10 minutes max. The first pool of water was about mid thigh deep, and you have to climb up some slippery rocks. The next pool of water same thing you climb up a few steps on slippery rocks then again for a third time and you have reached the falls. DONT BRING YOUR DOG IF YOU PLAN TO CLIMB TO THE FALLS! I made this mistake without knowing, they will be unable to get to the falls. Bring a change of clothes as they will get wet. read more

Nambe Falls - The waterfall! - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

See all

Family and I loved this spot Great 15 minute hike, we had a 2 and 3 year old that made it up and down on their own :) Make sure to stop by for a great view read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

This place was awesome! The hike was pretty short, but it was made up by a challenging climb to the upper falls. Bring a separate set of shoes and socks because you will be walking in the river, no way around it. The water falls were beautiful and it was not over crowded. Well worth the $15 per car. read more

Nambe Falls - Picture perfect spot - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

It's a really fun experience. It's easy to find and when you get to the reservation the rangers are very nice. It does cost $15 per car. You drive in a little bit more then it's a big parking lot/campground with restrooms and picnic tables. There are two trails that are clearly marked, and hiking to the falls from the lower trail it's almost all in the river. Also a down side is the water is freezing!!! Our feet turned red and felt numb. But it was still a fun trip and hiking to the falls is a very short walk. There were a lot of people who came around 1 on a Sunday so I would come earlier to avoid people. read more

I almost don't want to write this review but feel the need to clarify a few things. Nambe Falls and Nambe Lake are privately owned by the Nambe Pueblo, which means you're on land owned by the native peoples. It was not open or accessible to the public until just a few years ago. You won't find highly maintained trails and signage like a National or State Park. The tribe doesn't have to share this picturesque spot at all but they do. I'm so glad because it was one of the best adventures I've had in a while! We went on a weekday afternoon in the middle of summer and there was hardly anyone around. We paid $5 to park, but we also showed up with only 2 hours to closing time. (Falls close at 6:30pm.) To get to the waterfalls you must wade through the water and climb up. This requires getting wet and the rocks can be quite slippery. (I was drenched up to my waist and am 5'8".) Its less like hiking and more like climbing, sometimes with the strong water current flowing against you. Coordination is required. There are three levels of falls accessible by climbing up with a pool at the top. Its not really deep enough for swimming. Kids might make it up with some assistance, but they might be better off splashing in the creek at the bottom. There are two trails. One is short and steep and leads up to the look out. The other trail follows along the creek to the lower level of falls. I don't know if hiking up the trail alone is even worth the drive out but I guess there's a nice view at the top. I had heard this is a prime spot for locals, that people like renting the tables and shade for parties, but there were only a handful of people around. I guess we got lucky. I'd love to leave this little gem for the locals, but its really quite a remarkable spot. http://nambepueblo.org/nambe-falls-6/ read more

We visited Nambe Falls last week. I was disappointed. This is a privately-run park (rather than a state park), and it occurred to me that the owners might be under-capitalized, because the park looked neglected. We hiked from the dirt parking lot up to the falls viewing area. The hike was fifteen minutes each way. The trail needed maintenance. At the top we viewed the falls through a chain-link fence. If you are looking for a camping/hiking spot near Santa Fe, consider Villanuevo State Park instead; it has a river and a well-maintained hiking trail with a great view from the top. Or if you are willing to drive farther, try Bluewater Lake State Park near Prewitt, NM. read more

We enjoyed our visit to Nambe Falls, but the consensus was that if the locals put some more effort into signage and facilities, this could become a major attraction. We arrived at the gate to be met by a surly local. We gladly paid the $10 entry for the car, which was very reasonable, but didn't like the fact that we had to pay an extra $5 if we wanted to take photographs. The signage was almost non-existent. There was not even a sheet explaining how to get to the various spots. We walked up to the top of the falls overlook. The path was dangerous in places. Some effort is required here to make it safer. Getting to the bottom of the falls was an adventure because there was no signage. We had to wade through the river in parts, which was ok, but we should have been told. Taking water shoes would be recommended. After our "adventures" we had a picnic in the Ramada (place of shade). After we left we discovered that we should have paid an additional $35 for the use of this spot... crazy! All-in-all we enjoyed the visit, but we would not strongly recommend it to anyone. read more

Less one star 'cause you can't SWIM here, just hadda get that out of the way. OK onto the good stuff: 45 mins from Los Alamos, $10 to get in. Washboard dirt road for part of it so drive your truck, not your economy-mobile. There was a rave there the night before so when we arrived we went and drove around the lake, then drove up to the parking area where everyone was clearing out. The hike was only about 15 minutes to get to the waterfall, but it's a dry trail so wear your hiking boots. I wouldn't hike this during rain, it would be easy to slide off the trail as it's washed out in a few places. I should have taped my knees, this reminded me of Mt Sinetas in Boulder. Nice steady steep grade up. The view of the waterfall was beautiful! There's a pretty little pool midway down and this triangular patch of green grass right next to it that looks like the perfect place to cool off. Who would think you'd find this little oasis surrounded by desert! There were people below us who got closer to the waterfall- they had hiked up and past the fencing, I couldn't see if they bushwacked or if it was a real trail as it wasn't obvious from where we were. This was a fun diversion, and it looked like a nice place to fish or hang out with a picnic for the day.It was VERY quiet and peaceful on a Sunday afternoon. There was limited water access and the lake itself was very green/mangy looking so I'm not sure I'd want to swim there even if allowed. read more

The walk to the overlook of the falls is nice, but not so interesting. However, tracking back, crossing the river, and walking up the river is super fun. At some point, you'll end up getting to a point where further progress would require some slightly tricky climbing up some small falls. At that point, you should look up and examining the cliffs to your right. Up there you can see some red petroglyphs. read more

Nambe Falls - Parks Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Really bad-- we got a brochure at our hotel, went, and it was closed. Tel # did not work, website mentioned was gone. Don't you think they would have mentioned hours on the brochure? Don't bother. read more

Place is closed to tribal people only. Don't drive an hour and 45 mins for no reason!! I don't know when it will be open again just letting y'all know read more

If you go during the weekend, expect to get there before 10:00am, or you won't find a good place to park by the water. If you do go during the weekend, don't expect very many English speaking people, and make sure you have $10 per car, and have your own beer and food. There is an ice cream truck in the area, but man cannot live on ice cream alone. There's usually a lot of kids throwing trash and debris, so I like to pick up any trash alongside the water when hiking down from the falls. And that would be the trail to the left of the river, not the trail on the right with the bridge. And don't be appalled at all the bad ranchero music that is blasting from people's cars, even though there's CLEARLY signs up saying no loud music... read more

$15 to access a crappy trail that climbs to very anti-climatic waterfall with a giant concrete dam atop. Nambe reservoir would be a nice area if it didn't cost an additional $18 per person (even if you have a NM fishing license...because its privately owned). Overall, we felt we didn't get anywhere near our money's worth and would not recommend this place to anybody hoping to take in the outstanding sights of New Mexico. Very lackluster. read more

Today would be the third day that I have driven all the way to go spend a day at the falls, but couldn't due to there hours of operation that are not specified anywhere (that I have been able to find) on their 2 websites. Off of those websites I have tried the numbers they provide, and out of the 3 numbers I found ALL THREE DIDN'T WORK! I wish they were more accommodating to people like me with a bad memory, so I didn't waste so much time and gas money on getting let down. For anyone else like me, Nambe Falls is open from Thursday to Sunday from 7am to 7pm. It's 10$ per car with up to 5 people per car load. The long car trip back home gave me time to calm down, but I was pissed. read more

I wish I could actually review this location but yelp has the map pinpoint about an hour off. Thanks yelp!

Nambe Falls is something you should only do if you are in the area and/or have $10 burning a hole in your pocket. We paid $10 per car and an additional $5 (per camera-thank goodness we only said 1 camera) for a photo permit. I realize this isn't a state park, but in no way does it appear that these falls are naturally occurring so I don't believe it is worth the $15. I found the parking area a tad bid scary with children running around (and dropping trash!), loud music blaring and the people who were grilling/drinking under the ramadas gave people driving in death stares. Having said all of that, the falls were beautiful and the short hike was nice. We didn't venture into the river to get close to the falls, but I would suggest doing that to get more for your money. read more

We read through both the Nambe web sites and it looked enticing and open for business. We called the contact number which would only allow you to enter the extension of the person you want to reach.... didn't even have that. So we departed 06/20/15 a.m. We arrived and they of course were closed for the season. Do not go here unless you speak to a "live" person first. read more

It is not a natural occurring waterfall, but it is still pretty. They charge way too much to get in ($10), but it is private land so they can charge whatever they want. I have enjoyed the times there, just don't stay too late in the afternoon because it gets really sketchy with the chollos and their bimbo girlfriends that grope all over each other at the parking area. read more

I'm not sure how anyone could possibly give this more than 1 star. $10 to get in - I'm not sure what that goes to. The parking and picnic area were littered with trash and rundown facilities. If you walk up the trail to the overlook to the falls, as another person stated, you have about a 10 foot area to walk about and you look through a chain link fence. Hardly a stunning view. If this was one of the "best adventures" as another reviewer stated, I would suggest they got out a bit more. This was a rip-off and I'm not sure would be worth the drive even if it was free to get in. Don't bother. read more

Only a so-so falls. The parking/picnic area and the trail to the falls overlook are not well maintained or cleaned. The lower trail was partially underwater. After paying a $10 admission fee AND a $5 camera permit fee, we felt ripped-off. If you're into waterfalls and cascades, skip it. The falls is the result of the release of water from an imposing dam just above the falls and very visible. read more