Zapata Falls is a hidden waterfall tucked inside a narrow rock crevice on the slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just south of Great Sand Dunes National Park. A short, rocky trail and a cold wade up South Zapata Creek bring you face to face with water plunging more than 25 feet, and in winter the falls freeze into a giant column of ice.

The falls are part of the Zapata Falls Special Recreation Management Area, which the Bureau of Land Management manages with the Colorado State Land Board. The falls and the 628 acres around them are State Trust Lands and a designated Colorado Natural Area. “Zapata” is Spanish for “shoe,” and the name goes back to 1864, when Mexican families founded the community of Zapata at the base of the mountains and raised sheep and other livestock. In the 1870s, cattlemen built one of the San Luis Valley’s first and largest cattle ranches here, Zapata Ranch, which is still a working ranch. The falls themselves are a geology lesson. The valley sits on the Rio Grande Rift, where the Sangre de Cristos rose as the valley floor sank, and meltwater from ancient glaciers found a weak spot near the end of a moraine and slowly carved the slot that South Zapata Creek pours through today.

From the day-use parking area, the trail climbs about a half mile over rocky ground to the mouth of the canyon. To actually see the falls, you have to step into the creek and wade a short way upstream between the rock walls, so bring sandals or shoes you don’t mind getting wet. Black swifts nest near the falls, one of the few known breeding sites for the species in Colorado. The overlook near the trailhead has one of the best views of the San Luis Valley, the San Juan Mountains and the dunes. Beyond the falls, trails continue into the Rio Grande National Forest and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. The BLM’s Zapata Falls Campground nearby has 23 sites among the piñon pines, a group site and seven picnic sites, with famous sunsets and dark night skies.

Check the BLM Zapata Falls page or call the San Luis Valley Field Office at 719-852-7074 for current road and trail conditions. The area and campground stay open year-round. By late fall, expect cold water and icy rocks at the falls, and once winter sets in the falls freeze into a column of ice that only experienced, properly equipped ice climbers should approach.