In the middle of Big Bend National Park, there are the Cattail Falls. A desert oasis that does not fit the rest of the scenery. I traveled with my ladies-only hiking/camping group and we camped at the Chisnos Basin Campground. The entire group is really amazing and there are some strong, wonderful women. We committed to the Window Trail starting from our campground. The Window Trail has natural staircases, green valleys, a livestock trail and a beautiful view at the end. Looking through two rock formations you look through the “window” to see the rolling mountains and landscape for miles, until the haze fades it away. The stone is smooth from each hiker stepping out close to the ledge.

We had made it this far, so a smaller group continued on to the Oak Spring Trail. This trail has some switchbacks, the terrain changing to less valley, more desert, with Yucca and short grasses. There was always a view of a larger post oak valley, which we thought were the oak springs, but they were always out of reach. The trail does end with a smaller patch of post oaks, fed by a small clear water stream from what we assumed was Cattail Falls. The shade was a welcome respite, and this area is also a parking lot for Cattail Falls trail. Overall, the Oak Spring Trail is nice, but really just a trail leading to another trail.

Three of us continued onto the Falls, which was another couple miles down a switch backed trail. We knew we were getting close when we saw a black cliff. The temperature started to come down a little and as we turned a corner and kept hiking down there was the area with trees and rocks. There is quite a bit of rock scrambling to get to the base. Laying on the cool gravel rocks, listening to the trickle of the waterfall hit the small pool felt very Zen after hours of hiking. There were a few red flowers. Birds were flying into the canyon to take a drink. It was really a peaceful place that I did not want to get up to leave. Luckily, the other two ladies had some snacks for me to eat, because I had not planned on hiking this long. I was grateful for their presence, long hikes in the desert call for teamwork.

We decided if we were going to get back before dark, we had to head back soon. We hiked the entire trail in the other direction (7.4 miles each way), albeit at a faster pace since we did not need to stop and look. Overall, this was a memorable hike because it was unexpected, the Cattail Falls trail not being listed on the main Big Bend map, but highly recommended especially in the spring.