Carlsbad Caverns National Park · New Mexico

Upper Rattlesnake Canyon Trail

0.7 mi of trail, end to end · Upper Rattlesnake Canyon Loop Trail: 6 mi loop in the Service's write-up · about 300 ft of climbing · 4,339 ft–4,644 ft · trail class Minimally Developed

Upper Rattlesnake Canyon Loop Trail 6 mi loop · the Park Service's write-up

4 Hours · no dogs

Start Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead

This 6 mile (9.6 km) loop trail is moderately difficult and travels travels from the Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead to the Guadalupe Ridge Trail, down to the Walnut Canyon Desert Drive, and back up to the Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead. The change in elevation along the trail is 670 feet (204 m).

A free permit is required for all overnight use of the park’s backcountry which can be obtained at the visitor center during business hours.

Accessibility Trail is narrow, rocky, and steep.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.