WestTexas - I made the same mistake my first time through. I got off the trail and pretty much bushwhacked all the way from the houses to north of the spring. The trail crosses to the east side of the creek bed and climbs pretty high to get around some cliffs. By the time you are near the old stock tank, fence and first cottonwood trees you should be looking down on them from up the east side of the canyon. Then you climb way up over the cliffs and get back down to the creek bed just north of the spring by the indian cave. This is described in the park's trail guide, which I didn't have on my first trip.
The trail will be easier to follow next time.
