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Elephant Butte Lake State Park

State Park New Mexico

Entrance sign for Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Elephant Butte Lake SP is located a few miles north of Truth or Consequences on the west side of Elephant Butte Lake and the Rio Grande River. It's a large park with several campgrounds. Normally it's a great place for boating, but in recent years the lake has been far from full. Sites that would be water-front are now a long way from the lakeshore.

Lots of sites to choose from when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon in Nov of 2011. — Lots of sites to choose from when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon in Nov of 2011. We ended up on site 79 in the Lions Beach CG. It's in the second row back, but up on a hill with a good view of the lake - too bad the water level is so low. Date of most recent visit: Nov 2013

Greetings from

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Lots of sites to choose from when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon in Nov of 2011. We ended up on site 79 in the Lions Beach CG. It's in the second row back, but up on a hill with a good view of the lake - too bad the water level is so low.

Date of most recent visit: Nov 2013

Ribbit! The WxToad

Around the campground

Thanks to a drought and politics, the Rio Grande is unable to keep the lake full. — Thanks to a drought and politics, the Rio Grande is unable to keep the lake full. We were told that the lake level is down a 120 vertical feet, leaving campsites a long ways from the shoreline.

Sites 69-79 in the Lions Beach CG.

Looking down at the first row of sites (83-92) in Lions Beach.

Sites 113 and 110 with Elephant Butte in the background.

Sites 50-56 are in the third row of Lions Beach.

Quail Run CG offers 26 sites with hookups. — Quail Run CG offers 26 sites with hookups. Here are sites 19-24.

On site 29 I found this nice-looking Lazy Daze.

Quail Run has a number of pull-through sites, such as these, 38-40.

Desert Cove CG is adjacent to Quail Run. — Desert Cove CG is adjacent to Quail Run. These are sites 12-14.

At the end of Desert Cove are back-in sites 9 and 10.

Overlooking the marina from Ridge Road are a few sites with enclosed cabanas; these sites do not have hookups.

There are three of these modern bathhouses. — There are three of these modern bathhouses. Although not heated, they provide solar-heated hot water showers.

This coyote sauntered by our campsite one morning. — This coyote sauntered by our campsite one morning. A good reason for keeping your pet on a leash.

One morning I walked out to what would normally be an island in the middle of the lake, climbed to the top of its... — One morning I walked out to what would normally be an island in the middle of the lake, climbed to the top of its hill and had this viewpoint of the campground back across the lake. The water should be up to the level of the tree-line in the background.

Liz looked out our front window at supper-time, grabbed the camera and took this picture of the moon rising over the... — Liz looked out our front window at supper-time, grabbed the camera and took this picture of the moon rising over the lake

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