Elephant Butte Lake

After what seems like years, we finally got on the road again. It was just a short trip, but enough for us to feel like we got out and went somewhere. It had been so long, we had to remember how to work some of the systems in the van.

Todd’s cousin Dean and his wife Linda were camping down at Elephant Butte Lake for a couple of months in their RV. They hail from Minnesota (Minne-snow-ta, as they say), so they wanted to escape some of the harsher winter up north. Since we had never actually stopped at Elephant Butte Lake on travels that took us past it, it was time we had a look.

New Mexico’s largest body of water, Elephant Butte Lake encompasses nearly 40,000 acres and was formed by a concrete dam (completed in 1916) across the Rio Grande, a few miles north of Truth or Consequences. It is one of the most visited state parks in New Mexico, popular because of the abundant water recreation and easy access, just a few miles from Interstate 25. It is not really known for its hiking or scenery, though. Instead, fishing, water skiing, house-boating, canoeing, swimming and camping are the main draws. 

More than 100 million years ago, the area was part of a vast shallow ocean. Once the sea receded, the area was a favorite hunting ground for the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur. Evidence of the Rex and other species of dinosaur have been discovered in the area rock formations.

Although fossils of a primitive relative of today’s elephant were discovered just west of the reservoir, the area was not named for this former inhabitant. The name “Elephant Butte” was derived from the eroded core of an ancient volcano, now an island in the reservoir, that is said to resemble the shape of an elephant lying on its side.

The water level of the lake is only 11.3% full as of March 8, 2022. This is the sad state of so many of the West’s bodies of water. The images below show the water levels from 1994 to 2013. I can only imagine what it looks like from this perspective today.

But it has been this low before. You can see the recent and historical statistics here: https://waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/individual/elephant-butte. So as always, we hope for a good monsoon season to help with water levels here and elsewhere around the state.

We had the beach to ourselves on the Thursday we arrived. Koda loved walking along the shore. We only wish we could let her off leash to run around, but well… she’s Koda, so there’s no doing that.

Dean and Linda grilled up a great meal of chicken kabobs, and we relaxed in their cushy RV. Compared to the space we have in the van, this was cavernous. We celebrated Dean’s birthday with his favorite, coconut cream pie. After a bacon and egg breakfast the following morning, we said goodbye and headed off to Carlsbad Caverns.