South Monticello — Elephant Butte Lake State Park

This very popular state park, on the edge of the Elephant Butte reservoir, is a great wintertime get away. We spent the winter solstice here and woke up at sunrise to see the moon setting in the west and the sun rising in the east. Spectacular!

The campground offers many reservable spots, as well as first-come, first-served sites. Each site has water, electric, picnic table (with sunshade) and a fire ring. The bathrooms are either vault toilets or full service with showers. There are no trees for privacy, but the sites are nicely spaced apart so you don't feel like you are on top of your neighbors.

Now, we don’t normally get critical of other reviews on this site. But some were very negative about the bathrooms, and we simply cannot understand why. The bathrooms were heated, the toilets were clean, as were the showers. The water was warm! Yes, these showers are the push-button type which only gives you a minute or so of water before you push it again. However, the showers were free with the campsite, which only costs $14 (2018) and is in the desert! Water is a precious resource here, so you can’t get your nose out of joint over decisions made by management to limit water consumption when you’re only paying this little.

During the summer months when the reservoir is up to recreational levels, boating and fishing are the most popular activities. Judging by the size of the boat-launch parking lot, you’re going to have to get up early in the morning to grab a spot. There is a great hiking and mountain biking trail right out of the campground which winds between all the other park roads, picnic areas and amenities on the western side of the lake. The trail is relatively new and in most areas is graveled. However, rainstorms have washed a lot of sand across the trail in areas and it can be pretty soft. Further south along the trail we encountered many more arroyos which upped the challenge. The nice thing is that you can always hop back on the pavement to return to the campground.

The town of Elephant Butte is nearby which offers a few restaurants, a general store, and gas. But just 15 miles south is the larger town of Truth or Consequences (interesting story about the name). This town has everything you might need, grocery, gas, food and other lodging....and hot springs! Check out our [blog](https://followshariandhutch.blogspot.com/2019/01/hike-camp-soak-repeat.html) for more details about the latter.

Quiet, Inexpensive, & Warm in December!

Beautiful surroundings.  Peaceful and tranquil.   Close enough to T or C to make grocery trips and for $97 a week you can't beat the 50amp service, excellent water pressure and 5G cell service with TMobile

Beautiful

South Monticello Campground is part of Elephant Butte State Park.
It is very quiet compared to Lions Beach and definitely the rowdy beach camping further South on the lake.  

Unfortunately because the lake is so low the boat ramp is out of the water and only the Rio Grande River runs through there. Keeps the crowds down!

There’s a great trail that wonders from the campground 11 miles south.  We rode our bicycles and most of the trail was well maintained but there can be spots where flooding cause sandy spots and can be difficult to ride through.  Perfect for an adventure walking or running. Photo of the map on review.

We were there in October and many flocks of Sandhill cranes fly over and sometimes land in the valley below near the river.

The shelters are great with large smooth concrete bases and nice big tables.  The sites are raked in a fun Fen Shui pattern by the Camphost.

The spaces are spread out along several loops along the edge of the mesas over looking the valley to the Rio and Elephant Butte lake. Water and electric hook ups!

It’s 9 miles to Elephant Butte  for gas, a dollar store and several decent “eats”.  A golf course in town that looks nice but we don’t golf so no review on that. 

Another 5 to the town of Truth or Consequences for WalMart, Sonic, McDonalds, Denny’s, etc!   T or C is know for its hots springs and Ted Turner owns Sierra Grande a motel and spa.  I’ve heard some rooms have hot springs tubs in the room!

Would have loved to stay longer but the park has a 14 day limit!

Gorgeous Setting

There used to be a lake, that was an idea our forebears had. Times were good and even more people showed up. Three generations later and the lake is dry, the river over-tapped, and the river recharging system stressed to breaking. 

This place is truly sublime; beauty and fright side-by-side. 

I spent my first Crimbus (Xmas for any consumers out there and Christmas for all ya ‘livers!) living in a converted bus at this campground. It was perfect. 

Zen Garden in the Anthropocene 

Great state park campground with electric and water hook ups. No water views from this campground. If you’re wanting to be closer to water/town, I would stay at Lions Beach.

During a summer weekend, this campground didn’t even get half full. Fine by us- saw many rabbits, quail, and hummingbirds. Super quiet at night, but the mosquitoes kept us inside.

Dump station on the way out of the park was a perk!

Calm and Quiet 

We camped here for 5 days. Water and electric on every site. Beautiful view of the lake. It was very quiet. The camp host was wonderful. We had some stakes that came with the tent and they didn't work. He gave us some heavy duty ones that didn't bend.

Very nice

Beautiful scenery, clean facilities. Sites in the main campground are kinda close together, but dispersed camping has better views and plenty of space. Good Verizon service, hot showers.