Lower Ridge Road — Elephant Butte Lake State Park, near Elephant Butte, New Mexico, is a sprawling campground that offers a mix of camping experiences, from RV sites with hookups to more rustic options right on the beach. With amenities like drinking water, electric hookups, and picnic tables, it caters to a variety of campers looking for comfort and convenience.

The campground is known for its stunning views and access to outdoor activities. Visitors rave about the fishing and boating opportunities, with a marina nearby and trails for hiking. One camper noted, “If you like to fish or have a boat, this is the place for you!” The area is also dog-friendly, making it a great spot for families traveling with pets.

While the facilities are generally clean and well-maintained, some campers mentioned that the restrooms could use more attention, especially during busy weekends. However, the beautiful sunsets and the chance to camp right by the water make it worth it. As one reviewer put it, “The view from our spot was very nice and the site had water and electricity.” 

Whether you’re looking to relax by the lake or embark on an adventure, Lower Ridge Road offers a welcoming atmosphere for all types of campers. Just be prepared for a bit of a crowd on weekends, especially if you’re aiming for those prime beach spots!

This state park has 173 developed campsites, beach camping and boat-in camping. If you like camping, fishing, boating, or just being outdoors, Elephant Butte is for you. There is plenty of water and plenty of beach room and this is New Mexico's largest State Park. Besides sandy beaches, the State Park offers restrooms, picnic areas, playgrounds, and developed sites with electric and water hook-ups for RV's. Park Elevation 4,527 ft

Lower Ridge Road Camping Area — Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Are you in need of a campground near Elephant Butte, NM? There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Elephant Butte and user-submitted reviews.

Elephant Butte

The Best Camping Near Elephant Butte, New Mexico

Awesome experience first time camping at the Butte

Lakeside camping

Elephant butte is great for a short getaway. You can rent kayaks, jets skiis & more while you're there. I bring my own kayak and go at least 2X a year. My favorite part is grabbing a floaty and float down to caballo lake a smaller lake that connects by river. 

Ekephant butte lake, NM

Nice area, and probably one of the best areas in central New Mexico. I however prefer the areas more to the north of the state. This campground is clean, cheap and right on the lake. The amount of people varies. Good place to chill or swim. There is a place to launch boats as well, but the lake itself isn't all that big. I've seen people dish there before, but never seen anyone catch anything. Isn't too much to do around the area, and basically would just make a nice weekend trip if you were in that area.

Good campground for the area, but I prefer others

We like to come here during the week when is not as crowded. Try coming on a holiday weekend and Its no fun, way too many people. Be careful driving down to the shore to camp is very sandy and you can easily get stuck. 

Elephant butte

Nice campground,really big we camped up high above lake it was really nice, sites very nice, water is cold, lots to do in the area

Very nice!

Pretty lake but too busy. Went on a what we thought was a slow weekend and campers/tents were side by side at the shore line all the way around the lake. It's also surrounded by soft sand which a poop ton of people get stuck in if you don't have the right vehicle.

Too busy

We camped in Loop B, which is supposed to have the best view of Elephant Butte Lake. It totally does, the views are excellent. Very affordable RV camping at under $20 a night, which is a steal with both water and electric hookups. But, the bathrooms - they are not great. The one closest to our site was closed (maybe temporarily, but nobody could give us an answer on that), and it's a 15 minute walk to the next one. The showers are the push button type where you only get 60 seconds of water at a time, which is ok, but the facilities are very run down and clearly not cleaned too often. Overall, great location and views, but bring a shower bag.

Great Views, affordable, but beware the showers. 

Sandy beaches in most places we camped, great for privacy and space away from others. Inner-tubbeing and boat space. Nice marina and has some amazing festivals through out the year. Can be great for primitive camping and or other. Bathrooms/showers decent but can be a drive depending on camp site. Local stores and grocery close drive as well

Great childhood memories 

The lake is way down but the entire park is well maintained. Campsites are level and clean. Shower house at Lions loop is closed as is the dump station but the rr and dump at the cove area is very close

Excellent close to home campground  

Low water levels

Pets are allowed, everyone is friendly. I work on the road, so internet is important to me. Great Verizon and AT&amp;T coverage. I love walking on the beach here. One loop is getting a new bathroom, so doesn't have one right now

Beautiful site, inexpensive

A little confusion at the park enterance sent us to the incorrect loop, discovered shortly after we were in place. But camp host made a few calls and as it worked out we were able to remain in location. The helpfulness of each person along the way made this an excellent spot. We used this as a base to explore south central New Mexico.

Great Location

Exactly what we needed! 

Great spots to camp right on the lake, beautiful scenery and water. 

Only issue was the amount of trash everywhere. In the water and all around the shore. Pretty disgusting that people can do that to the nature they are pretending to enjoy. 

Marina was open for an ice refill, but did not have any firewood in stock. Seemed to be just opening for the season. Friendly, nice folks, lots of lake to get away for yourself too. 


So great!

Convenient spot when driving south in New Mexico. Nice campground. The water level on the lake was pretty low. There is some good hiking nearby and also a bike trail that goes around the lake which is quite long. We were there early in the season so there was a lot of accessibility for campsites.

Convenient spot when driving sales in New Mexico. Nice campground. The wate

We just picked a random spot next to the lake to camp and fish was a great time. Watch for snakes

Clean dessert

The campsites and facilities were excellent. Wildlife: Qual, Dove, Lizards, Rabbits, Deer and more. The lake front was crowded with campers and people. Water was clear and cool with lots of carp. Didn’t get to do much other fishing. 

Great Campsites, far from Lake

We stayed here twice. Once in April, Loop C lot 88 and once in May, Lower ridge Lot 2. April was more pleasant due to the cooler weather. Lake has been low for a while, but it's still very pretty. It's hard to give NM State parks a bad review. They have some of the best and they're only $14 for water, electric, pavilion, firepit &amp; wifi. Lot 88 we got better wifi and lot 2 was more secluded. We were there during a fire ban, which I think they have most of the time, but fires were not allowed. You could have a propane portable fire pit, but you have to be within 30 feet of water, which was not a problem with the RV sites. Bathrooms were clean. However the dump station and bathroom near lot 88 was closed. Dump station in Quail Run was open for use but that bathroom was a hike. This SP will always be our go to, when driving through NM.

Love NM state parks

This was my first time stay here. I found staff very friendly and helpful. Location was very clean and very easy to back into. I used my NM state park pass on this stay and for only $4 a night includes 30Amp and water. I have about 20 channels available,  wifi works well and no problems with my Verizon service. I would most definitely stay here again.

1st time stay. 💖

WWe mad reservations online. Came out here in March 2021. Very beautiful the lake is so big you cant fish it all in one day. Kayaks are allowed. But around the lake is very sandy you will get stuck or bring towing cables. They have rv sites for over might sleepers. They had showers there but theure not open just yet. They keep their areas there clean. Its beautiful. Fun. And a great place to bring family. Walmart is like 8 minites away. Its a small town. Very chill and people are friendly

Camp ground is nice peaceful. They really take care of the areas

Lions Beach Campgroud was very clean. The view from our spot was very nice and the site had water and electricity. Only a couple of minutes to the lake. October is a great month for this lake. The weather is great however the lake is pretty low. The sunsets were beautiful!

Very clean

This is a fantastic campground. It’s desert cove in the elephant butte campground. There are other campgrounds but this is the one I chose. It’s a short walk to the lake and there is a teal nice trail to walk my dogs. Sites are water and electric.  $14.00 per day.

Clean and beautiful 

When we first arrived, we were surprised by the size of this park. The signage could be improved to help direct first timers, but once here you'll soon learn the layout of the park. We stayed on Lower Ridge Road, site 2. It was a nice sandy spot, with ample room to park our 34' travel trailer. All sites have a picnic table, shelter, and fire pit. Our site also had electric and water. The public restroom was conveniently located nearby. Full signal for Verizon. It's on our list to return!   

  

Be sure to visit Truth or Consequences, NM while here.

Lower Ridge Road Sites

Large campground with marina and most all the water sports. The grounds are clean and temps were good with the breeze helping. 

Great Beach Camping with your vehicle.

Beautiful scenery and nice sites. Had a power outage for a bit, no running water or lights in restroom was a pain at the time. Obviously camping there are critters, but when my daughter saw a large black widow on our tent she had a little freak out. Just check your picnic table and keep an eye out.

Nice scenery 

Only $18 for the night, able to reserve online same day. There’s tons of sites here. The desert cove loop has a bathroom with showers. Each site has a cement pad with fire pit and picnic table. Our site has electric and water. You have neighbors on each side but there’s a good amount of trees and space to walk around in behind the site. 

Desert cove loop

Boondockers Galore! Plenty of spots with hook ups or right on the beach. I stayed at a spot with water and electric and had everything we needed. There is only one shower house in the off season and it's not the best in terms of temperature or pressure, but it's a trade off for the views imo. 

Amazing Views

Very friendly crew running this massive place. Very clean and well maintained roads. A little fishing, boating, hiking and dog freindly. We had a great time.

A place to stop and take a load off.

Site is typical for state campground, well maintained, clean with water, electricity, RV dump, and showers (had hot water!). Sites are fairly level on asphalt pads. Childrens' playground on site. The lake is very low during my visit but still had some boating going on. Nice trails adjacent to campgrounds. Great reception for Mint. Internet is available for $8/day. Fair connection, I was able to watch movies and football without too much buffering.

I stayed at the Desert Cove campground. It was quiet and well maintained. Stayed a couple of nights on long trip to rest up. I would stay here a again. 

Note: Seems every park is going the way of private booking for reservations and NM is no different. Had to book on line or phone. Used both methods and was fairly easy.

Good State Park campground

**General:** There are many different camping options at this state park from dispersed (especially on the beach) to those with electric/water hookups. We stayed in the Lions Beach campground with the w/e hookups. 

  

**Site Quality:** Lions Beach is laid out much like an RV park with little to no separation between sites. Each site has a fire ring, and covered picnic table in addition to the hookups. The driveway was paved and level. 

  

**Bath/Shower**: Only vault toilets close to the Lions Beach campground. They are ADA accessible complete with a ramp but although clean, there was no hand sanitizer in any of them. The only restrooms with running water, flush toilets, and showers are located about a mile from Lions Beach and IMO, not adequate for the crowds this park attracts, especially on the weekends. The showers looked sketchy, and I decided not to use them. 

  

**Activities:** If you like to fish or have a boat, this is the place for you! There is a marina. Some hiking trails. We enjoyed Riverbed Hot Springs a few miles down the road in Truth or Consequences. We don’t have a boat or fish so although we stayed for two nights, we chose this campground because it was on our route. 

  

Because dispersed camping on the beach is allowed, it is very popular, especially on the weekends but be warned the sand is soft and deep – I’m not sure how vehicles without 4-wheel drive can navigate it without getting stuck. We were told there were wall-to-wall RVs on the beach on the weekend before our arrival (third weekend in April) so thankfully we were not there on a weekend! If we were to return, we would select the sites overlooking the lake on Ridge Road with no hookups but generally, not our preferred camping vibe but for others, it might be different.

Photos of Lower Ridge Road Camping Area — Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Real photos from real campers