Best Glamping near Elephant Butte, NM

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!

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.

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 for more details about the latter.

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 & 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.