Looking to go glamping near Elephant Butte and enjoy a rustic retreat into nature? Camping has always been a favorite form of travel for many, but Elephant Butte, NM glamping is a new and unique way to do it. You're sure to find glamping for your New Mexico camping adventure.
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
$8 - $14 / night
Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort offers 140 full hook-up sites with big rig, level sites up to 70 feet. 20, 30 and 50 amp service is available. Daily or monthly rates, cable TV, covered patio with picnic tables and BBQ grills by the lounges. Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort offers free Wi-Fi.
Your home away from home, the newest destination for Glamping in Southern New Mexico.
Whether you choose to stay in one of our renovated and styled vintage RVs or you bring your own glamper, we are a free-spirited space for all those seeking ease and leisure.
Sleep in and then soak in our treasured natural hot springs, we offer private tubs and a quiet zone to ensure you find peace here.
$50 - $75 / night
6 campsites with Adirondack shelters provide access to Apache Kid Wilderness and San Mateo Peak Lookout by hiking or horseback.
Iron Creek Campground is easily accessible for campers and provides good facilitiesLocated__in the Black Range Mountains off NM State Highway 152, starting at San Lorenzo and ending in Hillsboro. This__is a mountain road with beautiful scenic sites at every curve. Watch for rocks on the road.
Guide
Great place to kayak especially when the sun rises you will see it over the mountains. My favorite part about caballo lake is floating down from elephant butte to caballo lake in a giant floaty.
Guide
Campsites are well sized and maintained. Bathrooms not open. Beautiful lake. Close to beautiful Gila National Forest. Ride on hwy 152 was awesome. Close to Elephant Butte’s perfect beaches. W/E. There are a few FHU.
Scout
We stayed there for three nights. A very short drive to Elephant Butte State Park. Site was pretty level, very quiet and peaceful. Staff was very easy to get a hold of during business hours. Security patrols the park regularly.
Traveler
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.
GuideElephant 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.
Guide
Great flat spot with great views. It’s inside the Elephant Butte lake state park, but seems to be a dispersed site. No one around. No amenities. There is a vault toilet maybe a half mile away. There are pay stations around. We had paid for a site on south Monticello campground but came here instead.
TravelerWe were going to dry camp, but there was a windy, rainy storm going on. We pulled in to Elephant Butte RV Park in the dark, called the security number, and he directed us to a spot. It was easy to hook up, to pull in, easy to pull out with our 36’ 5th wheel. Really nice people! 
GuideSouth 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!
GuideWe 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.
LegendThis 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.
GuideConvenient 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.
ScoutA 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.
GuideNice 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.
Traveler
This is a cool & nicely maintained RV/campsite with a few permanent vintage trailers & a yurt. It is only a short walk to Main Street but it is very quiet at night. Highlight: It includes access to incredible mineral water baths built out of kitschy farm troughs!
The sites are separated by corrugated walls, so there is a nice amount of privacy while still having a cozy, vintage, community feel. The bathrooms are very nicely maintained and clean, and there is an awesome shared space with a fire pit. We planned to come for one night and stayed five! Can’t recommend it enough. Did I mention the mineral baths?!
LegendSituated on the edge of a sprawling reservoir along the Rio Grande river, this park is the perfect place to enjoy the vast landscape of the area. The nearby town of Truth or Consequences, NM is small, but has all the services you might need for food, gas, supplies, or soaking in hot springs.
The campground is well spaced out, each spot has a picnic table with shade/rain structure (I’ll let you guess which purpose gets more use) and nearly all have electricity and water. That means NO generators! The bath house is clean and offers flush toilets, running sinks and warm showers. All sites are reservation only, but you can do that when you get there as there is plenty of LTE cell service. We've never seen this place crowded in the winter months. For what you get at this campground, it’s a bargain at twice the price.
The campground is ideal for solar power, as is the New Mexico weather. We also had no problem connecting with Starlink. Hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing and all other sorts of desert recreation is available right from the campground. Definitely worth the visit!
GuideWe travel with 3 dogs, so they moved me from site 23 to site 27. It was a site with plenty of room for our dog fence. It was in a nice corner of the park with immediate road access.
TravelerLions 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!
GuideWhen 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.
GuideWe spent the whole winter here 2021
TravelerVery 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.
GuideVery clean park. Concrete roads and gravel sites. Very nice shower/laundry facility. Sites are a little close upfront and the road noise can be a bit of an issue. Good cell service with Verizon and AT&T. Nice area to visit with the lake and dam close by.
GuideSite 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.
GuideOnly $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.
GuideLarge campground with marina and most all the water sports. The grounds are clean and temps were good with the breeze helping.
GuideBeautiful 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.
GuideWWe 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
RangerVery clean, well kept resort. Almost full. We were here in early June and the day temperatures were in the low 100’s with very low humidity. Sites are pretty tight with close neighbors. WiFi is good. Didn’t try the cable. Location is convenient to the lake and shopping. Boat rentals are available at the nearby state park. Lake was made from the Rio Grande to furnish water for the area south.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Elephant Butte, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Elephant Butte, NM is Lower Ridge Road — Elephant Butte Lake State Park with a 4.3-star rating from 29 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Elephant Butte, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 9 glamping camping locations near Elephant Butte, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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