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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.
Bring your own RV. Our small, gravel RV spaces have 30 & 50 amp electric, water, sewer hookups, and free wi-fi. RV guests get the same soaking privileges as our room guests. Spaces are across the street from the rest of the resort and about 15-20′ wide x 50′ long in size. RECREATIONAL VEHICLES ONLY. No car, van, truck or tent camping allowed. Rigs must have their own bathroom facilities (Toilet and Sink). Base rate includes one or two guests. Four guests maximum and each guest beyond 2 is $30/guest/night. Pet restrictions and fee are waived for quiet pets that stay in RV and don’t disturb other guests.
RV site guests get the same soaking privileges and discounts as hotel room guests. High speed wireless Internet available. Some amenities that are provided in hotel rooms are not available to RV guests. These include robes (ask about rentals), spa or bath towels, coffee, soaps/shampoo/etc, and Direct TV. Propane is available at Cortez Gas Co but you must go to them to fill your tanks.
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
Campground Facilities: 29 Developed Campsites 23 Electric Sites Water in Campground RV Dump Station Group Campsites Restrooms: Restrooms with water Showers Vault Toilets Gardens Gift Shop
Apaloosa campground has 23 sites that are tent and RV friendly with 30 am hookups, water, toilets and is pet friendly. No showers at this location. But it is located within walking distance to Caballo Lake and has pull through sites with electric and water to accomodate motorhomes, travel trailers, 5th wheels or tent camping
$40 / night
Scout
I love the Elephant Butte State Park and have stayed around 4 times. February 2024 I spent a week there in my small travel trailer. It can be quite windy in Feb/Mar so before booking I called the park office ans asked which campground might be more wind sheltered. They suggested Quail Run so that is what I booked. It was more out of the wind and a very nice, less exposed area. /bear in mind, the excellent prices are ending for 2025 and will be considerably more. I plan to spend a few days there in Dec before the prices go up.
Ranger
This small camp site is next to Smokey Bear Historical Park and museum is in a small town of Capitan, New Mexico.
Scout
Ok RV PRk. No showers or rest rooms, Needs a serious upgrade. Owner is nice. Lots of permanent trailers. Goat heads are everywhere, along with lots if weeds.
Guide
Great campground. Good size spots with good distance between sites. Ramadas at each site provide precious shade. Lots of trash bins nearby. Long flat trail (bike/walk) starts at the campground. Note that is has a boat launch except there’s no more water in this area.
GuideGreat 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.
Scoutgreat rural campground. lake valley ghost town is worth the ride
Legend
There are a few hot spring resorts that we keep in the back of our minds, always ready to return whenever we’re within striking distance…and this is one of them! A good friend who used to live in T or C raved about this place, and let’s say she was not wrong.
While the campground itself isn’t much to write home about (just a parking lot across the street), quick access to the pools, the environment, and the scenery are simply amazing. The campsites are full-hook up slots, tastefully divided by local plants and shade trees, but very close to each other. You’re within the city limits, but it feels somehow more like a quiet neighborhood.
The resort offers showers, bathrooms, and of course a multitude of pools at different temperatures to balance whatever the weather might throw at you. With nothing but the Rio Grande River, and the Chihuahuan Desert sprawling into the distance, the resort is serene, and feels a million miles away from the interstate which is only a couple miles away.
Even with the electrical hook ups, we still gathered all we needed with our solar powered system, and our south facing campsite was perfect for satellite internet as well, even though the resort has some spotty wifi.
The town within walking distance has everything you might want, especially if you like New Mexican cuisine, the answer is always “Christmas” WYKYK. Gas, food, Walmart all close by, etc. it’s all there.
Nearby is the Elephant Butte State Park with a massive reservoir for all kinds of boating recreation, mountain biking and hiking. Just make sure you go at the right time of year! Also check out the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge if you are at all interested in birds and other wildlife. You'll find reviews for all of these places on our The Dyrt Reviews.
Guide
Very clean and well maintained. Staff were very friendly. No shade for the trailer, but the covered picnic table was good. Electric hookup worked. Water was off due to water system maintenance. We were able to fill up at the campground below the dam. Quiet at night, just some road noise from the highway. The lake is great with easy access for kayaking at the boat ramp. We would stay here again.
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!
Scout
Stayed in the open area not at a site . Area I parked had a big area with shaded trees, very quite at night and had no issues with neighbors
Guide
When I called about availability we were told there were a lot of dry spots available. Works for us! When we got there the person at gate had no idea where the campgrounds were and would not let us check out sites without paying for day use. The campground had water shutoff on Memorial Day weekend. No bathrooms or showers.
Management aside, this place is gorgeous. We dry camped by lake right under mountains. Would not pay for campground with no water but for $10 to dry camp by the water, love it.
Great T-Mobile service. Easy to access.
Guide
Had to duck in here one afternoon to avoid 70 mph cross winds on the highway. What a find! Loops A, B, and C of Lions Beach are terraces high above Elephant Butte Lake. Spectacular lake views! Loop B (sites 66 thru 79) is particularly sweet because the sites back up to the edge of the terrace for gorgeous lake views right from your camper window. We wish we could've stayed longer.
ScoutFree camping (14 days) on the riverside! Amazing. Perfect for van life. Space for big rigs too but only a couple big turnaround spots so just be strategic about it.
Ranger
We drove all the way to the power line rd, made a right and then proceeded through multiple BLM gates that we had to open then close behind us. We ended up down in the reservoir valley, out of the wind. Phenomenal spot. Good verizon service.
RangerBeautiful 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.
Guide
Highly recommend this gem. It’s tucked away and such a cozy and slow place to stay. We stayed in a campsite for 5 nights. Highly recommend more than one day so you can enjoy the springs and the town! It has lovely clean hot spring tubs that are open 24/7. It’s an intimate camp so we rarely had to wait for a tub. Also has clean bathrooms and showers and a grill. 2 blocks away from Main Street and 2 blocks from the Rio grande. Great host and great service too.
RangerStay for two days to allow us to visit Gila lift Dwellings. Full hookups (30 amp) with water and sewer. Good cell coverage. Amazing Starlink speeds. Staff was awesome and they filled our propane for us.
ScoutThe site was clean the hookups were in good condition. We enjoyed our stay. There is a huge tower of some kind, maybe cellphone, in the middle of the park.
GuideThis is one of my fave spots yet.. drove to almost next cattle guard and ended up in the middle of a mountain range Fairy circle.
Didn’t see another person for 3 days. Sun rise and sets are AMAZING
RangerVery quiet with water and electric at each site. Spaced out a bit and you can walk to the lake but no real views of it. There is a 12 mile trail that takes off from here. Well laid out and very easy walking. Otherwise during the winter it is great but I'm guessing very hot in summer with no shade.
Legend
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.
Scout
I have no interest in fishing by the river but we choose to camp and make food together, enjoy pizza tower and play all night.
ScoutClean restrooms, comfy outdoor furniture and terrific vibe ! We really enjoyed staying here this past spring and plan to return this winter!
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.
Guide
This is a nice place overlooking Caballo Lake there are only four transient spaces. Most of them are long-term people I would happen to be lucky enough to get one. The cost is $26.31 if you pay cash and a dollar extra for credit card they have showers bathrooms Wi-Fi full hook up.
Legend
We enjoyed how small this campsite is and we were the only people there during our visit.
I gave it 3 stars because it’s right next to the road, but also next to the water.
It has large trees and flat camping spots. It even has a vault toilet.
GuideIt's quite, a lots of spots with rock firepits. Amazing sundown and sunrise. But too hot at daytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Elephant Butte, NM?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly 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 dog-friendly camping near Elephant Butte, NM?
TheDyrt.com has all 39 dog-friendly camping locations near Elephant Butte, NM, with real photos and reviews from campers.
