Elephant
Butte Lake State Park: Set in
the lower Rio Grande Valley of southcentral New Mexico, Elephant
Butte Lake State Park is the largest and most popular state
park. Affectionately know as "The Butte", this
40 mile-long reservoir servers as the state's main watersports
destination, offering opportunities for just about every form of
waterbased recreation, including boating, water-skiing, fishing,
scuba diving, and canoeing. It has sandy beaches, quiet
little coves, full-service marinas, and enough open water for
cabin cruisers and houseboats.
Elephant Butte Lake State Park first opened in 1965. Warm
waters, abundant camping, picnicking, boating facilities and
easy access off I-25 at Truth or Consequences, attract visitors
from all over.
Mild climates create a haven for campers from cooler northern
climates during the winter months. Traditionally, Memorial
Day Weekend kicks off the high season at the Butte for many
visitors coming from Albuquerque and El Paso. Visitation
approaches 100,000 during the holiday, which if the park was
a city, would be New Mexico's second largest.
The park has numerous camping and picnicking areas, with more
than 200 developed campsites and 100 electrical hook-ups for RVs
and trailers. Many campsites have shelters and
grills. When lake water levels are low, large beach areas
attract lake-side campers. Comfort stations with showers,
nature trails, dump stations, playgrounds, boat ramps, and
concession-run marinas provide comfort, convenience, and a wide
array of recreation activities for park visitors. The
visitor center contains interpretive exhibits of the geology,
history, and ecology of the area.
The Dam: Efforts to dam the Rio Grande to provide
a reliable source of water for area farms began in the 1890s.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began construction of Elephant
Butte Dam in 1911. When it was completed in 1916, it
was the largest structure built in the United States to impound
water, creating the world's largest man-made reservoir at
the time. The dam is 306 feet high and 1,674 feet long,
and retains a reservoir that covers approximately 36,000 acres.
The Butte's First Residents: More than 100
million years ago, the area was part of a vast shallow
ocean. Ancient ammonites, extinct relatives of today's
nautilus, have been found. After oceans covering much of
New Mexico receded, the area became the warm, humid hunting
ground of the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur. This fierce
creature roamed the area more than 60 million years ago.
It was the largest land dwelling predator of all time, weighing
more than 7 tons and reaching a length of 40 feet. Fossils
of this formidable reptile, along with those of an ankylosaur,
or armored dinosaur, and a ceratopsian, or horned dinosaur, have
been discovered in area rock formations.
Elephants at Elephant Butte? The lake is named
for a rock formation that resembles an elephant, at least
to some observers who see the left side of its head, with
a prominent ear, and its trunk curled by a foot. The
formation, which is actually the eroded core of an ancient
volcano, is an island in the lake, just northeast of the dam.
Although not known when the rock formation and lake were named,
this area once was home to real elephants. Fossils of
a primitive ancestor of today's elephants, the stegomastadon,
have been found just west of the lake. The animal was
about 7 feet tall and stocky, with a short skull and long
upper tusks.
Human History: The region has been an important
center of settlement for thousands of years. Until 1000
A.D., the area was occupied by indian groups, who appear to have
lived primarily by hunting and gathering the abundant native
wildlife and plants of the surrounding valleys and
mountains. Over time, different groups lived and then
faded from the area.
During the massive migration of European settlers into the
West in the early 19th century, the threat of Indian attacks
along the Rio Grande Valley made European settlers reluctant
to put down roots in the area. The U.S. Military established
Fort Conrad, Fort Craig, and Fort McRae in the mid-1800s to
protect settlers. Numerous Hispanic agricultural villages
sprang up during this time. The construction of Elephant
Butte Dam led to condemnation of many of these settlements,
which now lie beneath the waters of the reservoir. A
few adobe ruins of old Fort McRae remain on the east side
of the reservoir.
Courtesy of New Mexico State
Parks Division
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
P.O. Box 13 Elephant Butte, NM 87935
Office: 575 744-5421
Fax: 575 744-9144
Take a
Photo Tour of Elephant Butte Lake
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