Elephant Butte Lake State Park — Attraction in New Mexico

Update: After this review, another attempt was made on Labor Day Weekend. The lake is very low, but we arrived on Thursday so we were able to get a fantastic camp. It was a perfect weekend. There was a nearby camp with several vehicles and 5th wheels that blasted their music 24/7. Fortunately, I liked the music, but not after the known 10pm cut off. Their voices were as loud as the music, but with a little persuasion, they finally calmed down. Overall, it was as enjoyable as it has ever been.

The Butte has drastically changed over the last few years. Low levels still allow great boating and provide alot of beach areas to camp next to the water. It is likely you will need to be pulled out if you have a small car or if you are towing a big rig. Some can get out on their own, many can't. Either way, getting in and out is NEVER an issue...folks are are always willing to help. However, camping there is nowhere near as enjoyable as it was 5-25 years ago. You are likely to be among campers who have no regard for any other campers. Generators are used past hours, barking dogs are kept in kennels at camps while owners are out in the water. No one seems to hold any regard for anyone but themselves and what lies within "their area", if that. In the past, campers were always welcomed to squeeze in to set up camp and join the neighborly festivities, for rows and rows of campsites. Everyone enjoyed everyone. Now people come and take up 2 to 3 viable camping areas, run two and three generators at a time, play loud music you can't understand and can't even speak over even while in your own tent. These types of campers have completely taken over and people who have camped there for generations have apparently chosen to go elsewhere. After the well-known tedious effort it takes to set up camp at the Butte, we encountered the letdown of human atmosphere. We packed up the next day, forfeiting our 4 hour pontoon ski boat rental, and left as fast as we could. We have always been able to manage tent camping in the heat. This time the people there gave us every reason to leave. No one cares about anyone else anymore. It's all about them and only them. They don't even care about their own dogs. I have been a patron of Elephant Butte State Park for 30 years. I will never go back and succumb to the likes of those who disregard others. The Elephant Butte State Park no longer belongs to anyone who used to enjoy it. It is no...

Elephant Butte Lake is where our family spends time every summer. We come from Las Cruces, so only an hour away for us to travel. We go boating and camping for at least 4 days at a time. We typically stay at Desert Cove/ Quail Run campgrounds. These campgrounds are in the developed area with water and electricity hookups. We have a 36' RV and all the spots we have stayed in have fit our camper just fine. The camp hosts keep the campgrounds very clean, maintained and makes sure everyone quiets down at 10pm but usually there is never an issue, everyone is very respectful. Bathrooms/Showers are cleaned often.

The main marina is Marina Del Sur. This Marina is where we launch our boat. Never have had an issue. On big holidays they have park workers direct the launch ramp so it moves quickly. The marina store has a little bit of everything in case you forget stuff. They have ice and fuel as well (it is way more pricey than fueling up outside the park.) You can rent pontoons and do fishing guide tours. Rangers are out on the lake throughout the summer to make sure everyone is abiding by the law and they are just a phone call away if there is an emergency.

Keep in mind: There is only 1 dump station throughout the entire park so be prepared to wait quite a while if there are a few RV's ahead of you. All campers from all the campgrounds AND campers from down at the water have to come and use this 1 and only dump station. Only 1 RV can dump at a time. That's the only downfall to this park. They...

I brought my family here for the first time. It was a fun experience and also a learning experience. Our van got stuck driving in the sand. We were lucky enough to have these young men help with pushing our van and another gentlemen in a jeep pull it out. Guess that explains why the area we were in mostly had trucks and jeeps parked there. My husband and children got in a 4 person inflatable we brought and the wind got really hectic pushing them further out and they couldn't get back. A patrol boat recognized that they were struggling, picked them up, and brought them back to shore. He gave my husband a warning because we were completely unaware that life vests are required in order to use any inflatables in the water so fair warning to anyone who doesn't know to make sure you have those. The wind on this day was crazy and unexpected. There were inflatables, tents and chairs flying everywhere. I recommend making sure you have some really good stakes to hold down your tents just in case and maybe something that will hook on to your floaties so you don't lose them to the wind and lake especially if you're leaving your things unattended. I recommend bringing toilet paper just in case there's none on the portable toilets which was the case when I was there. Eventually they were filled but...