Elephant Butte State Park | Established Campground

February 19th, 2024 by A sudden leap into boondocking

A nice campground $18 per night for electric sites. shrubs between sites are nice but still right next to the next person. 4x4 needed to drive on most of the roads to the beach areas. clean .. a good place to charge up your devices.. other than that .. not great in my opinion. 10.00 non electric sites and primitive tent camping looks pretty cool but the electric campsites are just meh.

December 28th, 2023 by emotionalpentagon91

a little confusing..it seems like you can park anywhere you want to if you're boondocking..so long as you have a 4x4 vehicle for the sand. there are also coyotes..they seem rather unbothered by human presence

June 4th, 2023 by danielbarwick

This campsite is an excellent value. Eight dollars in cash lets you camp on a gorgeous beach with access to bathrooms, showers, and even weak Wi-Fi. AT&T cell service was three bars, so I used that as a hotspot instead. As others have noted, the check in system and fee system is completely baffling: the sign at the entrance to the park literally has a different camping fee structure than the entrance to the campground itself. Just drive right in and go to the Lion’s Beach campground, stuff eight bucks in a fee envelope, and head down to the beach. Others have also commented on whether the sand on the beach is drivable – yes it is. I recommend a four-wheel-drive vehicle, but I did see at least two 2wd sedans. This place is not crowded at night. Although many people drive down to the beach during the day to swim and drive boats around, most of them leave in the evening. On the stretch of beach I stayed at on a Sunday night, there were only two other vehicles that stayed the night. I have attached a pic of my pick up truck at the waters edge.

February 1st, 2023 by lightningnings

It was quiet here for me. Very little traffic. One of the restroom facilities was closed. It still seemed like most of the sites were occupied though. $8 for camping without hookups (no reservation required and you can pay there), $14 with hookups (reservation required, reserve online, they won’t let you pay/reserve at park entrance). $8 sites had shelters with picnic tables. There was a water pump at my site (95).

January 6th, 2023 by christophermichaelphoto

Not a bad place to stop for a few nights. Great view of the lake. Too cold for a swim at the moment but we checked out Hosier Hot Springs in TorC. $10 for an hour long soak.
$14 a night for full hook ups and they have showers at the State Park. You can also camp on the beach for $10 but we didn’t want to risk getting our Westy stuck.

December 28th, 2022 by will35010

Crowded. Tent sites seemed full so found an even site luckily. Definitely seems like a popular spot. Facilities were nice and clean. And cost was reasonable.

December 16th, 2022 by RoryCullen.com

Large state park with lots of W/E sites, and seemingly unlimited dry camping options
w/e $14 plus $4 reservation fee (frustratingly unavoidable, fee is per night)
boondock $10, no fee, can pay on site.
Sites are across multiple campgrounds.

October 17th, 2022 by psewellmt

Another lovely New Mexico State Park with all campsites being reservation only to reserveamerica.com.

March 14th, 2022 by christimasi

Beautiful campground. Book online (the only way) if you want power/water $14/night plus reservation fee ($4 per night) and an assigned site. Otherwise, boondock anywhere else. Pay $10/night for boondocking at the self-pay station just after the gate. Free hot showers, clean bathrooms. Highly recommend.

March 4th, 2022 by Avi Baram

The state parks in NM are great.
Decent price, dump stations. Showers, toilets.
Some of the parks offer primitive parking for $8 and you can still use the services.
Elephant butte one of them.

January 3rd, 2022 by kelsietravers

Camping here was extremely confusing. There’s nothing online unless you book an electric spot for $14. When you arrive, you’re supposed to pay for a spot ($10 for non electric or $14 for electric) but no where says anything about boondocking for $8 so idk where people were getting that info. We didn’t see a single park ranger or anyone working to ask either. Called and no answer. We ended up staying at a $10 first come first serve spot at the top of the hill instead of risking getting stuck in the sand for $2 less (??????) lol. Decent views, but kind of weird vibe with the desolate reservoir feel. Mediocre / kinda dirty shower, but we went to the riverbend hot springs in town, which was a MUST and great showers there :)

October 24th, 2021 by ravdgreen

Only $8 a night to boondock in the park! And then you can use the dump station for free. You can’t reserve this online, just pay when you enter the park. Mostly had excellent Verizon cell service, lost it a few times. Starkly beautiful, quiet, and Plenty of solitude to be found here. I did get my Sprinter van stuck in the sand for a scary bit, but miraculously was able to get myself out.

October 16th, 2021 by pampas.overland

This place is massive, several loops/areas, some with electrical and water, some with structures for shade. Showers seem to be open just in the comfort station near the main entrance. For us, the interesting part is the primitive camping areas, which are massive. Lots of people down to the edge of the water, just be mindful of sand, as it may get deep in some areas.

Cell reception and data pretty hit or miss, you need to camp on the higher areas for best speeds. We found an area with good internet in the dispersed area south of Rock Canyon, overlooking the water. Verizon/Visible 100ms ping, 45/10 down/up, excellent for remote work.

July 1st, 2021 by VayaConDiosa

A large campground with a variety of sites to choose from. We stayed at Lions Beach Loop A (it’s not actually on the beach, but you can see it from up there, photos are from another vantage point), $14 with water & electric. But there seemed to only be one dump station open for the whole campground. Wi-fi was free but pretty weak. Currently only conducting reservations online.

“…located 7 miles north of Truth or Consequences along the shore of Elephant Butte Reservoir. It is the largest state park in New Mexico and surrounds the state's largest reservoir. The 36,000-acre reservoir, created in 1916 across the Rio Grande, is 40 miles long with more than 200 miles of shoreline.”

June 26th, 2021 by proteo2

one night, We run on motorcycle... only tents , sleep, shower and go

November 2nd, 2020 by onward4x4.com

This place is open only to New Mexico residents. All others are turned away.

October 15th, 2019 by Uphill Zen

As others have said, decent state park campground. Its a big operation. I stayed in the Desert Cove area, where there were a few spaces open on an Oct Tuesday. Wifi costs $3 for an hour or $8 for 24 hrs, limited to 1 device only. That was a disappointment, but I did have good TMobile coverage at the camp.

April 11th, 2019 by pwheaton8

Nice affordable state park. We really enjoyed it. Stayed two nights at Lions Beach Camp at the end of row A. It was a one night site but no one came and kicked us out for a reservation so we stayed two. If there is a reservation on your site you can just move to an open one, we saw others do this. Row B is first come first serve without the one night stay/reservation deal. We liked the end spot because it was right on the desert edge so our son and dog had a nice play area. Gorgeous views.

February 26th, 2019 by barbarabprp

Stayed on loop b of Lions Beach campground, this loop is first come first serve. Arrived at 2 and got the last spot . Would not want to be here in high winds as you are surrounded by dirt mounds and driveways. Otherwise everyone very nice , helpful. The walk to the water was deceivingly long ,

March 26th, 2018 by gaznjoan.com

Everything as stated. Lovely to camp on the beach. Warm showers and wifi good near entrance

October 23rd, 2017 by BodesWell

$14 for a full service site. wifi included.

October 23rd, 2017 by tribuabm

Very good so beautiful .... 10$ for RV.

November 3rd, 2016 by ykphil

Not free but for $8 for a tent site with no service, you still have flush toilets, drinking water and warm showers a short walk from your tent. Wifi is good if you don't go too far away from the serviced campsites. This is not like Boondocking but the park is nice and you can camp right on the beach or wherever you find a secluded spot.

November 4th, 2015 by theoysta

Overlooking RioGrande fishing swim boat fire pits clean restrooms needs new cleaner remote restrooms did not seem to be cleaned in months however with care one can get by