Elephant Butte Lake Camping
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Overview
A brief introduction to Elephant Butte Lake
Elephant Butte Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the U.S. state of New Mexico, 130 miles (289 km) from El Paso, Texas, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Truth or Consequences.
The reservoir began filling in 1915, and at full capacity became the largest man-made lake in the world. Built as part of the Rio Grande Project, it was intended to revive the fertility of farmland soil in the Rincon and Mesilla Valleys. Today, the reservoir's storage remains crucial to the Rio Grande as it provides power and irrigation water to New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.
It is impounded by Elephant Butte Dam and became part of the largest state park in New Mexico, Elephant Butte Lake State Park, in 1964.Before it was known as Elephant Butte, there were three prospective names: Lake Esperanza, Lake Hall, and Lake Engle. Ultimately, Elephant Butte Reservoir was named after its Elephant-like shape.
The reservoir can hold 2,065,010 acre-feet (2.54715×109 m3) of water from a drainage of 28,900 square miles (74,850 km2). It provides irrigation to 178,000 acres (720 km2) of land.
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Scan for cancellationsContact Elephant Butte Lake
- Reserve America
- Booking site: https://www.reserveamerica.com
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Other nearby parks
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Map
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