New Mexico has an abundance of trails that are open to the public and most are only accessible by 4-wheel ATVs like theirs. There are many rocky, steep and narrow areas that most normal vehicles even with 4-wheel drive could not navigate. We were amazed that they could follow all the trails without getting lost!

Our trip took us into the mountains and up to several old abandoned mines. The views of the desert valley on the way up were spectacular and we were even surprised to find sand dunes and red dirt way up there.

At each mine, there were opportunities to search in the discard piles for amethyst, quartz and other rock specimens. Anna took home quite a few smaller rocks hoping to make jewelry out of them at some point in the future. One of the mines we visited had partially collapsed inside and was clearly not safe but we were able to go several hundred feet inside another. It was interesting to imagine how difficult it must have been to mine here with mostly hammers and chisels. At least they had spectacular views of the valley below when they emerged from the mine!

We really liked the Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort where we stayed for the month of January. We had a spacious deluxe site with a concrete pad for the RV and room for the truck beside it. It was nicely landscaped for a park in this area and had a lot of activities within the park particularly for longer stays. In looking around the area, we definitely picked the nicest park but we did find another one on the other side of town that deserves an honorable mention – Cedar Cove RV Park. If we come here again that might be an option as well.

The town of Elephant Butte is adjacent to Truth or Consequences. I had seen T or C (as the locals call it) before and had assumed the name had roots back to the old frontier days. Well, it turns out that isn’t even close. Originally named Hot Springs due to the numerous springs that brought people there, the city changed its name in 1950 to “Truth or Consequences”, the title of a popular NBC radio program. Ralph Edwards the host of the show had said he would broadcast the 10’th anniversary show from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs won the honor. Edwards revisited the town each anniversary for the next 50 years.

In T or C we found several descent restaurants as well as a nice Walmart and hardware store to keep us supplied. It also had a nice old movie theater called El Cortez where we went to see The Mule. While not as comfortable as many modern theaters today, there is still something special about going to places like the ones we went to when growing up. Within the town there is the Geronimo Springs Museum which had a lot of information about the history of the area and we spent a couple of hours there. It was almost too much to take in. A special treat for us was a visit by an old Ford Tri-motor airplane to the area. For three days it could be seen flying over the city taking people on rides.

One day we took a day trip east from T or C to the town of Engle which was founded in 1879 as a station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Engle became a thriving cattle town and was a shipping point for ore and other materials from nearby towns including Chloride, Winston, and Cuchillo. The town has declined since it’s hayday and there really isn’t much there anymore. Spaceport America, New Mexico’s commercial spaceport venture was just a bit south of there so we decided to drive down and take a look. It was closed that day and you have to take a tour out of T or C to visit anyway so we didn’t get to see a lot but then there doesn’t seem to be a lot there yet. It seems like there is still a lot of debate across New Mexico whether or not the development of this facility was a good use of taxpayer money or not.

For those of us who like spicy food and Hatch peppers, any stay in the area would be incomplete without a visit to Hatch, New Mexico. Hatch is widely known as the “Chile Capital of the World,” for growing a wide variety of peppers, especially the New Mexican cuisine staple, and one of New Mexico’s state vegetables, the New Mexico chile. Of course January is not really the best time to go but we had fun exploring the eclectic town anyway. The Hatch Chili Festival around Labor Day would be an event to really get the flavor of the area – in more ways than one.

The Geronimo Scenic Byway goes through Elephant Butte as well as T or C and then goes west into the mountains both north and south of town. Along this route there are numerous spots with fantastic views of the valley below. There are several ghost towns along the way, mostly silver mining towns that died when the government moved to gold. Our favorite among these was Chloride on the northern part of the route. By now there wouldn’t have been much left if Donald Edmond and his wife hadn’t made a wrong turn 40 years ago and ended up there. They fell in love with the town and the people who still had all the stories from the town’s heyday. When Donald retired from IBM, they moved there permanently and began both documenting their stories (he has several books) as well as restoring parts of the town. They don’t get any funding for these efforts. All the money comes from them personally. Along the southern part of the route was historic Emory Pass with spectacular views from the vista overlook.

On the third Saturday in January we took a road trip west of Socorro to tour the Very Large Array National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Radio astronomy is the study of celestial objects that give off radio waves. The VLA consists of 28, 82-foot diameter dishes that can be moved into different configurations using dual railroad tracks and large transporters. About three times a year they move the antennas into a different configuration. Luckily for us, the antennas were in their closest in configuration while we were there. In the farthest configuration they can be up to 13 miles away. The VLA has appeared in several movies and is very cool to see in person. If you want to see a short movie with more details see Beyond the Visible.

We took one final road trip down to Las Cruces, NM which is about 80 miles south of Elephant Butte. Part of this trip was to go to a few stores that weren’t available in T or C including getting the oil changed in the truck. Las Cruces surprisingly had the nearest Ford dealership. While there, we did take time to go to Nopalito restaurant for some New Mexican food. This place was recommended by a co-worker of my sister and it turned out to be the best place we’ve eaten mexican food in New Mexico. We also took in some tourist attractions including a huge pepper in front of a hotel and a roadrunner made of recycled materials at a rest stop on I-10 just west of town. The roadrunner was cool, see what recycled goods you can find in the closeup picture below. Even better was the view of Las Cruces in the valley below with the Organ Mountains in the background. If you are in the area, pull in to the rest stop if for nothing more than the view.

We enjoyed our visit here exploring this “wild west” era of silver mining ghost towns, learning about Geronimo and other famous Apaches, driving through desolate mountain ranges, meeting so many interesting people, and of course eating lots of Mexican food with red and green chili sauces. Enjoy our pictures!

Update 2/2020: We decided to spend a couple of months here again in January and February 2020 as this area has mild weather and little rain that time of year. Although it can get down below freezing the highs are generally about 60F with lows about 32F.

Well 2020 was a bit different. Although we had plenty of good weather, it tended to be a bit cooler and more windy than 2019. One night we had thunderstorms with small hail followed by about 7″ of snow the next day. Locals told us it had been more than 20 years since they got that much snow and that hail was also scarce. A day or two later there were still large piles of snow in the Walmart parking lot much like we’d see in Colorado. The only good thing about it was that the roads were mostly clear by the next day.

Wetter weather in Colorado in the past year helped with the flow in the Rio Grande River allowing the area to be a bit greener and hopefully helping with rea wildlife this summer. Elephant Butte Lake was at 31% full as compared to 3% last year.

This time we stayed in what they call the lower garden area. These are cherished spots with open spaces and a good deal of room along with a common “garden” area between the sites making it easier to socialize with neighbors. Most of the people there have wintered in the park for several years and they all knew each other but they accepted us into the neighborhood and we had a lot of fun with campfires, bowling, fish frys, and exploring the trails on their ATV’s. More on that in another post. We had so much fun and enjoyed a couple of months of “down” time without travelling that we decided to reserve a spot for next December through January .

Update 2023: We spent two more months here in 2023 and went to a few new places as well as some older ones. We were sad to hear that the owner of Chloride has shut down the museum there. He had gotten to old to continue operating it and his family were not interested in keeping it going.

Rating: 1/2
Location:  Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort, Elephant Butte, NM
Site Quality:  Asphalt roads with gravel or concrete (premium sites) pads. There were mostly pull through spots although there were also back in spots around the edges of the park. We were in one of the premium back in spots.   
Type:  Commercial
Access:  From Interstate 25 via two lane roads to the east side of Elephant Butte.
Staff:  All staff we met were friendly and helpful.
Amenities:  Full hookups, dump station, indoor swimming pool, spa, exercise room, playground, several showers and restrooms each with laundry facilities. The shower/restroom facilities were great with private rooms and nice clean facilities.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 3-4 bars without amplification. Data rates were good on both Verizon and AT&T. WiFi was available but we did not use it.
Restaurants: Here are some of the places we ate at in and around the area:
* Big Foot – Overall good food but stay away from the Chinese selections.
* Taco Casa – Good “street” tacos hand made.
* Sierra Del Rio – Good food at the local golf course.
* La Cocina – Skip this one for mexican fare – it has gone down hill over the last year.
* Johnny B’s – Good American food near Walmart. Their Chili Cheeseburgers were good.
* Pacific Grill – Seafood, Chinese and American with a salad bar. We had the seafood and it was good.
* A&B Drive In – Good place for burgers.
* El Faro – Mexican food. We ate there in 2019 and think it was pretty good but we’ll have to go again and see.
* Tony’s Mexican Restaurant – Good mexican food on the west side of TorC – worth a visit.
* Hillsboro General Store – Great Green Chili Cheeseburgers at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, the place is for sale and may not be around next time
* Arrey Cafe in Arrey – Mexican food and Cheeseburgers. Steak on Friday nights. Many people rave about this place. We went there in 2019 and thought it was OK for mexican.
* Sparky’s in Hatch – Great Green Chili Cheeseburgers. Of course Hatch is the Chili capital of the world so you have to get some chili powder while in the area.
What we liked: Mail and packages can be received here. Large well maintained park. The deluxe sites were spacious and had some privacy. Lots of stores and restaurants nearby. Although mostly full, the park seemed to be a bit further north than many of the winter RVers like. We still got some snow here along with some freezing nighttime temperatures but the weather overall was pretty good. We would definitely consider coming back in the winter.
What we didn’t like: Anna would have preferred a site on the south side where the sunset’s were viewable from our RV. Could be hot in the summer as there was little shade.