The City of Elephant Butte is located immediately west of Elephant Butte Lake State Park, New Mexico's largest lake. The area is in the northern edge of the Chihuahuan desert offering high desert climates with warm days, cool nights and very low humidity levels. A wonderful area for year round outdoor activities including golf and fishing. In July 1998, the City of Elephant Butte became New Mexico's 101st incorporated community.
Elephant Butte Reservoir, created by a dam constructed in 1916 across the Rio Grande, is 40 miles long with more than 200 miles of shoreline. Although constructed to provide for irrigation and flood control, the lake is New Mexico’s premier water recreation facility. A wide variety of water sports are available at the lake, with fishing being one of the most popular. The mild climate of the area make this park a popular year-round destination. Over 100 million years ago, the area was part of a vast shallow ocean. Once the sea receded, the area was the favorite hunting ground of the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur. Evidence of the Rex, the largest land-dwelling predator of all time, and other species of dinosaur have been discovered in area rock formations.
