Roving Reports by Doug P: 2018-9 City of Rocks and Elephant Butte st pk, New Mexico

2018-9

Leaving City of Rocks New Mexico

wide open spaces where the winds can really pick up

a favorite shot of the week

City of Rocks, New Mexico
Elephant Butte, New Mexico
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Campground: City of Rocks, see previous report for details

City of Rocks, at electric sites

Campground: Elephant Butte State Park, $4 for electric, site previous paid for by purchase of a yearly pass. Many sites available, some with and without reservations, dry camping in the desert landscape and along the lake front (park at your own risk)

Elephant Butte St Pk

I enjoyed the rest of the week at City of Rocks. It is approx 24+ miles to either Silver City or Deming NM. I usually like to be closer to a town, but the scenery in this area is so awesome, it’s a good fit for me. As a few of the pictures shown below will attest.

City of Rocks, remains of extinct volcano 30 million years ago

another favorite shot of the week

can you see the picnic table and chairs
this is one of the dry campsites

It’s interesting to check out small towns in the area. Hurley (pop. 1,200) is on the way to Silver City. Along with the gas station/restaurant along the main highway, the town itself has one restaurant, a bar, post office and some really wide streets. One store in the downtown block had an indoor Yard Sale, but it was closed when I was there. Most of the buildings being vacant. Back in the early 1800’s many streets were made wide enough that a horse and buggy could turn around on the street, requiring fairly wide streets.

small town of Hurley

if has a new roof, so it's not gone yet

Distance Traveled: 117 miles

every journey begins with the
first mile

Elephant Butte (population 1,341)

Truth or Consequence (population (6,023)

Truth or Consequences, formerly known as Warm Springs, until they changed their name do to a contest put on by the T of C show on tv years ago. Elephant Butte Lake is low and from what understand Texas made a sweet deal with New Mexico a number of years back that guarantees Texas the right to a certain amount of water each year, no matter if there is a drought or not. Forcing NM to release water from the dams/lakes along the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers. Sad to see the lakes lower and lower each year that I come by this area.

This is always a nice stop along the way, visiting a small town, with a number of commercial hot springs establishments. One favorite is right on the river called Riverbend Hot Springs. The local Walmart has covered parking for all the parking spots and the roof doubles as solar collectors for the store as well. Out here, the summer months can be brutally hot, so having shade for your vehicle is a plus.

the local Walmart with covered parking/solar panels above

I took a walk down by the lake from my campsite last night and watched across the lake as a truck was backing into the water to drop off his boat. Now don’t you know, he got stuck for a while after finally releasing the boat, but darn it if he didn’t get unstuck and got his truck back on dry land. Obviously had beefy tires and 4 wheel drive. But still, I don’t think I’d ever try something like that.

the truck was stuck for a while

camping is free along the lake shore

pictures from my walk along the lake shore

Camper note: Even though there are a ton of campsites, if you don’t want to make reservations, get here by noon, no later and you’ll be able to get a first-come-first-served sites with electric and water. Reservations cost extra even if you sign up for a reserved site in the park. They will let you stay one night only at a reserveable site without a reservation.

great camping aid

Camper note: I found these at the Dollar General, disc cones (10 pk) for $4. In their spring sports section. I use them all the time for backing into a campsite. You can also find them at Walmart, but I think they are in smaller bundles and cost more.

The lake water is still too cold this time of year for swimming, though of course I did see a few kids playing in the water, at least up to there knees….

Although there are a number of ghost towns in the area, of which I’ve gone to the better ones already, I’m just enjoying the weather and local area for a few days before heading to Las Lunas to pick up my new generator and mail before getting into the Albuquerque area.