Photo: AllenS · Public domainMore than half of Elephant Butte’s land is conserved: 70%
70% of Elephant Butte’s land is conserved, about 1,849 acres. 16 miles of mapped trail cross Elephant Butte, 3.7 per square mile of land. 67% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Elephant Butte?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Elephant Butte have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elephant Butte is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
1,849 conserved acres
70% of Elephant Butte’s land. Who manages Elephant Butte’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armendaris Ranch Private Conservation | Private owners | 1,791 | Closed |
| Las Cruces District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 58 | Open |
1 places to go in Elephant Butte
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
April is the best month for walking in Elephant Butte
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 63 | 70 | 78 | 87 | 96 | 96 | 93 | 87 | 78 | 66 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
April is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 1.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elephant Butte →
Elephant Butte and its neighbors
Elephant Butte has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant Butte | 70% | 3.7 | under 1 | 67% | B+ |
| Truth or Consequences | 30% | 1.7 | 15 | 67% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elephant Butte
How much of Elephant Butte is conserved land?
70% of its land, against a typical 4% for a New Mexico town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Is there public land near Elephant Butte?
143,080 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elephant Butte or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 59 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Elephant Butte have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Elephant Butte neighbors.
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →