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| Elephant Butte, Central New Mexico |
I've been sharing some of the sights my husband and I saw on
our New Mexico vacation at the beginning of April. We finished up with two
nights in Truth or Consequences, a town known for its hot springs. Now
generally called T or C, the town changed its name from Hot Springs in 1950, as
part of a publicity stunt for the Truth or Consequences TV show. Learn more
about the town and its history here.
There's not a ton to do in T or C, but the Geronimo Springs Museum is fun, so
plan to spend a couple of hours browsing through the quirky collections. They include
native pottery and tools, artifacts from the homesteading era, a life-size wax
statue of Geronimo and other items of Apache history, and information about the
TV show connection. My favorites are a gorgeous selection of minerals and a
mastodon skull. You can also step in to the Hardcastle Cabin, a 1930s or 40s
cabin from the Black Range Mountains, which was moved to the museum and
reassembled.
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| A Fire Water Lodge Property |
Although T or C is small, it has several good restaurants
and many spa services. We like to stay at the Fire Water Lodge, where each room has
its own tub fed by geothermal hot mineral water. Each room is different, and
I'm not going to tell you our favorite because we don't need competition, but
you can see the specifics for each room on their website. Fire Water is one of
the more funky/less expensive lodges. You can also find high-end luxury
lodging.
The Spaceport America Visitor Center is in town, with exhibits
and a shop. Tours to the Spaceport (35
miles southeast of T or C) leave from the Visitor Center at 9 am, Thursday
through Monday.
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| West Lakeshore Trail, southern end |
Near T or C is Elephant Butte, a longtime favorite for
boating and fishing, although the water level has been low for decades. You can
walk in the sand around the lake, sit on the beach, fly a kite, toss in a fishing
line, or enjoy water sports if you have the equipment. At the beginning of
April, the water temperature was 56°, too cool for swimming although that's an
option in summer. Bird watching and stargazing are also popular options. A day
use pass is only $5. The park has nine campgrounds. Here's an
online brochure for the Butte and surrounding towns.
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| Everyone yields to the rattlesnakes. |
Elephant Butte has three short hiking trails, plus the 10
mile West
Lakeshore Trail. It can be hiked in various sections. The trail is nice and
wide, mostly gravel but with some sand. It offers panoramic views of the lake
and surrounding mountains. Possible wildlife include deer, jackrabbits, and
lizards. Generally the trail runs some distance from the shoreline, but spurs lead
down to the water in several places.
Between the hot springs in T or C and the water sports at Elephant
Butte, there's something for everyone year-round in these central New Mexico
small towns.
Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance involving
outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure by following a series of complex clues. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small
New Mexico town. Whispers in the Dark
features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with strong
romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods.
