Quail Run Campground

Love coming to this lake. I’m from New Mexico and it’s a favorite of most everyone’s. I’m actually staying for two weeks this time. Campground is up on a hill but you can see the lake, which has times of beach access for camping or day use. Come and enjoy beautiful New Mexico. White sands National park, Gila Cliff dwellings, Albuquerque are all within driving distance for Day excursions, or just relax at the lake, which is what I’m doing!

Stayed 12/3-12/10/21, Quail Run #38. Water & 50 Amp. Easy access dump station. Bought $225 non-resident camping pass as we will be in NM more than a month. It covers $10 campsite fee, we paid only the $4 electric fee + reservation fees.

W/E campsites were reservation only via Reserve America when we booked a week before.

WiFi available through a vendor. 30 min free each day, then pay. Didn’t use it as cell service was very good.

Quiet. Only about 1/10 of sites occupied. Coyote songs at night, quail cooing during the day. On road & sand trail biking. T or C Brewery worth a stop.

Post office staff in Elephant Butte great about General Delivery mail. They also said UPS would deliver to campsites! (We found that out too late:(

I was here for a week in early May. The whole place was easy to get around. I had good signal and there is decent WiFi. 30min a day was free then you had to get into one of the multiple a paid plans.

The roads around the campground are nice and smooth. On a road bike I would recommend biking down to the Dam and back. There is also a bike path that goes north through Elephant Butte. I also biked into town to the Truth or Consequences Brewery, about 7mi each way, there is a bit of a hill, 250' elevation, but doable. On my mountain bike I went to the beach roads and was able to wander around and see the rest of the lake and camp.

There is a short 1.5mi hiking trail just west of the campground that has markers for the local plants but the guides were all out when I was there. There is supposed to be a 12 mile Hiking/MTB trail that is just off the end of the bike path to the north of Elephant Butte but I lost it after a half a mile or so.

I asked the camp host where the beach was and she laughed a little and told me it was all beach. It is all beach along the lake. The beach road parallels about a quarter a mile before you get to the water, I parked my car by the side of the road and walked down, there were other people with vehicles and campers that had clearance and sand tires to get through the soft sand. Beware, I was one of the beach "roads" and it went from hard pack to soft sand then back again. I didn't get stuck but I felt the bottom of my car scraping.

One of the things you can also do is set up camp in the desert up in the park or down along the beach. Places where that is prohibited are clearly marked.

My only negative is that the mens bathroom next to Quail Run was a little smelly. One of the urinals wouldn't flush all the way from lime buildup so that stale smell would fill the place. The sinks also have short spouts so it was difficult to wash your hands or brush your teeth. Showers were decent. The rest of the campground was well maintained and very clean.

Most of the reviewing has been done already. It is confusing if you haven't been here and don't have reservations. But the Campground hosts will get you there with a map and then it is up to you to find a site that is available. It is not hard but there are a lot of loops. I loved site #26 since it was a back in with sand dunes in the back and made for an easy loop with the dogs. The lake was way down and has been for many years and there was no lake viewing from my site but I loved it anyways. You cannot help to love the NM State Park system. The bathrooms/showers were adequate considering what price I was paying. Hiked Turtleback Mountain trail.

State Park Campground Review – Elephant Butte Lake State Park, Quail Run Campground (Loop), NM

May 1, 2018 by Trout66

Quail Run is a well laid-out and equipped state park campground at bargain rates on Elephant Butte Reservoir near the town of Truth or Consequences (T or C), New Mexico.

Arrival = 5/5. We stayed two nights and paid $14 per night for partial hookups for our 33-foot motorhome. There was no separate park entrance fee since we were staying in the campground. Other reviews hinted at a confusing park layout but we had no problems. The State Park volunteers at the park’s main entrance clearly explained various camping options, amenities, and provided directions with a map. Based on the volunteer’s guidance we chose the Quail Run campground loop as opposed to the nearby sister loops at Desert Cove, Lions Beach and Ridge Road campgrounds. We had not made advanced reservations but Quail Run consists of all walk-up sites and offered 50 amp service. The other loops have reserved sites but vacant and unreserved sites were available as walk-ups for a single night.

Site quality = 4.5/5. Quail Run is a single loop layout with 26 sites split almost evenly between back-in and pull-through sites. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, had our choice of about eight sites, and chose a back-in site (#22) that fit our coach with a few feet to spare. The pads are asphalt with natural desert trees and shrubs between each site. We had to do a little maneuvering to ensure our door and two opposing slides fit between some of the branches, the power pedestal and a post. The trees and shrubs provide a nice natural feel and some separation between neighboring sites although they are fairly close together. The pad had a very slight slope. Hook-ups were 50/20 amp electric and water. Each site also had a nice picnic table, shelter and fire ring.

Facilities = 4/5. The Quail Run loop shared a shower/bathroom, a dump station, a trash dumpster and some recycle bins with the neighboring Desert Cove campground loop. The restroom facilities had running water and were older but relatively clean and serviceable. 4G AT&T and Verizon cell service was steady at two-to-three bars. Our campground loop also had okay WiFi which allowed basic email and document upload capability. Although I could see the antenna about 100 feet away we’d temporarily lose our connection – still, it’s a State Park with WiFi for $14/night! Our TV antenna booster pulled in several stations including three networks.

Area = 4/5. The large Elephant Butte reservoir has fishing, boating, with a large boat pier and several nearby commercial marinas. The park has easy hiking trails and bike-able roads. The town of Truth or Consequences features that unique New Mexico combination of artsy, kitschy, eclectic shops and local restaurants mixed with a run-down, dusty, western feel. T or C was originally called Hot Springs, New Mexico and the old downtown has several hot springs spas and private soaking tubs available. I’d also recommend the Geronimo Springs Museum and Latitude 33 (Asian Fusion Restaurant) to sample the local environs. Fuel, groceries, fast food, and RV supplies are readily available.

Overall rating = 4.4.

Summary: NM State Parks are a bargain! Nice desert setting with decent facilities near an eclectic town.

The reviews here on Campendium get a little confusing with all the campgrounds WITHIN the New Mexico State Parks. Sometimes I'm not sure they're all posted on the right campgrounds.

We stayed at Quail Run (at Elephant Butte State Park) for 13 nights. We have the NM annual camping pass, so we only paid $4/night for water and electric hookups. The electric went out at one point for a few hours (due to crazy winds, which are everywhere in NM in winter), but we just switched to our batteries and it all seems to have been fixed within hours.

Quail Run is located right next to Desert Cove and there is a dump station right between the two campgrounds. Desert Cove is reservation only (unless you want to just do 1 night and then you can stay in the unreserved spots for 1 night only). Quail Run is first-come-first-serve. We got there about 10-11am on a Sunday and there were probably 3-4 spots open. Everyone has to check out by 1-2pm, so there's a lot of mid-day movement if you want to find a spot. Like all the NM state parks, Quail Run has a 14-day limit and we saw the campground host a lot and he was keeping track of everybody on a clip board.

Each site in Quail Run has a ramada, table, and fire pit/grill thingie.

The cell service at our site was AH.MAY.ZING. 5 bars of high speed AT&T and Verizon. This is not the case all over Elephant Butte, so have your phone out checking as you're driving around. It literally changes from spot to spot.

Quail Run is nice 'cause it's as little tucked in from the wind but you can walk all over from there. Tons of paved road, marked walking trails, and beach is easily accessible. And QUAIL by the thousands. No lie. You're allowed to feed them, FYI. They are the fattest quail we've ever seen. LOL Lots of doves, road runners, sparrows, squirrel, etc., too, and we saw one coyote right behind our rig in broad daylight (also heard them at night) so watch any small pets.

We don't have a big travel trailer, so we fit fine in our spot and got down the campground road okay, but I think it's probably a tighter experience for big rigs. There are some pull through spots and some back in. The back in spots have more space and a nice desert "backyard" view. They also seem to be more level than the pull through spots, though pretty much everyone had levelers under one side of their rig throughout the campground.

You won't have a great water view from Quail Run, but you also won't get stuck in the sand like every other person seems to in the dry camping area. The rangers told us they spend all summer helping trucks and RVs get un-stuck.

There are dumpsters for garbage and they empty them regularly, but they're in a super annoying spot so you have to basically walk a whole loop of the campground to get to them if you're in the back-in spots.

Showers were decent - nothing new or fancy, but lots of hot water.

The main gate has a "take one-leave one" library, in case you need a book or need to make space in your RV.

It's definitely different from what I experienced at Villanueva and then Manzano Mountains SP. This is very open and as many have said, very confusing. Pavement often turns to dirt and makes you wonder if you should proceed. I don't trust getting my rig stuck and I heard that people camping at the beach often do, but I'm not sure even about the dirt roads. If there are no wide turn-around spots, who knows if you get a tire or two or six in trouble. I just stay on the pavement.

Anyway, I've learned that Lions Beach has 3 loops. Only one is first come first served and you can pick a spot and stay up to the 14 day maximum. If you choose to stay in loop A or C, you can only stay one night without a reservation. Loop B is the loop that is 1st come, 1st served but the sites seem so small and packed together. You have a decent view of the water at Lions Beach.

Through trial and error, I found Quail Run and picked my site. I wasn't thrilled cause like I said, I just came from the mountains and the pines. This is dry, dusty, scrubby brush with thorns the size of sewing needles. But the place grew on me. Poor views of the lake and certainly outside of walking distance to the water for someone in my condition, but it's nice to see the sun come up over the buttes and the lake.

The sites are spacious but don't appear to be at first. The usual covered picnic tables and fire rings as the other SP's all seem to have. The nice part about this park that sets it apart from the other two I mentioned is that there is water at each site (not only electric) and they have free wifi! Good cell service too.

They allow you to put seeds out for the quail and doves and in the latter part of the afternoon and all through the night, the bunnies come. Oh, do they come. Once in a while, you'll see a roadrunner pass through. I hear he likes hot dogs. Once I saw a deer up on the very top of the hill behind my site. Didn't know they had deer here. I'm sure they have coyotes, with all this free meat hopping around, so watch your dogs.

I'm coming back after my time away is up but I'm heading to another SP that will be new to me and who knows which of them I'll enjoy more. As it stands right now, I'll be coming back and staying another 2 weeks. We shall see. ;)

I'm going to try out South Monticello too. Sounds like another good area of 1st come, 1st served. Just an aside, Desert Cove loop is by reservation only, like Lion's Beach loop A and C. And as has been my experience with all the SP's so far (in this winter season), it's very quiet and everyone has been nice.

I never use the restrooms but hear they are fine. Push button showers, which turn me off. Oh. In addition to the dumpster, there are cans for aluminum and plastic. NO GLASS allowed in the park (didn't know that.)

And people, please pick up after your dogs when you walk them up on the hillside. (I call it a dune cause it's so sandy.) It's disgusting up there. Seems nobody is carrying a bag with them.

I keep thinking of other things. T or C isn't far but if you need a Walgreens, be aware that the closest one is all the way down in Las Cruces. If you need meds refilled, you might keep that in mind. It's an 80 mile trip one way. CVS stores are even fewer and farther between. Do your research.

I stayed one night on the beach, two nights in Quail Run Campground proper. Primitive (beach) camping is $8 a night, camping in Quail Run was $14 a night for electric and water. Be wary of the beach camping unless you're ready to dig yourself out. The sand is loose. We didn't get stuck (in our tiny, AWD rig), but saw plenty others who did.

Quail Run is a popular campground (all the State Park campgrounds at Elephant Butte SP are) and we were lucky to get a spot from departing RVers. Arrive early in the morning to grab a spot if you don't have reservations.

There's a long list of good things. Bathrooms are clean, showers are warm, access is easy, neighbors are quiet, electric and water for $14/night is a steal, walking distance to the beach, friendly camp host, free wifi, Verizon service was fantastic.

There's a short list of bellyaches. The park is large and figuring out which campground may have availability is challenging after the visitor center closes. The sites, though well paved, are slopey (we had a hard time leveling our tiny, 16 foot rig). I didn't reserve in advance, but heard from others that the reservation fee is exorbitant.

This is a great, well run park. Highly recommend.

We came here and we're planning on staying a night or two. We talked with the ranger at the enterance and she was super helpful. They charge $8 of dispersed camping. We camped right on the waters edge the first night. The second night we stayed a ways way from the beach, closer to the developed campground to get out of the wind from the storm coming through. We had access to restrooms, showers and one of the showers was heated! The only downside was there was nowhere for us to fill up our fresh water tank. We also had excellent connectivity for Verizon and t mobile.