Elephant Butte
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Elephant Butte rises to 1,414 m in New Mexico. Timber Mountain stands 2,291 m to the south-southwest, 14 miles off. The nearest named place is Elephant Butte Dam Historical Marker, a park 0.4 miles away. Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway passes 0.4 miles off. 73 named places lie within 25 miles, 40 of them named summits.
The story
Elephant Butte is a summit that is now in the Elephant Butte Reservoir and within the Elephant Butte Lake State Park in Sierra County, New Mexico. It has an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m). It was named for its shape, which is said to look like an elephant. Originally a tall butte along the east bank of the Rio Grande, Elephant Butte became an island in Elephant Butte Reservoir upon the completion of the Elephant Butte Dam. The recent lowering of the level of the reservoir has made it a peninsula. A nearly-complete 3-million-year-old stegomastodon fossil was discovered at Elephant Butte by campers on June 9, 2014.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q28457863, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1414 m
How to reach it
- 0.4 mi off the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway, National
- 3.2 mi off the El Camino Real, National
- 15.8 mi off the Lake Valley Back Country Byway
73 named places within 25 miles
- Water Tank Hill: 0.5 mi
- Turtle Mountain: 4.5 mi
- Caballo Cone: 4.6 mi
- Kettle Top Butte: 5.7 mi
- Mud Mountain: 7.2 mi
- Elephant Butte Dam Historical Marker: 0.4 mi
- Ralph Edwards Park: 4.2 mi
- Triangle Park: 4.3 mi
- Geronimos Spring Historical Marker: 4.4 mi
- T or C Art Park: 4.4 mi
- Spaceport America Visitor's Center: 4.5 mi
- Long Point: 5.5 mi
- Palomas Gap: 7.8 mi
- Unknown Arch: 9.1 mi
- Alamosa Ranch House and Blacksmith Shop Historic Site: 9.7 mi
- Zapata: 10.0 mi
- San Ygnacio de la Alamosa: 10.0 mi
- Alamocita: 10.0 mi
- Aleman: 15.4 mi
- Carrie TIngley Historic Marker: 5.2 mi
- Veterans' Memorial: 5.3 mi
- Caballo Mountains Historic Marker: 15.9 mi
- Geronimo Springs Museum: 4.4 mi
- Hamilton Military Museum: 5.2 mi
- Red Cliff: 8.7 mi
- White Cliffs: 12.4 mi
- Libby Spring: 24.5 mi
- Aragon Spring: 24.9 mi
- 4th Street Garden: 4.3 mi
- River bend Hot Springs: 4.3 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Elephant Butte. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timber Mountain | SSW 191° | 2,291 m | 13.6 mi |
| Brushy Mountain | S 189° | 2,240 m | 15.7 mi |
| Thumb Tank Peak | WNW 282° | 2,089 m | 23.5 mi |
| Twin Peaks | WNW 288° | 2,075 m | 24.2 mi |
| Aragon Hill | NNW 332° | 2,015 m | 24.7 mi |
| Peñasco Peak | NNW 340° | 2,005 m | 22.2 mi |
| Panther Peak | W 270° | 1,993 m | 19.5 mi |
| Roque Ramos Peak | NW 310° | 1,977 m | 23.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:13 | 18:48 | 19:21 |
| June solstice | 06:01 | 19:45 | 20:22 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:34 | 19:07 |
| December solstice | 07:09 | 16:28 | 17:06 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Mar–May, Sep–Nov.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 43 | 48 | 55 | 63 | 72 | 82 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 64 | 52 | 43 |
| Precip in | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Elephant Butte DAM, under a mile away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 888837 — Elephant Butte, Sierra County, New Mexico.
OpenStreetMap element node/357573240
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