Lakes in New Mexico (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: camping, live, moving to)
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First thing to keep in mind is that New Mexico is a desert. There isn't very much water at all here. So if you are from a place that has an abundance of water typed features, you will be very nostalgic for Water. Do not let that deter you, New Mexico is a gorgeous state and has tons of other features.
Now that said, there are not any lakes in the Albuquerque area, but there are quite a few lakes you can go to that aren't toooo far. The biggest lake in the state is Elephant Butte Resevoir. It is about 2 1/2hours south. This is were I would recommend to go. There are a few smaller lakes in Northern New Mexico that are just gorgous. If you are intersted, the state also has a large amount of hot springs. A few trips to Mountain Hot Springs would be very enjoyable. Hopefully someone with a little more experience will give you imput.
I like water--grew up in MI. Moved to PA when I was twelve and missed the lakes. So in 1995 when I was considering moving to New Mexico, I looked at a map and saw that there was a river in Santa Fe. I thought, if I miss water, I can go sit by the river.
I did enjoy the Santa Fe river in the spring one year when there had been a lot of snow in the mountains and there was water in it. It is not a river, more of an arroyo (although I learned it use to be a swampy area but growth has changed it.)
The interesting thing is that most of the men I knew in NM owned boats. When I missed water, I would go to sailing on Heron (north) or motorboating on Abiquiu. One friend takes the boat he built to Elephant Butte and another drives to the big lake on the border of AZ/UT - the name is escaping me this early. NM is a state where people don't think much of driving far for something they want to do. (I'd also hike in the Pecos area when I was missing green.) It is a beautiful state - I'm hoping to move back.
*Lake Cochiti (30min north of Albuquerque)
*Lake Conchas (2hr east of Albuquerque)
*Santa Rosa's many Lakes
*Fenton Lake
*Bluewater Lake
*Abiquiu Lake
I recommend you head to Santa Rosa first for swimmable, divable lakes. Albuquerque's only water park got dismantled a year ago and is supposedly being reconstructed there.
Re: Albuquerque's indoor water park, they have their signs out like they're still working on it, but they certainly aren't going to make their late summer 2007 deadline, and I doubt late summer 2008 or earlier.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of lakes in New Mexico are reservoirs made by damming rivers, not natural lakes. As a result they tend to be cold and silty. They are mainly used for boating/fishing.
I'll second the recommendation to go to Santa Rosa for swimming. These "lakes" are actually sinkholes some of which have flooded their basins and look like quite nice ponds for swimming.
Finally, there are some tarns in the high peaks of Northern New Mexico. These are very shallow and are delicate ecosystems. No swimming (or even camping within their basins). They are beautiful though.
-----< this probably deserves a separate thread >-----
surfing from the second site, I found this cool site: New Mexico Photos
There seems to be at least one picture of every small town in New Mexico.
For most people browsing in from some other place, they would say "why bother?" but for most of the people on this board, you could waste a lot of time looking at these pictures.
The church in San Ysidro is featured! These people are good.
jskarpe asked me in another thread about lakes within a short driving distance from Clovis. Since Mortimer says that I am statistically in the top ten for starting threads on this forum, I thought I'd live up to my rep and start this one.
Camping season is here and we're probably all looking for great lakes where we can spend some time camping, swimming, fishing, and hiking. What are the best lakes near your home?
Me! Me! I'll go first!
Ute Lake: 2 hours. Camping, swimming, fishing. The sky was incredible at night, so were the coyote songs.
Oasis State Park: About 20 minutes away in Portales. No lake, but there is a 3 acre fishing pond. Right now they are having trouble with the liner and it is empty. Nice prairie camping there, though.
The city of Clovis has a couple of small lakes just for fishing, too.
~clairz
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Nice lakes near where you live
