Elephant Butte is a

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

that is now in the

Elephant Butte Reservoir Elephant Butte Reservoir is a reservoir on the southern part of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico, north of Truth or Consequences. The reservoir is the 84th largest man-made lake in the United States and the largest in New Mexico by ...

and within the

Elephant Butte Lake State Park Elephant Butte Lake State Park is a state park of New Mexico, United States, located north of Truth or Consequences along the shore of Elephant Butte Reservoir in Sierra County. Description The park is the largest state park in New Mexico and ...

Sierra County, New Mexico Sierra County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 11,576. Its county seat is Truth or Consequences. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of w ...

. It has an elevation of . It was named for its shape, which is said to look like an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

. Originally a tall

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

along the east bank of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, Elephant Butte became an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in Elephant Butte Reservoir upon the completion of the

Elephant Butte Dam Elephant Butte Dam or Elephant Butte Dike, originally Engle Dam, is a concrete gravity dam on the Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The dam impounds Elephant Butte Reservoir, which is used mainly for agriculture but also provides ...

. The recent lowering of the level of the reservoir has made it a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. A nearly-complete 3-million-year-old stegomastodon fossil was discovered at Elephant Butte by campers on June 9, 2014.New_Mexico_bachelor_party_finds_3-million-year-old_stegomastodon
_fossil,_Fox_News,_June_13,_2014.html" ;"title="stegomastodon">New Mexico bachelor party finds 3-million-year-old stegomastodon
fossil, Fox News, June 13, 2014">stegomastodon">New Mexico bachelor party finds 3-million-year-old stegomastodon
fossil, Fox News, June 13, 2014from foxnews.com, accessed December 27, 2016

References

External links

Mountains of New Mexico Landforms of Sierra County, New Mexico Mountains of Sierra County, New Mexico {{US-mountain-stub