Elephant Butte (Sierra County, New Mexico)
Elephant Butte is a summit now located in the Elephant Butte Reservoir and within the Elephant Butte Lake State Park in Sierra County, New Mexico. It has an elevation of. It was named for its shape, 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 completion of the Elephant Butte Dam. 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.
