About Caballo Lake State Park
Caballo Lake State Park is located in the dramatic landscape of the northern Chihuahuan desert, it has become an oasis in an otherwise arid environment. Caballo Lake is named for the Caballo Mountains that border the lake to the northeast, east, and southeast, in which wild horses roamed; Caballo means "horse" in Spanish. Caballo Lake is a reservoir on the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico. Caballo Lake was built in the 1930s as part of the Depression-era New Deal Program. In 1964 Caballo Lake became a state park. The area surrounding Caballo Lake is rich in both natural and cultural history. Desert mountain ranges and millions of years of geologic history surround the lake, situated in the southern Rio Grande valley. The sedimentary layers of earth surrounding the lake hold tangible evidence of ancient life in the form of plant fossils and faunal remains. Evidence for people living in the area goes back thousands of years. Caballo Lake State park offers a visitor center, camping, allows horseback riding, showers, group shelters, electric hook ups, restrooms, dump stations, boating/boat ramps, fishing, playground, trails, and R.V. pull through sites. Caballo Lake State Park is open all year, with the exception of those areas which are seasonally closed, or those areas or facilities which are closed temporarily for maintenance or safety purposes. The office is generally open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Make a reservation on the New Mexico State Parks reservation website.
