A Day Out In Truth Or Consequences, NM

One of the most distinctly-named places in New Mexico is the city of Truth or Consequences. Formerly named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to Truth or Consequences on March 31, 1950 to win a competition to have a radio show (which was called Truth or Consequences) broadcast from their city on the show’s 10th anniversary.

Truth or Consequences was only 90 minutes from where we were staying in Deming, our final stop in New Mexico after two months in the state. Shae, Truffles and I therefore decided to take a day trip to Truth or Consequences to explore the area.

We arrived in Truth or Consequences (also known as T or C) at about 1:30pm, so we decided to find a park where we could eat our lunch. The city only has ~6,500 residents which means there weren’t many parks to choose from, so we headed to Ralph Edwards Park. This turned out to be a great spot to pick as there were a couple of picnic shelters next to a fishing pond with mountain views behind it. There was also a skate park if that’s your thing.

Seeing as the city’s name was once Hot Springs, it shouldn’t be too surprising to find out that the city does indeed have some hot springs. There are therefore several places there where you can take a dip in the naturally heated waters.

One of the most popular hot springs resorts is Riverbend Hot Springs which is only a short walk from Ralph Edwards Park. Shae had brought her swimsuit with her, so she headed over there to take advantage of their hot springs, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

Although it seemed to be open, there wasn’t any way for her to enter. She tried calling multiple times but there was no answer, so she had to give up on her relaxation dreams.

Truffles and I had waited at Ralph Edwards Park. Another reason why it had been the perfect place to have lunch was because there was also a dog park right next to the picnic shelters with three separate sections.

It turned out to be a good thing that Shae wasn’t away for long as Truffles was more interested in just hanging out in the shade than running around after her ball. That would change later on.

With Shae’s spa attempt being a bust, we hopped back in the car and headed over to Elephant Butte Lake State Park. This state park is located next to the 36,000 acre Elephant Butte reservoir.

You can drive on a not-too-sandy route down to the water, so we headed as far as we dared seeing as we have a 2004 Toyota Corolla rather than a four-wheel drive.

Elephant Butte Lake State Park was awesome. We ended up spending much of the rest of the afternoon there as it was so relaxing and peaceful. It’s the largest state park in New Mexico and has over 200 miles of shoreline around the reservoir. As a result, it felt like we had pretty much the entire place to ourselves; even though there were a few other families in the park, we were all spaced fairly far apart from each other.

I mentioned earlier that Truffles hadn’t been too interested in playing with her ball at the dog park, presumably due to the heat and lack of shade. Well, she had no such qualms about playing with her ball on the beach.

Dogs are supposed to be kept on a leash at Elephant Butte Lake State Park, so we attached a long rope to her harness so that she could run back and forth more freely while still being grabbable if needed.

Truffles isn’t generally a fan of the water, but her biggest issue at beaches tends to be the waves as she’s a small little thing. There were gently lapping waves at the reservoir along with a still pool of water, so she was happy paddling around and playing in there.

The weather that day was perfect. It was sunny and warm, but there was a strong breeze that helped ensure we stayed cool. It also had the fun effect of making Truffles’ ears blow around.

Sitting in our picnic chairs by the water, it almost felt like we were by the ocean rather than a reservoir in a land-locked state. It was an incredibly relaxing afternoon and just what we both needed.

It was eventually time to go, but we had one more stop to make in downtown Truth or Consequences. There’s a brewery called Truth or Consequences Brewing Co., so we stopped by in the hope of having a beer, but similar to Shae’s experience at Riverbend Hot Springs it wasn’t to be.

That’s not because it was closed, but for a couple of other reasons. The brewery didn’t seem like it was pet-friendly as there was no outdoor seating out front. Looking into it now, they apparently have a pet-friendly patio out back, so that was my bad for not asking. I’d gone inside anyway to look into getting some beers to take back to our hotel. I prefer dark beers and they brew several porters and stouts, but they’d sold out of all of those. I don’t mind IPAs, blondes, etc., but I wasn’t really feeling any of those and so I left empty-handed.

On our way to and from Truth or Consequences our route took us through the village of Hatch, home of the famous Hatch chile. It’s also home to Sparky’s Burgers which we’d heard were worth trying (they were a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist in 2020). Alas, their burgers weren’t meant to be either. Sparky’s is only open from 10:30am to 4pm Thursday to Sunday, so it was closed as we drove through because we were driving through on a Tuesday. We’d hoped to return another time while in Deming, but our other plans conflicted with getting food from there as Hatch was in the opposite direction of other places we visited, or we wouldn’t be able to get there before 4pm.

Despite the lack of hot springs, beer and burgers, our day out in Truth or Consequences wasn’t a bust. That’s thanks to us having a wonderful time at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. With a bit of better planning and luck, a future visit to Truth or Consequences could take in all the things we missed out on, so we’ll hopefully return one day.