Pontoon in New Mexico

Nobody comes to New Mexico expecting a boating state, which is exactly why the reservoirs here land so hard. The state is landlocked, yes, and studded with big man-made lakes set into mountain and high-desert country. Elephant Butte Lake sprawls across the south; Navajo Lake sits cooler and pine-fringed in the north. Between them the water supports powerboating, sailing, fishing, and houseboating, all against the strange, beautiful contrast of deep blue water and arid canyon walls.

Marinas are fewer than you'd find on any coast, but the ones on the big impoundments (Conchas Lake, Ute Lake, and the rest), carry real weight. They handle fuel, pump-outs, launches, and slip rentals for seasonal and transient boaters, and most rent boats too: pontoons, fishing skiffs, houseboats. You don't need to trailer anything across the desert to get on the water here.