Ascarate Park Gives El Paso a County Lake

A 48-acre lake in the middle of the desert is the kind of thing that stops a newcomer in their tracks. Ascarate Park, El Paso County's largest public-use recreation park, is built around exactly that — more than 400 acres of parkland wrapped around open water, with a lakeside boardwalk where locals come to walk, picnic, and fish.

It's far more than one lake and one ball field. The park packs in a 50-meter Olympic-size aquatic center, playgrounds, picnic shelters, softball and soccer fields, tennis and basketball courts, the Healing Garden, and 27 holes of golf split between a main course and the shorter Delta 9.

For a family near the center of El Paso, that's a full day in one spot: a lake walk, a swim, a kids' game, a round of golf, or a county event. The lake's rules, the golf and aquatic-center hours, and any water-quality or boating notices shift through the year, so the county park page is the place to confirm them before you pack up and go.