Lakes in Texas?

[aredub]

Hi- Anybody have any feedback or recommendations on the lakes around San Antonio/Austin? My job MAY require me to relo from so cal to the lone star state (more specifically southern part of San Antonio), but from my initial research, I'm thinking between Austin and San Antonio without creating too much of a commute. My family and I love to ski, wakeboard, etc. Any info would be much appreciated.

[Lucky 275]

texas ski ranch in New Braunfels

http://www.texasskiranch.com/mainpage/main.html

Lake Travis and Lake Austin are nice. not sure about SA

[dogbert]

Re: texas ski ranch in New Braunfels

Originally posted by Lucky 275
http://www.texasskiranch.com/mainpage/main.html

Lake Travis and Lake Austin are nice. not sure about SA

Texas Ski Ranch is not a place you can take your boat (it's a man made lake just for waterskiing and wakeboarding events).

The closest lakes to southern San Antonio will be

Calaveras Lake, Braunig Lake and Canyon Lake. If you're on the southern side of San Antonio, anything in Austin will be a haul (traffic on I-35 is bad, Hwy 281 is hilly and mostly single lane).

I've not been to these lakes since I live in Austin.

[mtnsmith]

Lake Medina on the north west side of town can be nice as well.

[Escondido]

SA Lakes

If you are going to be on the South Side of SA you can head out I-10E towards Seguin and pick up the Guadalupe river and Lake McQueeny is just a little North of there. I have not been on there personally but I hear good things from others. If you end up looking at property along the Guadalupe, keep in mind that in the last 8 years we have had 2, 100 year floods and will likely happen again, if it ever rains again. So ask questions about the prior high water marks when looking.

I stay on Lake LBJ about 1.5 hrs North of San Antonio. Way too far for a daily commute. The plus for that lake is it is constant level. Definitely a luxury this year.

Lake Travis is also a pretty lake but also too far to commute to South SA.

[Ruune]

I keep my boat out at Medina, and haul it up to Austin every once in a while. As far as lakes in the SA area, you're looking at Medina or Canyon.

For more info, check us out at www.texaswakeboarders.com!!!

An item of note though- ALL of the lakes are seriously low right now. However, medina will be the least crowded.

hope to see you soon!!

[raythompson]

Re: SA Lakes

Originally posted by Escondido
If you are going to be on the South Side of SA you can head out I-10E towards Seguin and pick up the Guadalupe river and Lake McQueeny is just a little North of there.

Lake McQueeny is very shallow in spots and is a very small lake. Everyone has to travel the same route through the same channels. Not a good lake in my opinion.

The Quadalupe River is OK as long as you do not go very far north of the I-10 bridge. The river gets narrow and there are a couple of prop eating low water damns with which I became acquainted.

When using the river you have to travel like driving, stay to the right to avoid other boats. The water can get very rough when there is a lot of traffic. The river is narrow so turns require a sharp turn to head the other direction. There are a lot of shore line walls which reflect the wake.

During the week the water is very good as there are few boats. So the Guadalupe can be used, just with some reservations.

Canyon Lake is large and deep, except on the northwest end where there are some tree stumps to add to your enjoyment. The biggest problem with Canyon Lake is that a small breeze will result is some rough water. You can find sheltered areas that are OK.

You also have to watch for sail boats as there are a lot on Canyon. Most do not know the rules of the road, think they own the lake, really despise power boats, and they let it be known.

Best lake I found was Inks Lake but it is some distance from San Antonio, especially from South San Antonio.

I no longer live there and find the lakes of East Tennessee to be superior to anything found in the San Antonio area.

[Ruune]

The guadalupe river is way, way too narrow and shallow for anything outside of a canoe.


Mcqueeny is north of town, in New Braunfels- Its right off I-35 not sure what you're talking about there.

Youre right about the stumps on Canyon. I also dont like that there is no privately owned property on the lake.

Never been to inks lake- I'll have to check it out.

The best place to ride around SA is indeed medina- The water is clean, its got plenty of coves, plus a 5 mile long cliffline that makes a great windbreak.

Also, if you move to SA, I'd suggest you dont live on the south side.

[Lucky 275]

How far is Amistad from SA? I've heard that's a good weekend trip.

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Ruune
Also, if you move to SA, I'd suggest you dont live on the south side.

That's where the Toyota plant went in. It was supposed to create about 20,000 jobs.

Inks lake is nice, but it's really small and there are tree stumps galore in one area of the lake. If you do go all the way to Inks, Lake Buchanan is only about a mile further and it's huge. Lots of areas that are protected from the wind. If it is windy, it does get rough like Canyon. The best part is there are practically no boats on that lake. There's a nice RV park that just went in near the dam called Big Chief, but I think the boat ramp there is now out of the water. Once the drought is over things should get back to normal.

Send rain!

[aredub]

Thanks for your replies, they have been very helpful. Dogbert, you hit the nail on the head (I’ll leave it at that). Optimally I would love to find a place on a lake but, in my limited search, I’m only finding properties on Canyon Lake. If that’s where it’s at, cool. However, I do not want to limit myself if there are nicer/better places to be (family wise).

[dogbert]

Glad to help. With the Lake down I pulled my boat into Austin and so we've been riding on Lake Austin. There's something to be said for being on the lake within 30 minutes of getting home from work. I may do this more often next year. Even if the lakes that are close are smaller, during the week it's not so bad and there's plenty of daylight between May & Sept.

[raythompson]

Originally posted by Ruune
The guadalupe river is way, way too narrow and shallow for anything outside of a canoe.

Nah, not from what I remember. South of I-10 (the ramp is between the east and west lanes) you can go south for some distance and the water is deep enough to ski. I use to do it a lot. There are also several boats on the river. North of I-10 is the problem.

[raythompson]

Originally posted by Ruune
[B]Mcqueeny is north of town, in New Braunfels- Its right off I-35 not sure what you're talking about there.

The McQueeney that I am talking about is between New Braunfels and Sequin. It is located north-east of San Antonio, just north of I-10. It is not much of a lake, has a couple of islands. Not a good lake for boating.