Canyon Lake, Texas

Everything Canyon Lake is known for

4 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

Music in Canyon Lake

Songs About Canyon Lake

Having Fun All Wrong
Roger Creager
55%
"And now I'm here Canyon Lake alone"
Keep Texas Beautiful
Jerry Jeff Walker
39%
"He's standing by the live oak tree, in our yard on Canyon Lake"
texas is my home (shinter bock remix)
rich o'toole
29%
Fun All Wrong
Roger Creager
10%
"And now I'm here Canyon Lake alone"

Artists From Canyon Lake

K
Kayla Jane
country Pop: 4

Rivers & Roads in Song near Canyon Lake

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Canyon Lake.

Guadalupe River 9 songs Interstate 35 27 songs Interstate 10 23 songs US Route 90 6 songs Chisholm Trail 4 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs

History of Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake, TX RoadyGoat

Canyon Lake sits nestled in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, a landscape carved over millennia by the relentless flow of the Guadalupe River. This isn't flatland Texas; here, the earth rises and falls in a series of rugged hills, blanketed in hardy Ashe juniper. The air, crisp and clean at nearly 1,000 feet, carries the scent of cedar and damp earth, a constant reminder of the natural forces at play. The lake itself, born in 1964 with the completion of the dam, is more than just a body of water — it's a testament to human ingenuity adapting to this demanding terrain. FM 306 winds across the lake, offering glimpses of the deep canyons that give the area its name. Jacobs Creek Park provides a stunning panorama from its bluff, the vast expanse of water reflecting the ever-changing Texas sky. Down below, divers explore the remnants of a submerged town, a ghostly reminder of what was sacrificed to create this reservoir. Even a school bus lies on the lakebed, a silent monument to a community that now exists only in memory. The people who call Canyon Lake home have always been drawn to the outdoors — the lake offers a tranquil escape, a chance to connect with the wild beauty that defines this unique corner of Texas.

Canyon Lake, TX RoadyGoat

Canyon Lake wasn't always a lake, of course. Before 1964, the Guadalupe River snaked through a rugged canyon landscape, dotted with the hardy Ashe juniper trees that still thrive around here. People lived along that river, their lives tied to the land. Then came the dam, a project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, forever changing the topography and the lives of those who called that valley home. Entire communities were relocated, their homes and businesses submerged to create the reservoir we know today. It’s strange to think that beneath the tranquil waters, under the FM 306 bridge that offers such scenic Hill Country views, lies a ghost town. Divers still explore the remnants of that submerged world – buildings, foundations, even an old school bus, silent reminders of what was sacrificed for progress. The lake, sitting high at 948 feet, provides recreation and a certain peacefulness. Jacobs Creek Park, with its bluff overlooking the water, offers a place to reflect on the past. While the area is now known for its lakeside living, it’s important to remember that Canyon Lake's history is more than just the story of a pretty view. It's also the story of a community reshaped, a valley transformed, and a past that still echoes beneath the surface.

Canyon Lake, TX RoadyGoat

Canyon Lake holds a certain quiet charm, a Hill Country tranquility that belies the energy that bubbles beneath the surface. You might be forgiven for thinking it’s just another pretty reservoir, formed by the Guadalupe and dotted with Ashe juniper. But listen closely to the country radio, and you’ll hear a connection to something more. FM 306 provides a stunning view, and Jacobs Creek Park offers a scenic bluff.

German Pioneers in Texas

1844

In this area, now covered by Canyon Lake, German emigrants were the first settlers. A society of nobles (Mainzer Adelsverein) sponsored the emigration of 7,380 Germans to Texas from 1844 to 1847. They founded New Braunfels in 1845. Moving west, they established Fredericksburg in 1846. Their Comanche Indian treaty opened 3,800,000 acres between the Llano and Colorado rivers to peaceful settlement. Farmers and artisans, scholars and scientists, they triumphed over epidemic and privation to help build Texas and the West. (1968)

Historical Marker →

Startzville Community

1850

The area of Startzville was established at the intersection of Cranes Mill Road and Sattler Road. In 1940 Bruno and Viola Elbel built a cedar yard and store. Curt and Alice Schlameus Startz leased the building in 1944, operated the store and eventually bought the property in 1946. Curt Startz was the grandson of Heinrich and Louise Artzt Startz that settled in the area in the 1850s. The name Startzville was first used in 1950 by artist Dr. E. J. Duffin who completed a painting of the store front. Selling ice was a significant business before, during and after the building of Canyon Dam and Lake. In 1963, James and Lorine Pantermuehl Startz added a café that is still in operation today. (2012)

Historical Marker → · 3.7 mi away

Sattler

1850

German immigrants were the first to colonize permanently this area along the Guadalupe River in the 1850s. The dispersed rural community was known at times as Marienthal, Walhalla and Mountain Valley, with the name Sattler assigned when the post office, first opened in 1856 at the Wilhelm Sattler home, was more centrally located in 1880. The Weil-Nowotny-Guenther store, with its complex of buildings-post office, dance hall, cotton gin and bowling alley-served as a gathering place for farm and ranch families who lived in the area. Construction of Canyon Dam in the 1960s hastened the dispersal of the German community, but the heritage of Sattler remains significant in the History of Comal County. 						(2002)	

Historical Marker → · 4.6 mi away

Gruene, TX

1878

Gruene was originally three miles north of New Braunfels at a crossing on the Guadalupe River in Comal County. In recent decades it has been brought within the city limits of New Braunfels. The community was once a prosperous commercial and supply center for blackland cotton farmers of eastern Comal County. German farmers settled the area in the 1850s, and the town took shape in subsequent years under the name Goodwin Community. In 1872 the Gruene family purchased 6,000 acres north of the Guadalupe River, and in 1878 Henry D. Gruene built a mercantile store to serve the several dozen families sharecropping his family's land. The profitable river-crossing store was also on the stage route between Austin and San Antonio. Gruene provided land for Thorn Hill School and soon added a cotton gin and dance hall to his business concerns. With completion of the International-Great Northern Railroad through Comal County in the 1880s, the community's commercial development accelerated, and it took the name of its leading citizen. In 1900 Gruene was the banking, ginning, and shipping center for area cotton growers. Its dance hall and saloon became the focus of social activities. By the early 1900s the town was served by the Goodwin post office and by passenger and freight depots for both the International-Great Northern and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroads. Gruene began a decline with the boll weevil blight of the 1920s. It is reported that late in that decade the Gruene family's 8,000-acre holdings failed to produce a single bale of cotton. The mercantile store and rail depots were closed with the onset of the Great Depression . As post- World War II highway construction bypassed the community, its decline was completed. An estimated population of seventy-five in the 1930s had dispersed by 1950, leaving the once thriving community a ghost town. Gruene began a revival in the 1970s with restoration of the nineteenth-century settlement as a center for arts, crafts, and tourism. Within a few years the Gruene Dance Hall-touted as the oldest operating in the state-once again attracted weekend crowds. A live theater company, craft and antique shops, restaurants, a hotel, and a winery occupied historic structures and served tourists attracted by the scenic Guadalupe River. The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places. Since redevelopment the resident population is estimated at twenty.

Tsha Handbook → · 5.3 mi away

Natural Bridge Caverns

1960

Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest known cavern in Texas, was discovered on March 27, 1960, by four spelunkers who were students at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. The cavern is located off Farm Road 1863 in the hill country of Comal County midway between New Braunfels and San Antonio (at 29°41' N, 98°21' W). The name was derived from the sixty-foot natural limestone slab bridge that spanned the amphitheater setting of the cavern's entrance. Commercial development of the cavern began on March 25, 1962, and it was opened to the public on July 3, 1964. During excavation of the entrance trail, arrowheads and spearheads dating from 5,000 B.C. were found; just inside the entrance were discovered jawbones of a species of grizzly bear that became extinct over 8,000 years ago. The cavern is almost 100 percent active and still growing, and the temperature is seventy degrees year-round. Because of constant drips and flowing water, the formations retain a luster that can be seen in few caverns. Under these growth conditions the formations appear to be made of wax, yet are as hard as limestone. The types of formation change from room to room. The largest room, named the Hall of the Mountain Kings, is 350 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 100 feet high. Among numerous formations found here the most distinct is a type called "fried eggs" (because that is what they look like), a rare cave formation. The developed portion of the cave, furnished with a half mile of paved trails and illuminated by 35,000 watts of indirect lighting, extends to as much as 260 feet below ground level. Some portions of the cave are still under exploration. Natural Bridge Caverns became a registered United States natural landmark in 1971.

Tsha Handbook → · 5.3 mi away

Riley's Tavern

1933

Located at 8894 FM 1102 in Hunter, Texas, the nightclub Riley’s Tavern is in a structure built in the mid-1800s that at one time housed the Galloway Saloon. Situated near a railroad stop on the Missouri-Pacific line approximately halfway between San Antonio and Austin, it quickly became a convenient and popular watering hole for local cattle ranchers and cotton farmers as well as for train passengers and crews. On September 19, 1933, a local seventeen-year-old resident named James Curtis Riley opened Riley’s Tavern. In the wake of Prohibition , this became the first establishment in Texas to obtain a drinking license. Its strategic location on Highway No. 2 (the Austin-San Antonio Post Road) and just inside the Comal County line catered to travelers and thirsty residents in the region, as neighboring Hays County was a dry county. Riley welcomed a diverse range of customers of different races and ethnicities. J. C. Riley owned and managed the tavern until 1991 when he became too ill to run the business and sold it to Rick Wilson, who added a beer garden and began offering live music seven nights a week. In 1992 Riley died and was buried two miles from the tavern. By 2005 owner Joel Hofmann continued to offer live music throughout the week, and Riley’s Tavern remained a very popular gathering place for locals and tourists alike. In 2008 Riley’s celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary and remained the longest-running establishment to continually maintain a beer license.

Tsha Handbook → · 5.3 mi away

Things to Do in Canyon Lake

historical 11.8 mi away
Gruene Hall

Gruene Hall opened in 1878 and has never closed its doors making it the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. The wooden floor is scuffed smooth…
historical 5.9 mi away
Devil's Backbone Tavern

Perched on the haunted limestone ridge that gives the road its name, Devil's Backbone Tavern is one of the great Texas Hill Country dive bars. The first stone…
quirky 12.1 mi away
Jacob's Well

An artesian spring flows up through a vertical cave in Wimberley so clear and so deep that from the surface you can see straight down a hundred feet into the…
historical 12.9 mi away
The Oldest Dance Hall in Texas

Gruene Hall was built in 1878 by a German cotton farmer named Henry D. Gruene and it has never stopped hosting dances. That makes it the oldest continuously…
historical 12.9 mi away
Gruene Hall

Texas' oldest dance hall (1878). Still hosts live music every night.
quirky 13.0 mi away
The Kayaker Who Saved a Ghost Town

In 1974 developers had plans to bulldoze what was left of Gruene and build suburban homes. Then a University of Texas architecture student named Chip Kaufman…
historical 13.1 mi away
Where George Strait Got His Start

Before George Strait was the King of Country he was a young singer playing regular gigs at Gruene Hall in the 1970s and 80s. The tiny dance hall with no air…
nature 13.3 mi away
Comal Springs

Comal Springs in New Braunfels is the largest spring system in Texas -- more than two hundred and fifty individual vents pouring out three hundred million…

Everything Near Canyon Lake

289 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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