Episode 5 - Canyon Lake

Deep in the Texas Hill Country is a secret oasis, Canyon Lake.  Unlike any other lake in Texas, Pam and Lorilee visit with Missy Frederickson to give you all the scoop.  After this episode, you'll be planning your next lake trip to see it for yourself. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Hello again. We're back. Texas Lake Syndicate. That's right. I'm Laurie. I'm Missy Frederickson. And I'm Pam de Blasio. You already know some of us. We brought our best friend Missy, and she is going to talk to us about Canyon Lake.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Yes, Canyon Lake is um a medium-sized lake in the central part of Texas. It has about 8,240 square feet of um acreage and 80 miles perimeter. No kidding. 80? 80 mile perimeter. It's considered a medium-sized lake, but it is um maybe the deepest, or at least one of the deepest in the state of Texas. It goes up to 130 feet.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Oh wow, gosh.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Yeah. I had no idea because with Possum Kingdom, we were just talking about was 90 and I was blown away. Yeah, very deep lake. And it's fed by the Guadalupe River, so the water is um really cl crystal clear, blue, green, kind of Caribbean looking. It's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

You don't have the chocolate milk water.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

And that that's because we have a limestone bottom. Right. Yeah, you've got a rocky bottom. Rocky bottom.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Yeah. So you don't get the ushy gooshy between your toes. No. But you really don't want to walk out on that rock either. No, there's not. Well, tell us about um like to live out there at Canyon Lake. What are some like bottom prices, some high prices that you might look at if you were gonna move there and buy a house?

SPEAKER_03 1:57

We have homes from um around, you know, the nicer homes, 300,000 to up to two 2.53 million. Oh wow, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Can you be in the water for 300,000?

SPEAKER_03 2:12

No. Oh no, not waterfront. Lake adjacent. Yes, lake adjacent for that amount. Uh and we have properties that have acreage with them that are waterfront. That may be eight to ten million.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Right. Yeah, I would think that would be a big part of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Very good. And then um, I know that Canyon Lake has has has a lot of things nearby. Talk to us about why that whole area is just so awesome to be in. I love being down in that area.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

It it really is. We have New Bromfels really close by. New Bromfels is such a cool little town, little German heritage. That's right. It has um activities all the time that are um small town um activities, like you know, little get-togethers and parades and festivals and that kind of thing. Then you have Green, which is you know the historical side of New Bromfels. The dance hall, Green Dance, uh it's the oldest operating dance hall in Texas, and the grass mill, and the antique. I was gonna say the food, they've got great restaurants. Yeah, they do, and then we're also close to Wimberley. Uh Wimberley is a cool little town in itself, close to Fredericksburg, um, and you know, close to San Marcos as well. So if you want to do high-end shopping, you can go to the outlet mall at San Marcus, or if you want to just do the kind of, you know, get in there and find the unique items, you can do that in Wimberley or Green, or you know, in Red City.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Right. And then, of course, there's the tubing down there that is so Oh yeah, on the river.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

The tubing on the river, that's correct. But that's changed a lot over the last few years, hasn't it? The tubing? Yeah. As far as you know, what they allow, they're policing it a little better. The Guadalupe does not police it like.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

It's the uh it's the comal that runs through the town that has got a lot of restrictions. Gotcha. Uh, but the Guadalupe is still pretty much what you want to do. Have you ever gone scuba diving after everybody leaves? I haven't scuba dived, but uh to what we like to do is surf. We like for everybody to get off the lakes, we can take our boat out, and we both surf. We're really fun. Yeah, we're actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Everybody doesn't know about Timaket today.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Yes, my husband Tim is also a realtor on Canyon Lake and and the other lakes that are downstream from Canyon, which we'll talk about briefly. Um, we're both realtors there. Uh, we both are full service realtors and um would love for y'all to come and see us. Oh, cool. Well, who doesn't want to go to the hill country?

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Yeah, I know, and I tell you, the the weird thing about Wimberly is that even though it's hill country, we all have that hill country. Wimberly is set in such a neat way that the they're up in the hills, kind of tucked into it that it's it's different than all the rest of us in the hill country, I think, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Well, yeah, it is. I mean, I if I think what you're saying is, you know, they have all those peaks around them. I mean, I would call them mountains because I'm from Texas, but they're probably not mountains, but you know, they have these high peaks all around them, and they're kind of in a valley. Yes, it's very, very pretty.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

And then all the little and then the river runs right through it. Yeah, and the houses are all tucked up in there. It's just it's it's so picturesque. It really, it's like something out of a storybook. It's really pretty. Very pretty. And also a great arts community, I think.

SPEAKER_03 5:40

A great art community. They do have a lot of art and artistic um activities that go on there. Um, one of the things that they haven't greened to also that's artistic, is they do a clay festival every year, which is just phenomenal. What is that? And people come from all over the country and some from other countries to display their craftsmanship and throwing clay. They make pottery. Pottery. Oh my gosh, they make um, I mean, any and everything. I I can't even tell you all of the things. Some are as artistic as lamps and you know, some just cups or whatever. You would find anything you would ever think of. Where's that? It is in September every year. September.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

We might have to hook up and go down there because our podcast is really something. Yeah, it is. That's how it's fun. Uh-huh. Um, so if there was one thing that you would like to say that is most unique about Canyon Lake, what would that be?

SPEAKER_03 6:40

The most unique thing I think about Canyon Lake, if you're looking at other lakes in Texas, is the clear water. It's just so crystal clear. You can see your feet. I don't care where you jump in at, you can see your feet.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

And uh see anything else.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

And any and anything else that's underneath you, you can see it. I mean, it's just so beautiful. And if you're that's if you're in the water, and if you're out of the water, the way the sun reflects off of it because it's so blue, it just is uh it's a different view than you have on any of the other lakes in Texas.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

So it's Hill Country Caribbean.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

It's Hill Country Caribbean, that's for sure. Yeah, it is. We need to patent that.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

I know.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yeah, yes, we are the Texas Lakes Syndicate. I don't think we mentioned that right in the beginning. Oh because we uh we figure everybody knows it now, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

We hope.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Maybe, maybe, but um, but Pam and I like to visit with um other folks in Texas Lakes and different Texas lakes so that we can answer questions for you about what it might be like if you were on that lake or visiting that lake. I mean, you don't even you want you want people to come and buy, but visit it at least and try it out. There's lots of opportunities.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

There is, there are a lot of parks around the lake. There is also um a joint force base military facility there because we're so close to San Antonio and there is so much military. So all of the different military entities can go to that park, and uh, and the cool thing about that is that we get to see some interesting things on that. Like we get to see the Navy SEALs do some of their practicing and maneuvers.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

They do, they come over in helicopters and they jump out of the helicopter and they have to make it with their parachute from the lake where they land at to a boat that's waiting for them. Um, we also get to see some seaplanes come in and land. Oh, nice. Hey, it's just uh it's a very cool um yeah, just a lot of different activities that go on.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

That's really, really interesting.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Yeah, very much. And I'm guessing that would be make it an excellent place for military folks to retire. It is because you have all of the Bennies from San Antone and the bases there and the hospitals and VAM.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

That they can take advantage of.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

That's right. Oh wow, we have a lot of retired military. Very cool. So if you are military, definitely consider Canyon Lake. It's so how far from San Antonio?

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Um driving distance, I don't know exactly, depending on where you're gonna go. Um, maybe 20 miles, 25. It only takes about 30 minutes for us to get from our house to the airport.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

That's excellent.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

That depends on where you live on the lake, sure. There's different sides.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

But we were just talking about how few lakes are near airports. Yes. So to be right near the San Antonio airport is a very cool thing because you're easy in, easy out. So if you have a home in Colorado and you want to fly into San Antonio and then have your other home at Canyon Lake, or maybe Canyon Lake's your main home and I would stay.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

You could work from that would be a great place to work from home, especially if you if travel was part of your job because it would be easy at the airport, but yes, you still get to work from and also we're not that far from the San Antonio airport.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

I mean the uh Austin Airport either. We're probably 45 minutes, maybe 50 from the options that way.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Yeah, definitely lots of options.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Um, there was one other question I was gonna ask. Pam, have you got something I do? I was gonna ask, it's something I've started to ask because not all lakes, you don't own your waterfront. You can't put in a boat dock. What about Canyon Lake?

SPEAKER_03 10:42

Canyon Lake's uh water perimeter is owned by the uh Army Corps of Engineers, and you cannot put in a boat dock on Canyon Lake. Okay. Uh so what I like about that is the perimeter is so clean. Sure. You don't have some of what you see on other lakes. Yes. Yeah, I mean it's a catch-22. It is for sure. Unlike the beautiful ones we're having. Right. And they do have 28 boat ramps. So it's not like you have very few boat ramps that you can put in it. And do they have marinas that you can lease a slip or something to put your boat in? There are two marinas on the lake, one on the north side, one on the south, so um, that accommodate people that want to keep their boat on the water.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

And one other thing that we were talking about last time, and we've talked about several times, because it keeps coming up, is so for instance, here at Lake LBJ, we have the Lower Colorado River Authority. So the Colorado River runs all the way through the lakes here, and then Pam has the Trinity River Authority. So TRA, LCRA, and you have.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

Well, we have some of the Lower Colorado River Authority. I don't know why, but they do manage some of our water. They do. But we also have the GBRA, which manages the downstream part. So the Guadalupe uh Blanco River Authority. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Because that rent feeds it too. The uh it doesn't feed Canyon Lake, but just below Canyon Lake, uh, the Comal, uh the Guadalupe, and the Blanco come together and become part of the Guadalupe and go out to the Gulf of Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

So, what kind of restrictions do those uh governing bodies put on your lakefront when you're building lakefront there? Because for us, it's mainly just you have to get approval for your bulkhead and your boat dock, uh, but also there's septic considerations if it's the community doesn't offer public sewer, then you have to, you know, put in your private.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Um, all of the homes on Canyon Lake have private septic. And the only restrictions that um the the um Army Corps of Engineers has is that you can't build you can't build anything below the 90 uh 909, so the 909 foot mark, which would be um considered a flood level if the lake ever flooded. Gotcha. And um so as long as you're above that, all of the other restrictions are either county um or city, which we don't really have any city, so it would be county.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Yeah, that's pretty much on our lake. It's it's all county. There's nothing in this within the actual city limits of any of the towns that touch like Livingston.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Yeah, we have Horseshoe Bay, we have Marble Falls, we have, you know, some different city codes up up in here, but y'all are that's better. You have yeah, we're fewer people bosting you.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yeah, I I mean I can only think of one neighborhood that's within the city limits, and that's the one that I'm in in on Alaska. And we're our neighborhood's actually in the city limits, but the Trinity River Authority supersedes their rules, so we don't have to worry about them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Cool. Yeah, yeah. So I the other thing I was gonna ask you is about land on Canyon Lake. How can you buy just land or is it pretty much gone?

SPEAKER_03 13:57

There's not a lot of land, um, especially large acres of land uh that are on the lake front. There is um there is some upper river uh which comes into the lake. I mean it it's deep enough when the water's up to come into the lake. Um, but there's really not a lot on the lake, the main body of the lake itself left. Gotcha. Hit or miss there and this.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

It's prime prime for building. So if you've got some, you are gonna be one of the few who gets it.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

Yes. Well, and there's not a whole lot left with the great views either. So if you're looking for prime views, even not lake front, you you would want to get in there.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Well, then you definitely need to talk to Missy because she's gonna tell you what's what, which ones to do and which ones not to do. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Me or Tim. Can't leave out Tim. Can't leave it out.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

That's right. He's along for the ride. Well, one of the other things we want to talk about, Missy, do you have anything else in particular you'd like to tell?

SPEAKER_03 15:00

Well, if you're gonna reach out to agents there, we have uh we have a partner as well. Her name's Amy Newton, so don't miss her either if you're gonna come talk to someone.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

So any Lake Home agents on Canyon Lake.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

Yes. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 15:11

That's correct.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

Excellent.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

So give us your give us a way to find you uh online or or phone. How do you want to do it? Or both?

SPEAKER_03 15:19

You can reach me online, you can reach me uh via email at missy realtor tx at gmail.com, and that's missyrealtor tx, all one word at gmail.com, or you can reach me at my phone, cell 281-785-2009. Um, you can I have a Google page, you can reach me at um Missy Frederickson on Google and it'll come up. Um so yeah, uh easy to get in touch.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Cool, and that's what we like.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

We love that, we love that.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

So I wanted to talk just really briefly about where we are right now. Yeah, this is a house that is uh available to see by appointment only, it is not even on the market, but we can get you a connection if you need to see it. Is that right? We know people, we know people, we know lots of people. This house is absolutely stunning, and we are borrowing their beautiful um view here that they have. There's a beautiful over that way. I don't know if you can really see there's a beautiful log home over there and and really pretty views across here, the great little boat house. And um, we have the connection. So if you're interested in this house, you're gonna have to call me or Pam because we're gonna have to hook you up with the godfather of the Tex Texas Lake Syndicate. That's right, because he's the only one who can get you in. Okay, so anything oh Pam, we've got a couple more coming up. So be watching for us. Couple more episodes dropping soon. Yeah, we we're got several episodes planned, and um this one, the next one is uh, I think we're gonna do an evening cruise if we if the weather's not too cold. So we're gonna try an evening cruise, and then we're also gonna talk about uh uh how to live lake adjacent and still have a boat. Yes, that's what we need to do. Especially on the business.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Especially on, you know, and that's why I keep asking about the lakes that whether you own your waterfront or not, whether or not you can put in a boathouse, it doesn't mean you can't access the lake at your leisure. There's ways to do it. We're gonna tell you we know how to do that.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

That's right, you're gonna have to tune in. Okay, so what is the last thing we say every time? Life is short. Five legs home.