Beware Canyon Lake, TX

In today's economy "Stay-cations" are the "in" thing to do. Well, our economy has been tight for a number of years, and we have done a number of "stay-cations." This year we scraped together enough money for a weekend trip. We have friends with a boat, and we all decided a trip to a lake would be great. Who knew such frivolity could be so futile.

We booked a cabin and campsite at Mermaid Cove in Spring Branch, TX, which boasted to be 20 feet from Canyon Lake anywhere on the property. Our trouble started when our friends hit a rough patch and couldn't go with us. We were beyond the cancellation date so I called and the owner said he would cancel the campsite and move us into another cabin better suited for a party our size.

We were still anticipating a fun weekend at the lake and were kind of excited about staying in a cabin instead of a campsite for a change. Our disappointment started as we traveled down the main Farm Road towards the campground. We couldn't see the lake. The lake is in the Hill Country so we tried to tell ourselves we just couldn't see it because of the hills and trees. We held our breath as we entered the campground and still could not see the lake. We tried to stay optimistic, so we unloaded our gear and then went for a hike to find the lake.

We hiked in 100 degree heat with a 5 year old and 10 year old. Our best guess was the website meant 20 feet from the original coast line of the lake, but the lake in this part appears to have dried up a long time ago. The owner defended his position by saying he told us to get to the "lake" you had to enter the river bed from the old boat ramp and walk a block in the river bed. Now we saw what he was talking about on our hike and the old boat ramp is not a walk from the campsite, it is a drive to the other side of the dried up tributary. The "one block walk in the dried river bed" is longer than a block and not something I was willing to try with a 5 year old, and the "lake" is a swimming hole definately not big enough for a boat or jet ski and not big enough for the trouble of hauling a kayak or canoe.

Our disappointment turned to disgust as we walked back to the cabin and were informed that the cabin we were in had been double booked, and we had to move. They offered to move us into an RV, a self-contained trailer permanently parked on the property. We looked at it and were accosted by a strange odor upon opening the door, disappointed at the cushions on the floor situated like a couch with a covering that was far from its original color and turned away by the bathroom in the hallway. When we considered how much we would be paying for this lopsided smelly place, we told them it was unacceptable. They said they would not charge us the balance and would consider refunding our deposit, but we had to leave. So we packed our gear and drove off wondering where we would stay for the night.

We stopped at a local restaurant to get our bearings. We then got another call from the owner saying we could come back and stay in the cabin. Our disappointment and disgust became anger. Aside from the disappointment of this lakeside cove that was no longer on the lake, the cabin was not what had been promoted on the website. It was not a cedar cabin. It was a concrete block structure. It was not a one bedroom cabin. It was a one room effeciency. It did not have a grill. It had a fire pit without a grate. It did not have a kitchenette. It had a mini-microwave and mini-refrigerator; no stove top or oven. (You need to take a camping stove or grill with you to cook unless the mini-microwave is enough for you. We did not have either a camp stove or grill with us.) The bathroom was a nice size but had no windows or ventilation, and if you closed the door, no air conditioning. The cabin did have air-conditioning, one small window unit. The cabin did have a t.v. and DVD player so at least that was true.

Bottom line, disappointed by the lack of lake and cabin not meeting expectations, disgusted by being told to move to a smelly, lopsided, old and well used RV, and then anger for being told to leave and then extreme anger after packing up and disappointing our kids to then be called and told to come back and that they would not refund us our money. We did not return to the campsite. My husband was able to get the owner to agree to not charge us for the second night, but we lost our deposit and first night fee (there goes our vacation money).

We choked down our cold, undercooked food and started a search for a place to stay. We did finally see the lake through a gap in the trees and saw how low it was. It was sad, really. We passed a number of locations boasting "lake views" and "water falls," but there was no lake and no water on these shores anymore and, it appeared, not since a long time ago.

It was getting late, and we could not see how to get to the lake. We followed FM 306 into New Braunfels. There were a number of hotels. We went to probably 6 of the them. The best availability for our family of four was a room with a king size bed and roll-away for $160, one night. We couldn't afford that. Our hearts sank, and we began the trip back home. Our vacation, a 10 hour car ride from Houston to Canyon Lake to New Braunfels and back to Houston.

Our lesson was beware of Canyon Lake. We did see water and there is a lake there. Accessibility is quite another issue. If you go online, you will see that 13 boat ramps and 2 fishing docks have been closed. What we saw was remnants of an age that has past. In our minds eye we can imagine that many, many years ago when the water actually reached the lake front properties, it was a beautiful and family fun place to be, but today it is just sad.

An alternative is the Guadalupe River which is the river that feeds the lake, but you can see in another post that this is not a family friendly place on the weekends. We have been to the Guadalupe River and stayed on the river twice this year (once on a weekend and once during the week). Most people who come to the river are coming to drink and party. Their attire is swimsuits so a lot of exposed skin to expose to your children. If you go with children, go during the week and try to go the first part of the week to miss the party-ers who are making a long weekend and setting up early. We were very surprised how many party goers came on Thursday.

I suspect Canyon Lake could be fun, but we didn't find it.