Tony’s GuideGruene & Canyon Lake Country

Texas Hill Country · A place guide with a memory

Start with the day you want.

Gruene, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake and the Guadalupe make an easy weekend to enjoy and a complicated place to understand. This guide does both.

01 · BUILD A DAYHelp me chooseMorning, afternoon and evening choices 02 · FIND A PLACEOpen the field map90 stops, filters and directions 03 · CHOOSE A DRIVESee the routesStory route, rivers, wine and Hill Country 04 · SEE WHAT’S ONOpen the events deskToday, this weekend and beyond

LIVE WATER DESK

Check the water before you go.

Checking current observations…

Canyon Lake

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Checking current observations…

Below dam · Sattler

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Checking current observations…

Guadalupe · city

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Checking current observations…

Comal · city

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Checking current observations…

Tony’s interpretation of the readings

Tony’s read

Canyon Lake is 0.97 ft below conservation pool, so confirm your chosen ramp and shoreline access before towing a boat or promising an easy swim entry. At Sattler, 151 cfs means a slower, shallower Guadalupe float with more attention to exposed rock and the route an outfitter is actually running. The Comal is at 159 cfs; expect a gentler current, but verify city access and tube-chute conditions. My call: choose the exact reach first, then confirm the ramp, park or outfitter—not just the regional gauge number.

Open the complete water report →

SEE THE LANDSCAPE

Find your place in the landscape.

Historic Gruene Hall — Gruene Hall — music inside a former cotton economy. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

Comal Springs in Landa Park, New Braunfels — Comal Springs at Landa Park — the spring-fed beginning of the Comal River. Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

Aerial view looking west across Canyon Dam and Canyon Lake — Canyon Lake & Dam — a federal reservoir built across the Guadalupe. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain

Guadalupe River looking north from Faust Street Bridge in New Braunfels — The Guadalupe at New Braunfels — the same river, but a different reach and a different decision than below Canyon Dam. Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

KEEP EXPLORING

Choose your next chapter.

Food & drinkChoose by taste, timing and geography →Music & entertainmentFind the right room for your night →Attractions & family daysWaterparks, caves, wildlife and easier outings →The stories beneath the sceneryIndigenous, German, Black and Tejano history; cotton, water and community →

Why Tony writes this guide →

THE WIDER HILL COUNTRY

The guide does not stop at the city limit.

Go underground, follow the smoke to Driftwood, drive the limestone country west or read the oil landscape east toward Luling.

Texas Barbecue & The Salt LickTony’s favorite, the open pit and the region’s other destination smoke rooms Caves & Underground PerformancesNatural Bridge Caverns and concerts inside Cave Without a Name Explore the Texas Hill CountryBoerne, Fredericksburg, Blanco, rivers, springs and a mapped winery tour