# Canyon Lake, Texas — Part of HillCountry.ai

> canyonlake.ai is the Canyon Lake site in the HillCountry.ai network. It covers Canyon Lake, Canyon Lake Gorge, Sattler and the tailwater, Startzville, Fischer, and Spring Branch, with an AI local guide named Gus.

## Key facts about Canyon Lake

- Canyon Lake is a US Army Corps of Engineers FLOOD-CONTROL reservoir on the Guadalupe River in Comal County. Construction began 1958; deliberate impoundment began June 16, 1964; the lake was dedicated in 1966 and reached conservation pool by 1968. It is a flood-control project first and a recreation lake second.
- CONSERVATION POOL (full pool) is 909.0 feet above mean sea level: 8,308 surface acres, 93 miles of shoreline, 378,852 acre-feet of storage.
- THE LAKE FLUCTUATES. The all-time low was 887.14 feet on January 21, 2024. When the lake is down, boat ramps close from the shallow end. Always check the gauge and call before trailering a boat.
- LAKE LEVEL GAUGE: USGS 08167700 (Canyon Lk nr New Braunfels).
- The 2002 flood of record crested the emergency spillway for the first time in the lake's history, reaching 950.32 feet. That overflow carved CANYON LAKE GORGE — a mile-long, 64-acre gorge — out of a grassy field in a matter of days, exposing Cretaceous limestone, fossils, dinosaur tracks, and a fault line.
- THE GORGE IS ACCESSIBLE BY GUIDED TOUR ONLY, with reservations (canyongorgetours.com). It is not a park you can walk into. A separate overlook is open without a tour. Fees and schedules change.
- The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) holds the conservation-pool water rights.
- THE TAILWATER: water released from the bottom of Canyon Dam is cold year-round. TPWD stocks rainbow trout from November through March, and some fish hold over through summer. It is only *described as* the southernmost year-round trout fishery in the United States — treat that as a claim, not settled fact. A special-regulation section runs through and below Sattler (artificial lures and flies, size and bag limits). Check current TPWD regulations.
- TAILWATER GAUGE: USGS 08167800 (Guadalupe Rv at Sattler). Flow below the dam is what the dam RELEASES, not what fell as rain. Low release means dragging bottom; high release closes outfitters.
- SATTLER sits below the dam and is the tailwater town — River Road outfitters, trout access.
- STARTZVILLE is an unincorporated commercial corridor on FM 306 — gas, supplies, the turn toward the lake.
- FISCHER sits on the Devil's Backbone ridge in northern Comal County; the old Fischer Store dates to the 19th century.
- SPRING BRANCH: the incorporated city (roughly 1.9 square miles, about 250 residents) voted to incorporate November 3, 2015 and became a city November 19, 2015, to avoid annexation by Bulverde. Most of what people call Spring Branch is the wider unincorporated US 281 corridor of the same name. Rebecca Creek Distillery is here.
- Seam with neighboring guides: Canyon Lake covers the lake, the dam, the Gorge, and the cold tailwater above Gruene. New Braunfels (Marcus) covers the Guadalupe from Gruene downstream, plus the Comal.
- AI local guide: Gus.

## About this site

canyonlake.ai is part of a network of town-specific sites under HillCountry.ai, built and operated by Backroads Hill Country (Spencer and Jess Forrest), which has represented Hill Country vacation rentals since 2001.

## Explore the towns (in-depth guides)

- [What Is Canyon Lake, Texas? A Local Guide](https://canyonlake.ai/what-is-canyon-lake) — In-depth town guide
- [What Is Fischer, Texas? A Local Guide](https://canyonlake.ai/what-is-fischer) — In-depth town guide
- [What Is Sattler, Texas? A Local Guide](https://canyonlake.ai/what-is-sattler) — In-depth town guide
- [What Is Spring Branch, Texas? A Local Guide](https://canyonlake.ai/what-is-spring-branch) — In-depth town guide
- [What Is Startzville, Texas? A Local Guide](https://canyonlake.ai/what-is-startzville) — In-depth town guide