Last November, Boat Ramp #18 at Canyon Park stayed open past its usual season. A historic drought had closed most of the other ramps on the lake, so the Water Oriented Recreation District of Comal County, known as WORD, kept #18 open, My Canyon Lake reported. In January, WORD said Canyon Park's season would run past its normal Oct. 31 closing "until further notice."
This year, with more water in the lake, WORD scheduled Ramp #18 to go offline on Nov. 1 along with ramps #3 and #4 at Comal Park. As of Oct. 28, the Army Corps of Engineers' reservoir report had Canyon Lake at 907.33 feet, 1.67 feet below its 909-foot conservation pool. Water Data for Texas put the lake at 96.3% full on Oct. 29. More water means fewer winter exceptions. This winter, whether a park or ramp is open depends almost entirely on who operates it.
Five operators, five calendars
Canyon Lake has 23 numbered boat ramps, and different agencies and businesses run them. Comal County, WORD, Joint Base San Antonio, the Corps and Canyon Lake Marina each follow their own season. The Corps publishes a ramp roster showing who operates each ramp. Combine it with My Canyon Lake's Oct. 27 status update and its Oct. 22 closure report, and the lake heading into November looks like this:
| Operator | Ramps | Status heading into November |
|---|---|---|
| Comal County | #1, #2, #5, #6, #7, #8, #11, #22, #23 | Listed open Oct. 27 |
| WORD | #3, #4, #18 | Scheduled offline Nov. 1, parks reopen March 2027 |
| Corps roster; inside WORD-managed Cranes Mill Park | #10 | Open "for the time being," per WORD |
| Army Corps of Engineers | #17 Little Jacobs, #21 near Potters Creek West | Listed open; #17 is year-round and free |
| Joint Base San Antonio | #14, #15 at Jacobs Creek | Open 7 a.m. to dark, $20 per vehicle for non-DoD visitors |
| Canyon Lake Marina | #19, 280 Marina Dr. | Listed open Oct. 27 |
Most of the county ramps sit inside residential sections, so many people already know theirs by street rather than by number. Ramp #1 is at 579 Skyline Dr. in Canyon Lake Village. Ramp #5 is at 3150 Canyon Lake Forest Dr. Ramps #7 and #11 are both at 3850 Tanglewood Trl. in Cypress Cove. Ramp #23 is at 22100 N. Cranes Mill Rd. in Mystic Shores. Comal County posts status for its ramps and nearby roads through the County Engineer's office.
The Oct. 22 report said every ramp run by the Corps, the county, JBSA and Canyon Lake Marina would "remain open to the public." That was the status on Oct. 22, and it can change during the winter. On a December Saturday, the operator column tells you more than the lake level does.
The park that changed hands in April
Cranes Mill shows most clearly why the operator matters. The Army Corps of Engineers' Canyon Lake parks page still describes Cranes Mill Park as a Corps campground on the lake's western end. It says the park is "open year-round," with campsites 31 through 64 unavailable from Oct. 1 through the end of March and gates open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The park itself now runs on a different plan. On April 14, 2026, WORD announced a lease with the Corps to take over management of Cranes Mill Park. It set a target reopening date of May 2 and moved the park to a public day-use model. WORD's Cranes Mill page now describes a first-come, first-served day-use park with a March 1 to Oct. 31 season. Under WORD, Cranes Mill was set to close on Oct. 31 along with Canyon and Comal parks, and My Canyon Lake's Oct. 3 report gives March 31, 2027 as the reopening date for all three. WORD's own page gives a March 1 season start, so check wordcc.com before planning an early-spring visit.
The ramp is the one exception. WORD Communications and Events Coordinator Alexis Runnels told My Canyon Lake that Boat Ramp #10 at Cranes Mill would "remain open for the time being." So a resident on the south shore can still launch at Cranes Mill while the picnic areas behind the ramp are closed.
Overnight stays work differently. In the same April announcement, WORD said it had partnered with a local campground business to run the RV park, with stays booked through cranesmillrv.com. The announcement also listed phased improvements WORD is planning, including developed swim beaches, a designated kayak launch, a lawn games area, new playground equipment and areas for sports and group recreation. "Our primary goal is to ensure that Cranes Mill Park remains a vibrant, accessible space for the community," WORD General Manager Mike Dussere said in the release. Parks Manager Dylan Murrell said in the same release that the lease lets WORD keep the park "a functional and enjoyable resource for both residents and visitors to Comal County."
When the lease was announced in April, WORD noted that the lake was eight feet higher than a year earlier and that three boat ramps were open. By late October, county, Corps, JBSA, marina and WORD ramps were all on the open list, ahead of WORD's three scheduled seasonal closures.
What the Corps and the base keep open
With WORD's parks closed for the season, most winter shoreline access is on Corps and JBSA land, and each site has its own rules.
- Potters Creek Park on the north shore is open year-round, but some campsites close from Oct. 1 through the end of March. The Corps lists gate hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Recreation.gov lists fall and winter hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and says entry is for reservation holders and their guests. Outside the gate, the Corps lists a second boat ramp and a fishing dock that are free for day use.
- Little Jacobs Creek Park, also known as Ramp #17, sits next to the JBSA recreation area. It has a two-lane ramp, a courtesy dock and a vault toilet, and it is open year-round with no fee.
- North Park, below the dam, is closed for the season. It runs April 1 through September as a primitive tent campground, and Recreation.gov notes "NO DAY USE!"
- JBSA's Canyon Lake Recreation Park keeps its own hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. JBSA says the park closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, so its ramps are not an option on those days.
For questions the websites don't answer, the Corps' Canyon Lake Office at 601 C.O.E. Road, at the south end of the dam, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Below the dam, November is opening day
The calendar flips below Canyon Dam. The same weekend WORD's seasonal closures were scheduled, Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited's 2026–27 Lease Access Program season began. It runs Nov. 1, 2026 through Oct. 31, 2027, with 800 permits at $200 each and guest and youth passes at $20. GRTU says the program gives members access to 14 private locations on the Guadalupe, and permit holders get a digital map with lease details. This season's enrollment ran from a July 31 membership deadline through permit sales in early October, so anyone without a permit can plan for next year's enrollment steps.
Free access is limited. Texas Parks and Wildlife lists Guadalupe Park, operated by the Corps, as the one year-round free public fishing access point on the trout stretch. TPWD stocks fish there and at Whitewater Camp, 4th Crossing, 3rd Crossing and Camp Huaco Springs.
As of late October, TPWD's stocking page still showed the 2025–26 schedule. Last season, 18,471 trout went into the Canyon Tailrace, with the first stocking on Dec. 5, 2025 and the last on Feb. 26, 2026. That shows how the past season ran. It is not a schedule for this one.
The river is running low and steady for now. The Corps reported Canyon Lake releasing 104 cubic feet per second as of the evening of Oct. 29, and the USGS gauge at Sattler read a provisional 105 cfs at about the same time. In April, WORD described releases "consistently exceeding 60 cfs."
TPWD's Guadalupe River rules divide the trout water into zones:
- Zone 1 runs from 800 yards below the dam to the east Highway 306 bridge. It has a 12- to 18-inch protected slot and a five-trout daily bag, with only one fish 18 inches or longer.
- Zone 2 runs from the east Highway 306 bridge to the second River Road crossing. It has an 18-inch minimum and a one-trout daily bag.
- In both zones, harvest is limited to artificial lures, and TPWD's legal-devices guide for Sept. 1, 2026 through Aug. 31, 2027 spells out what that excludes.
This is general information, not legal advice, so check TPWD's current rules for your own situation before you keep a fish.
Two shops sit close to the water. ReelFly is at 1175 FM 2673, Suite 107, and Rio Anglers is at 14130 River Road, just above the 4th Crossing Bridge. The season's biggest gathering is Troutfest TX, a three-day expo in New Braunfels on Feb. 19–21, 2027.
For a winter launch this year, a county ramp in your own section, free Little Jacobs at #17, or Ramp #10 at Cranes Mill while WORD keeps it open will usually beat driving to a gate scheduled to close on Nov. 1.
Whether you're looking for a home near a year-round ramp or a quick drive to the trout water below the dam, we know which shoreline access stays open in winter. Reach out to Bailey Group to talk through the Canyon Lake properties that fit how you use the water. Schedule Your White‑Glove Consultation.
