Living in Houston, how would you rank Texas lakes?

If you had a family of 4-5 and wanted to buy a lake house, what lakes would you look at?

Lake LBJ

For ease I would not mind Conroe. Just a place to hop in the car and spend a weekend without having to worry about a 3 or 4 hour drive on a Friday and Sunday. I think I would get the most out of one there.

Would love to eventually have a place on Lake Travis. I also really enjoy Canyon Lake and have family that loves LBJ.

Geez. That's a ~4 hour drive.

Best lake within 2-3 hour drive?

Lake Waco for the win

Also, best websites to look at houses.

Anything like HAR.com for Texas lakes.

Not sure of a site but look at Bentwater on Lake Conroe. My parents used to have a lake house there.

And if you do get a lakehouse, you're kids would think you're coolest dad ever.

[This message has been edited by Dan Scott (edited 5/1/2011 7:32p).]

[This message has been edited by DRE06 (edited 7/6/2013 12:45a).]

Livingston

Livingston FTW!

Livingston

A bit more out of the way but WAY more affordable is Toldeo Bend. My folks retired out there, I can get there in under 3 1/2 hours from Houston and the prices are half of Conroe with an actual water view.

Depends what you're looking for, however, it's a great fishing lake but not a great ski lake.


[This message has been edited by fig96 (edited 5/1/2011 10:12p).]

We have a place on Lake Palestine just south of Tyler which is about a 3 hour drive and it is a great lake. Still not too crowded and has good long runs for boarding and skiing.

I have a place on Livingston. 1.5 hours doing the speed limit from my office downtown to the house in rush hour. Stumpy lake so you need to be careful but the lake is so big (second biggest completely in Texas) there are plenty of stump-free areas. If you want bars and restaurants on the lake don't do Livingston. If you want a great lake for a family then I recommend it. LBJ, Travis, etc. are better lakes but too far for my liking.

Depending on where you work, you could look into buying a place in the Clear Lake area. I have a co-worker that lives in El Lago (Seabrook/Kemah area) and loves it. Taylor lake is nice and the El Lago community has a couple of boat ramps and docs for resident use. The housing down there is failry inexpensive and will get cheaper with more upcoming NASA layoffs.

Also, my parents have a place on Lake Buchanan (up river from Austin, Travis, LBJ) and love it. Takes 3.5-4 hours to get there, so it's a drive, but is extremely peaceful, beautiful, and really inexpensive for lake front property. It is also fairly close to Llano, Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock if you want to do shopping and day trips.

I want a lake with some bars/marina type amenities.

I went to a lake (I believe Lake McQueeney) a couple of years ago and there was a cool little restraunt/bar at the marina where they had live music Fri/Sat night.

That would be ideal.

A good skiing/boating lake for the kids, but also a place that had a couple of lake-side bars for the adults.

Livingston.

a friend of mine lives on Houston County Lake in Crockett, the pictures seem nice but I've never been.

2 hours north of Houston.

quote:

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Anything like HAR.com for Texas lakes.

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http://lakehouse.com/browse_map.php?cat=45


If your lady is a sailor then I’d stick to Clear Lake or make my way to Lake Travis.

McQueeney is great for drinking and boating, but never buy there for skiing or even swimming in the lake…it is dangerous b/c of all the drunks driving around. Catch 22 situation. The Lodge is private, but they do let you buy drinks without an account now.

i've lived here my whole life, and never been to lake houston. is there anything good there?

Lake Conroe is an awesome lake with many ammenities. You will enjoy how easy it is to get to with the short drive.

HAR is a great place to look. You can also contact Kate Taylor. She is the best realtor in the area, and will help you find what you are looking for. Here is her contact info found on HAR.

http://www.har.com/AWS/AWS.CFM?AGENT_NUMBER=579831

Im a lake houston native and still own a weekend home out there...i keep it for sentimental value (usually go to the other lakehouses in the family)


It is a good lake to do your own thing. You can ski, fish, sightsee, and just chill. In my opinion the worst part of the lake is the HPD and their tolerance level to drinkers (they are not hesitant to drop a BWI on someone.) The water level and pollution are what most people think of when they think of lake Houston, but that is not a fair assessment. The water is actually as clean as any other lake and the murkiness comes from sandpits on the San Jac dropping sediment into the stream rather than toxins. The water level is just like any other river lake...averages around 10-12 feet and has stumps that get moved with each flood. No big deal - just pay attention to where you are going (easier said than done)


The best part about the lake is how un-touched it is in several spots...this is a rare thing and becoming more rare with every new development. You can still take a boat up either side of the river, pull ashore on a sandy beach, light a campfire, throw a line in the water for catfish, and the kids can run around in the woods with no threat.

Aggierevs post made me think...


Lake houston is a bad lake for convenience items such as restaurants and fill stations. I never really think about it from that perspective b/c when I get hungry I take the boat to the house.

Lake Limestone is a great lake as well. Only two hours from Houston. No restaurants or bars though....

canyon lake

Lake Whitney! Cliff diving!

We used to have a place on livingston in Cape Royale. Loved it. Not near as crowded as conroe.

Canyon Lake is great except you can't have any structure near the water, and you have to drive to get your boat.

What lakes? Maybe if we get a little rain you can find a puddle to splash around in.

Have had a house on McQueeney for over 20yrs now, great lake, but small. I can get there from houston in 2hrs flat. Another plus is that it is basically a private lake since the last public ramp closed a couple years ago. Keeps out a lot of the unwashed masses.

Gotta vouch for Livingston. Less than 2 hours from Houston (and College Station for that matter), and great bass fishing if that's your thing.