Lake McQueeney, Dunlap, Placid & Meadow VERSES The Pedernales River

October 27th, 2011

A few years ago, a friend and I were arguing about what are the best skiable lakes/rivers in Texas.  As well as which would be the best real estate investment.  My vote hands down are for the Central Texas Lakes including: Lake McQueeney, Lake Dunlap, Lake Placid, & Meadow Lake.  His vote was the Pedernales River (upper part of Lake Travis).  I recalled this argument, when I ran across the video below of the Pedernales River from this past July during one of the worst droughts in Texas history.  Even during this record breaking drought the central Texas lakes remained at a constant level.  This video of me (Hunter Croan) wakeboarding was shot on Meadow Lake.  I could not get a helicopter so I got the next best thing which was an RC glider with an HD camera on the belly (Thanks Swami).  My question to you: Which lake would you purchase a piece of waterfront real estate on?  I know if I had my lake house for sale on Meadow Lake this past summer, I would get more interested buyers than compared to a piece of Pedernales River real estate for sale.  Now that you have SEEN the facts….you decide.

Meadow Lake Aerial Wakeboarding Video
7/31/2011

The Pedernales River Video
7/18/2011

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Unimproved Waterfront: A Great Opportunity

November 17th, 2010

When looking at lake houses for sale many of my clients are able to visualize possible improvements for the house itself, but often get discouraged if the property has unimproved waterfront. However, unimproved waterfront should be viewed as a blank canvas with the opportunity to create the perfect waterfront design for your family’s needs. Maybe it’s for entertaining friends and family, or a place for your children to play, just pure relaxation, or maybe all of the above. So don’t let unimproved waterfront intimidate you it can be done easily and more affordable than you may be thinking.

Another motive for improving your waterfront is most will see 100%, if not more, return on their real estate investment. Reason being that some people would prefer to pay a premium for summer ready waterfront.

Two years ago when we moved into our lake house on Meadow Lake we had unimproved waterfront and contacted Jim Melsha, a well known waterfront professional in the Central Texas area. We had seen other work that he had done and had him come out to our lake house to figure out a plan for our waterfront. After only two weeks of construction our waterfront was 100% ready for our enjoyment. We are so glad we had the opportunity to create a waterfront exactly how we wanted it, and that fits our lifestyle.

Jim Melsha specializes in retaining walls, boat houses, docks, ski lockers, and yes even beaches! I would highly recommend him for your waterfront improvement needs for Lake Dunlap, Lake McQueeney, Lake Placid, Meadow Lake, or even Comal or Guadalupe River. You can contact Jim at lakesideconstruct@yahoo.com or (210)391-3189. Please tell him Hunter and Ashley Croan referred you.

Check out the slide show below for before and after pictures of our very own waterfront transformation.

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Halloween Ski Show – Lake McQueeney

October 28th, 2010

Halloween is just around the corner, and the Lake Breeze Ski Lodge will be closing until next spring.  So don’t miss this year’s last opportunity to hang out at the Lodge with friends and family for food, drinks, and entertainment.

The Ski Bees will have one last show this year on Sunday, October 31st at 1pm.  So before you get geared up to trick-or –treat head by Lake Breeze Ski Lodge for some excitement.

The Lake McQueeney Ski Bees was first established in 1952, and this group performs water-ski shows every Thursday night during the summer. The talents of this show beginnings with the little ones and ranges all the way up to regional, national and even world champion water skiers.

Hunter was named the 2003 Colligate Wakeboard National Champion when he was wakeboarding for Texas A&M.  Hunter also grew up on Lake McQueeney and has been involved with the Ski Bees since a child.  Hunter will be making an appearance at this year’s Halloween Ski Show performing his Wakeboard act, and the crowd favorite Jet Ski act! You don’t want to miss this!

Lake Breeze Ski Lodge is a private club for members only.  If you are interested in checking out all the fun The Lodge has to offer I would highly recommend contacting them at 830-557-5736 for more membership details.  Come see what the talk is all about!

Have a Safe & Happy Halloween!

Pictured: Hunter Croan    ~   Posted by: Ashley Croan

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Why I Sell Waterfront Real Estate

April 30th, 2010

As most people know, the majority of what I sell is waterfront / Lake front real estate.  I REALLY love what I do.  In my eyes, I am not selling my clients a lake house or river property, I am selling them a lifestyle.  What kind of lifestyle you ask? See the video below that was filmed a few days ago of me wakeboarding on my home lake (Meadow Lake).  FYI – I will be posting a video tour of each lake (Lake McQueeney, Lake Dunlap, Lake Placid, & Meadow Lake) in HIGH Definition within the next few months. Thanks Ian Udell for editing the video!


Click on “480p” for a high quality video

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Video of Lake McQueeney from 1964-1968

January 6th, 2010

Ok, 2 post in one day… I just ran across these videos on YouTube just after I uploaded my Lake McQueeney Video Tour (see below). This is actual video from 1964-1968 of people skiing on Lake McQueeney. Compare this video with the Lake McQueeney Video Tour below and you will definitely notice the lack of houses and the unimproved waterfront on the lake in 1964. For example, when they are jumping, look at Treasure Island. Where are all the houses? It is just amazing to see the amount of development on this Lake McQueeney since 1964. There are many more lots than house regardless where they were skiing on the lake in this video. Now it is hard to find a vacant lot on Lake McQueeney. I thought there had been a significant amount of development since I first came to the lake in 1983 but it was nowhere near as undeveloped as Lake McQueeney in 1964. These videos was too good not to put up on my blog… ENJOY!

Click HQ for a Higher Quality Video

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Lake McQueeney Video Tour – Now in High Quality

January 6th, 2010

I am often contact by people who run across my website, www.LakeHouses4Sale.net, that have never heard of Lake McQueeney, Lake Dunlap, Lake Placid, or Meadow Lake (Click here for a description of the lakes including aerial maps). There is only so much you can tell from aerial maps of the lakes. For this reason I have created this video below. This video is decided to give you a quick tour of Lake McQueeney while also giving you an idea of what the the homes look like to give you a better idea of what the “true” curb appeal of Lake McQueeney Real Estate. I had previously posted a similar video awhile back before Google offered the “HQ” button. Please enjoy the video and as always please feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. Take a look at my older post for a real video tour of Meadow Lake. There will be videos of Lake Dunlap and Lake Placid coming this spring…


Press HQ for a higher quality video

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Lake Lengths

August 21st, 2009

A common questions from many of my clients is, “What is the difference between the area lakes?” and “Which one is the biggest?” and “How long are they?”. Thanks to the new tools on www.googlemaps.com I am now able to find out exactly how long each lake is. Take a look at the map at the bottom of this post… All of these lakes are wide enough to Waterski/Wakeboard on, jet ski, fish, or just to cruise the lake in your boat. The typical length of a boat on these lakes is around 21.5’ with some larger (typically under 25’) and some smaller.

Lake Dunlap measured 7.1 Miles of usable/boatable lake using Google Maps. This lake at is widest is close to 900’ wide (about the width of 3 football fields. The Guadalupe Blanco River Authority (www.gbra.org) lists this lake as 410 acres with a capacity of 5900 acre-feet. An acre foot is defined by the volume of one acre of surface area to a depth of one foot (43560 Cubic Feet).

Lake McQueeney measured 7.15 Miles of usable/boatable lake if you consider driving around Treasure Island. GBRA lists this lake as 400 acres with a storage capacity of 5050 acre feet. One of the attractions to Lake McQueeney is its wide area at the bottom of the lake that measures as wide as 2700’.

Lake Placid measured 4.9 miles of usable/boatable lake. This lake has quite a few wide straightaways and the widest of them are about 464’ wide. GBRA list this lake as 248 acres with a capacity of 2,624 acre-feet.

Meadow Lake is approximately 3.82 miles of usable/boatable lake. This lake is narrower than the other lakes listed above but still has plenty of room for boating, water skiing/wakeboarding, jet skiing, and fishing. This lake has historically been a fisherman’s lake but it is starting to change with the popularity of jet skiing and waterskiing and wakeboarding. The widest part of this lake is about 450’ wide. GBRA list this lake as 153 acres with a storage capacity of 1,550 acre-feet.

Zoom in to the different Lakes and click on the blue lines for more information.

View Lake Lengths in a larger map

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Interactive Lake Maps

July 15th, 2009

I am constantly being asked by people to let them know where the main hazardous areas are on Lake Dunlap, Lake McQueeney, Lake Placid, and Meadow Lake. I am very familiar with these lakes. I have actually lived on all of them except Lake Placid, however I do have quite a few friends that live on that lake. Thanks to recent updates to Google maps. They have allowed me to mark the hazardous areas on the various lakes. This map marks large hazardous areas but does not mark all of them. A good rule to go by is never get too close to shore. I always try to stay at least 75′ for shore at all times. Click on Lake Maps to see all the lake maps. Lake McQueeney Map is shown below. Use the “+” & “-” buttons to zoom in. Also click on the shaded areas and icons for more info, including boatable areas of the lakes, details about the hazardous areas, and boat launch locations.


View Central Texas Lake Maps in a larger map

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July 4th on Lake McQueeney

July 2nd, 2009

Ever since I was a child my family has spent July 4th on Lake McQueeney. This tradition I still continue today over 20 years later.  In fact, it was on July 4th at Lake McQueeney six years ago when I met my wife, and we continue to look forward to the excitement of this annual event year to year. 

Most people would agree that July 4th on Lake McQueeney is one of the most popular holidays of the year. It is a social event that includes a boat parade, barbeques, fireworks, water balloons, and a whole lot of fun. Nearly every other house has a band, DJ, or at least music playing with friends and family hanging out by the lake watching all the action on the water.  So don’t expect a calm ski run on July 4th. My recommendation is to watch from shore or cruise in a pontoon boat to catch all the excitement, unless you do not like water balloons.

The Boat parade is not officially put on by any person or organization (that I know of). The decorated boats usually meet around Las Brisas at about 2pm. Anyone is welcome to join the parade, but don’t be surprised if you get hit by a few water balloons from the many gatherings at various lake houses. I also have heard that there are similar parades on Lake Placid and Lake Dunlap as well.

Don’t miss the firework display in front of the Lake Breeze Ski Lodge (A private club). The firework show starts around 9-9:15. The best view of the show is from the shores of the Ski Lodge or from within a boat nearby. The show gets better and better every year.

Last year I showed a few lake houses and lake properties over the July 4th weekend on Lake McQueeney. Some of the buyers were concerned by the social events going on next to the houses we looked at. However, this is not a normal occurrence for weekends on Lake McQueeney.

If you have not made it to a July 4th on Lake McQueeney, I highly encourage you to check it out this year. Regardless of where you spend your July 4th holiday please be safe and have fun.

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Lake McQueeney – “The Waterskiing Capital of Texas”

April 16th, 2009

I recently received an email with a question about being able to Waterski on Lake McQueeney:

Question:

I was looking at a few of the houses on Lake McQueeny.  Can you tell me how big that lake is?  Is it bigger or smaller than Somerville?  Do people water ski on that lake?  Or is it more of a river that people fish on?

Answer:

Lake McQueeney and the other area lakes (Lake Dunlap, Lake Placid, Meadow Lake) are very waterski friendly. In fact, Lake McQueeney has been referred to as the “Waterski Capital of Texas”. These chain of lakes are all sections of the Guadalupe River which makes them “River Like” which is very good for keeping the water calm for several reasons.

  1. On a windy day Canyon Lake or Somerville get “blown out” making skiing and boating difficult and definitely not as fun. The central Texas Lakes (Lake McQueeney, Lake Dunlap, Lake Placid, and Meadow Lake) are winding lakes that will have at least one straightaway that the trees block the wind (even on the windiest days).
  2. River like lakes force boats to drive the same line. Even on a calm day at a lake like Somerville you always have the few boats that love to pull their tubes right where everyone is skiing. In a river like lake most tubers will stay in the wide parts of the lake (typically downriver) for the safety of their tuber. Even if the tubers are not out in the big lakes, uneducated boat drives tend to drive their skier all over the lake instead of sharing the same line which makes the lake calmer for everyone. Think about it for a second. If everyone shares the same line then all the boats wakes go in the same direction. Boats that drive in all different directions also send their waves in all different directions which makes the lake rough for everyone.

Descriptions of each lake which can also on found on to home page of my website, www.LakeHouses4Sale.net. There you will also find links to Lake Maps and much more.  Scroll through my older blogs and you will also find a Video Tour of Meadow Lake and Lake McQueeney.

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