Which Canyon Lake Texas Boat Ramps Are Open?

Last verified: August 26, 2026. Canyon Lake is full, and eighteen of the lake's twenty public ramps are now open, eleven of them free. The lake sits at 909.35 feet as of this morning, 0.35 feet into the flood pool, and is easing back toward conservation pool a few hundredths of a foot at a time. Comal County has all nine of its ramps open: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 22, and 23. Canyon Lake Shores, Ramp 22, was the last county holdout and is back. WORD has all four of the ramps it operates open: Ramp 3 and Ramp 4 at Comal Park, Ramp 10 at Cranes Mill Park, and Ramp 18 at Canyon Park. The Corps of Engineers' two free ramps, 17 at Little Jacob's Creek and 21 at Potter's Creek West, are open. Joint Base San Antonio confirmed by phone this morning that Ramps 14 and 15 at Jacobs Creek Park are open. Canyon Lake Marina's Ramp 19 has been open since July 20. Only two public ramps remain closed: Cranes Mill Marina (Ramp 9), which confirmed by phone today that it still has to relocate the entire marina before it can work on the ramp, and the campers-only ramp at Potter's Creek East (Ramp 20), which we have not been able to reconfirm. Below is the full status of all 23 ramps, who operates each one, what each one costs, and what is still closed. We will update this page as conditions change.

Quick Summary

A flood on the upper Guadalupe River watershed dropped 15 to 20 inches of rain above Canyon Lake in mid-July 2026, sending a peak of roughly 200,000 cubic feet per second toward the lake as measured at the USGS gauge at Comfort. The lake climbed more than 19 feet in about four days, reached full at 909.00 feet on the morning of July 21, and sits at 909.35 feet as of August 26, its first stretch at conservation pool since November 28, 2021. Access is nearly all the way back. Eighteen of the twenty public ramps are open as of August 26, and eleven of them are free: all nine county ramps (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 22, and 23) plus Corps Ramps 17 and 21. WORD's Ramps 3, 4, 10, and 18, JBSA's Ramps 14 and 15, and Canyon Lake Marina's Ramp 19 round out the open list. GBRA has stepped Canyon Dam releases down in stages, from a constant 300 cubic feet per second on August 6, to 250 on August 17, to 150 on August 20, as the lake works its way back toward conservation pool. Water quality testing has come back within acceptable standards for contact recreation, and the water has returned to the clear green color Canyon Lake is known for.

We Said This Would Happen

The video below was recorded when Canyon Lake was sitting at its all-time record low. At the time, plenty of people had written the lake off. What we said then, based on nothing more exotic than the lake's own history, was that Canyon Lake would fill again, and that when it did, it could happen in a single event rather than through a slow seasonal recovery.

That is exactly what happened. One storm system in the upper watershed took the lake from 61 percent full to completely full, with most of the rise packed into four days. We are leaving this video up because the reasoning in it is the same reasoning we give buyers who are nervous about a low lake, and this time the lake proved the point for us.

Which Canyon Lake Boat Ramps Are Open Right Now?

Eighteen ramps, eleven of them free. Here is the full picture as of August 26, confirmed as noted.

OPEN: Ramps 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 22, and 23 (Comal County, free). Every county ramp is back. Comal County Commissioner Doug Leecock announced on August 25 that all nine county-operated ramps were open, crediting equipment operators from WORD of Comal County and Corps of Engineers lake management for helping clear the debris that had blocked the last of them. That announcement closed out a stretch in which a few county ramps reopened, then had to close again as flood debris drifted around the lake and settled on ramps that had already been cleared once. Ramp 5 at Canyon Lake Forest was among the ramps Leecock specifically named as back in business, and Canyon Lake Shores, Ramp 22, which had been the county's last closure, is open as well. The county's live boat ramp status map shows all nine open as of August 26. The county's ground rules apply at every ramp: they are for launch and recovery only, so loitering, day camping, and fishing near the ramps are not permitted, and parking rules for cars and trailers will be enforced under the Comal County Boat Ramp Order and the WORD Water Safety Ordinance.

OPEN: Ramp 3 and Ramp 4 at Comal Park, and Ramp 10 at Cranes Mill Park (WORD). WORD reopened Comal Park and Canyon Park at 10 a.m. on July 21, which brought Ramp 3 and Ramp 18 back. On July 31 it added two more: Ramp 4 at Comal Park West, giving Comal Park two launch lanes, and Ramp 10 at Cranes Mill Park. All facilities at both parks are open. That is every WORD-operated ramp on the lake in service. Keep in mind that Ramp 4 is Comal Park's overflow ramp, so WORD opens it when the park needs the extra capacity rather than as a matter of course.

OPEN: Ramp 17 at Little Jacob's Creek and Ramp 21 at Potter's Creek West (Corps of Engineers, free). Both Corps free ramps have been open since late July. These two are worth knowing about, because most people looking for a free ramp on Canyon Lake think only of the county ramps and overlook these. We called the Corps' Canyon Lake office three times on August 26 and did not reach anyone, so our last direct confirmation on these two is still July 27. Local reporting on August 25 listed both as open, and nothing we have seen suggests otherwise, but we date our sources honestly rather than refresh a date we did not earn.

OPEN: Ramp 18 at Canyon Park (WORD). Open since 10 a.m. on July 21.

OPEN: Ramps 14 and 15 at Jacobs Creek Park (Joint Base San Antonio). Both of JBSA's public ramps are open, confirmed by phone with JBSA staff on August 26 and matching JBSA's own ramp status page the same day. Jacobs Creek Park runs 7 a.m. to dark, with last entry two hours before sunset. Entry is $15 per vehicle for DoD cardholders and $20 per vehicle for everyone else. This is the one place on the lake where a lot of people assume they cannot launch because of the military affiliation. Jacobs Creek Park is open to the public.

OPEN: Ramp 19, Canyon Lake Marina. Open since July 20. A launch pass is $30 and can be purchased from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and all boats must be off the water by midnight. Confirm details with the marina before you go.

Still CLOSED: Cranes Mill Marina (Ramp 9) and the Corps' campers-only ramp at Potter's Creek East (Ramp 20). That is two of the twenty public ramps, and we cover the reason behind each one below.

One note for river folks: Canyon Dam regulates what flows out of the lake, which is why the upstream flooding never reached the lower Guadalupe below the dam. With releases now at 150 cubic feet per second, River Road and the Horseshoe are running normal recreational flows, still well above where they sat before the July rain. Conditions on the upper Guadalupe west of the lake are a different story, with debris removal ongoing after the flood, so check before you put in upstream.

Where the Lake Stands Today

Canyon Lake touched its conservation pool elevation of 909.00 feet at 8:15 a.m. on July 21, 2026, and has held above it since. As of the morning of August 26 the lake sits at 909.35 feet, 0.35 feet into the flood pool, with flood storage about 1 percent utilized. The lake has given back 0.73 feet since our August 10 update, including about a quarter of a foot over the past week and four hundredths in the last 24 hours. It is easing down, slowly and on purpose.

The reason is a staged change in operations. On August 5, GBRA announced that in coordination with the Corps of Engineers it would move Canyon Dam releases to a constant 300 cubic feet per second beginning August 6, replacing the previous schedule of 250 Thursday through Sunday and 150 Monday through Wednesday. As the lake came down, GBRA stepped the rate back: to 250 cubic feet per second on August 17, then to 150 on August 20, with the stated purpose of continuing to reduce the flood pool while inflows remained elevated. Inflow into the lake was running about 270 cubic feet per second on the morning of August 26 against the 150 going out, and the lake is still drifting down a few hundredths of a foot a day, which in late August is mostly evaporation doing the work. GBRA has said it will keep adjusting releases as reservoir levels and inflows change.

If you are wondering whether a drawdown puts ramp access back at risk, it does not. The highest low-water closure threshold on the entire lake belongs to Ramp 5 at Canyon Lake Forest, which closes below 905.15 feet. The lake is more than four feet above that, and a drawdown aimed at conservation pool stops at 909.00. Nothing closes on the way down.

One thing worth understanding: 909.00 feet is the top of the conservation pool, which is what "100 percent full" refers to. A lake can rise above that into what is called the flood pool, and Canyon Lake is about a third of a foot into it now. That matters for ramp access, because a handful of ramps have high-water closure thresholds rather than low-water ones. The nearest is Ramp 21 at Potter's Creek West, which closes above 910.73 feet, about 1.4 feet above where the lake sits today. Ramp 20 at Potter's Creek East follows at 910.76 and Ramp 10 at Cranes Mill Park at 910.95. With the lake trending down, a high-water closure would take significant new rain in the upper watershed.

The other thing people are noticing is the water itself. The muddy brown that came down with the flood surge has cleared, and the lake is back to the clear green color it is known for. Boaters, anglers, and swimmers are out in numbers that look like a normal Central Texas summer, which after four and a half years is the whole point.

What Happened: The July 2026 Flood

Between July 13 and July 18, 2026, the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio office estimated 15 to 20 inches of rain across the upper Guadalupe River watershed above Canyon Lake, in the Kerrville area and the surrounding Hill Country. That is the water that feeds the lake.

All of that rain funneled downstream. At the USGS gauge on the Guadalupe River at Comfort, upstream of Canyon Lake, discharge peaked at roughly 200,000 cubic feet per second on the morning of July 16. For perspective, the same gauge was running around 800 cubic feet per second before the storm. That is the surge that filled the lake.

The result on the lake itself was dramatic. And it happened even faster than most people realize. The lake was still sitting at its pre-flood level on July 14. The real climb ran from July 14 to July 18: more than 19 feet in about four days, with the rest arriving over the following four.

The July 17 jump stands out even against the table. That 10.16-foot rise in a single day is the fourth largest one-day rise in the daily record, which begins in 1988, and the largest ever measured while the lake was below full. To put the whole picture together: a little over a year ago, in late May 2025, Canyon Lake hit its all-time record low of 876.96 feet at 45.1 percent full. From the time the lake first filled in 1968 until this current drought cycle, it had never dropped below about 82 percent full, so 2025 was genuinely historic. Now, roughly fourteen months later, a single flood has carried it all the way back to full, with most of the rise packed into four days. Record dry to completely full in about fourteen months. That is the Central Texas lake cycle in fast motion, and it is worth remembering the next time the lake looks low.

The gap this closed is longer than the drought itself. Comal County put the last time Canyon Lake sat at 909 feet at November 28, 2021, four years, seven months, and twenty-three days before it happened again on July 21. Corps of Engineers Canyon Lake Manager Brett Mazey described it as the first time in four and a half years that the lake had reached conservation pool.

Why Some Ramps Are Still Closed

The lake is full and eighteen ramps are open, so what is left?

The county is done. All nine Comal County ramps are open as of August 25, and the road there is worth a sentence, because it explains why this page changed more than once in August. Flood water carries trees, brush, lumber, propane tanks, pieces of dock, and other hazards into the lake, and that material does not stay put. Debris fields drifted with the wind and settled on ramps that had already been cleared, which forced a few county ramps to close a second time after reopening. Commissioner Doug Leecock said the August 25 reopening of the last ramps came out of WORD of Comal County and Corps lake management putting equipment operators and county resources together to remove what was blocking the access points. Every ramp on the lake clears its low-water threshold at this elevation, so none of the closures this month were about the lake being too low.

Cranes Mill Marina, Ramp 9, still has to move the marina. The marina told us by phone on August 3 that it was clearing debris first, then moving the marina, and would work on opening the boat ramp after that. When we called again on August 26, the update was that the marina still has to pull the whole marina before the ramp comes back, and there is still no timeline. That order of operations is why the marina is behind the public ramps rather than an indication that anything is wrong. Note that this is a separate facility from Cranes Mill Park, which is operated by WORD and whose Ramp 10 reopened on July 31.

Ramp 20 at Potter's Creek East is a campers-only ramp we have not been able to reconfirm. We are listing it as closed because that is its last confirmed state, not because anyone has told us it is still closed. We tried the Corps' Canyon Lake office three times on August 26 and did not get through. If you are camping at Potter's Creek, check with the park rather than relying on this page for that one.

The good news is that the water itself has checked out. Water quality testing has been conducted at multiple locations on Canyon Lake, with results confirming conditions are within acceptable standards for contact recreation. Swimming is at the individual's discretion, with the usual caution that a natural body of water can hold currents, submerged debris, and other hazards, and swimming in the boat ramp areas is strictly prohibited.

We were out on the lake during the rise and offered one hopeful observation at the time: there appeared to be visibly less debris in the water than during the July 2025 flood. With eighteen ramps open inside of six weeks from the flood peak, that read has held up, even allowing for the drifting debris that sent a few ramps back into closure along the way.

Canyon Lake Boat Ramp Status: The Public Ramps

These are the 20 ramps that are open to the public under normal conditions, whether free or for a fee. As of August 26, eighteen are open. The "closes below" and "closes above" columns are the water-level thresholds that govern access in normal times. At the current level of 909.35 feet, every ramp clears its low-water threshold, so the two remaining closures are about facility work and confirmation, not elevation.

* Note on Ramp 3 (Comal Park East): The 902.50 and 913.00 figures come from the Corps ramp survey and have not been independently re-verified. The ramp is open either way at the current level.

Note on Ramps 14 and 15 (Jacobs Creek Park, JBSA): Jacobs Creek Park is open 7 a.m. to dark, with last entry two hours before sunset. Entry is $15 per vehicle for DoD cardholders and $20 per vehicle for non-DoD visitors. Despite the military operator, this park is open to the general public. Status confirmed by phone with JBSA staff and against JBSA's ramp status page on August 26.

Note on Ramp 19 (Canyon Lake Marina): Launch passes are $30 and can be purchased at the marina from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. All boats must be off the water by midnight. Confirm details with the marina before you go.

Note on Ramp 20 (Potter's Creek East Camp Area): This ramp serves registered campers only, and we have not been able to reconfirm its status since the Corps reopened Ramps 17 and 21. We are listing it as closed because that is its last confirmed state, not because anyone has told us it is still closed. Campers should check with the park.

Note on Ramps 17 and 21 (Corps of Engineers, free): Our last direct confirmation from the Corps is July 27. We called the Corps' Canyon Lake office three times on August 26 without reaching anyone. Local reporting on August 25 listed both ramps as open, and nothing suggests either has closed, but we date our sources honestly rather than refresh a date we did not earn.

Ramps Not Open to the Public

These three ramps cannot be used by the general public even when the lake is open and even for a fee, so we track them separately.

Note on Ramp 13 (Sunny Side): Open 8 a.m. to dark, $15 per vehicle, DoD access only. Last entry is 4 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Note on Ramp 16 (Hancock Cove): This one is a permanent change rather than a flood closure. JBSA confirmed to us by phone that Ramp 16 is permanently closed with no plans to reopen it. If you have used Hancock Cove in the past, plan on Jacobs Creek Park or Sunny Side instead. Canyon Lake now has 22 ramps in service or capable of service, not 23.

Why We Maintain This Page

There is no single official source that tells you which Canyon Lake boat ramps are open. Canyon Lake's 23 ramps are operated by five different authorities, and none of them publish each other's status: Comal County (9 ramps), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with WORD (7), Joint Base San Antonio (4), two private marinas, and the Lake Canyon Yacht Club (1). This reopening has made that especially clear, because each authority has made its own call on its own timeline. Today's status came together from the county's live boat ramp map, Comal County Commissioner Doug Leecock's August 25 announcement, WORD and GBRA release announcements, Corps of Engineers real-time lake data, Joint Base San Antonio's ramp status page and a phone call to its staff, and a call to Cranes Mill Marina. It also includes three unanswered calls to the Corps' Canyon Lake office, which is why the Corps ramps carry older confirmation dates than everything else on this page. Those calls are where the useful detail lives. "Ramp 16 is closed" and "Ramp 16 is permanently closed with no plans to reopen" are very different pieces of information, and only one of them tells you to stop checking. We do that legwork and put it in one place, and we update it as conditions change. Where we cannot confirm something, we say so rather than guess.

The Lake on July 17, 2026: A Snapshot

A friend of the team captured these drone photos on July 17, 2026, as the flood water was still rising. Each photo is stamped with its date and the lake elevation at that moment, so keep in mind these show the lake at roughly 902 to 906 feet. The lake has since finished the climb, cleared up, and is now completely full. These are a snapshot of a remarkable week, not the current shoreline.

The debris visible around Ramp 23 above is exactly what the county closures were about. Crews cleared it ramp by ramp, some of it twice, and all nine county ramps are now open.

Ramp 11 at Cypress Cove, five days before it reopened. The muddy water in this photo is the flood surge still working its way down the lake. That color is gone now.

Not every corner of the lake was muddy even at the height of the rise. In the deeper, calmer coves like the one at Ramp 1 above, the water was already running clear and green while the river arms were still brown. Four days after this photo was taken, Ramp 1 was one of the first free ramps to reopen, and today the whole lake looks like this photo.

What This Means for Canyon Lake Real Estate

The last six weeks are a live demonstration of something we tell buyers all the time. Canyon Lake is a fluctuating lake, and its level rises and falls with rainfall and drought the same as Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan. People who watched the lake sit low through the drought and assumed it would stay that way just watched it go from record territory to completely full, with most of the rise happening in four days. We said on video, at the bottom, that this was how it would go. The lake's own history said so.

For buyers, the takeaway is not to time the lake. It is to understand how a specific property behaves across the full cycle. Canyon Lake is a Corps of Engineers reservoir, which means no private docks. Access to the water comes through the marinas and public ramps rather than a dock in your backyard, so the things that drive value here are different: how close a property sits to a marina or ramp, cove position and views, the slope and walk down to the water, how much usable shoreline a lot keeps as the lake rises and falls, and the relationship of the structure to the 948 line. With eighteen ramps open and the lake holding at full, access is as good as it has been in nearly five years, which is part of what makes Canyon Lake so appealing right now. Our post on how lake levels affect property values in Central Texas walks through the mechanics, and if you are looking at anything near the shoreline, Canyon Lake flowage easements and the 948 line is worth reading before closing.

It is also worth saying plainly: a flood is a reminder that waterfront carries real risk alongside real reward. Understanding flood history, elevation, and how a home sits relative to the water is exactly the kind of due diligence a waterfront specialist is for. Our post on whether waterfront homes flood addresses the biggest misconception buyers have about this.

Work With Canyon Lake Waterfront Specialists

Buying or selling on Canyon Lake is not a standard real estate transaction. Because Canyon Lake is a Corps of Engineers reservoir with no private docks, value moves with cove position and views, proximity to a marina or ramp, the slope down to the water, flowage easements, the 948 line, and how a specific parcel behaves when the lake swings from drought low to full, as it just did. Those are not things a general agent tracks.

Hunter Croan, owner of The Lakefront Group, built this team around Central Texas waterfront exclusively and has spent his life on these lakes. On Canyon Lake specifically, Hagan Cohle works with buyers on the details that decide whether a property performs across the full water cycle, bringing a Finance and Economics background to the analysis. For sellers, Frank Baker has been a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser since 2000 and has lived in the New Braunfels and Canyon Lake area for nearly 30 years, so he prices Canyon Lake property on what it is actually worth rather than on whatever the lake happens to be doing that month.

We also see a meaningful number of Canyon Lake properties that never reach the MLS. If you want to know what is trading quietly, read the importance of access to off-market properties and then talk to us.

Canyon Lake Boat Ramp FAQs

Which Canyon Lake boat ramps are open right now?

Eighteen of the twenty public ramps as of August 26, 2026. All nine Comal County ramps, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 22, and 23, are open and free. Corps Ramps 17 at Little Jacob's Creek and 21 at Potter's Creek West are open and free. WORD has Ramp 3 and Ramp 4 open at Comal Park, Ramp 10 at Cranes Mill Park, and Ramp 18 at Canyon Park. Joint Base San Antonio has Ramps 14 and 15 open at Jacobs Creek Park. Canyon Lake Marina (Ramp 19) is open with a $30 launch pass. Still closed: Cranes Mill Marina (Ramp 9) and the campers-only Corps Ramp 20 at Potter's Creek East.

Are any free boat ramps open on Canyon Lake?

Yes, all eleven of them. County Ramps 1 (Canyon Lake Village), 2 (Canyon Lake Village West), 5 (Canyon Lake Forest), 6 (Canyon Lake Hills East), 7 (Canyon Lake Hills West), 8 (Canyon Springs Resort), 11 (Cypress Cove), 22 (Canyon Lake Shores), and 23 (Mystic Shores) are all free, along with Corps Ramps 17 (Little Jacob's Creek) and 21 (Potter's Creek West). Those last two get overlooked because most people only think of the county ramps when they are looking for a free launch. Remember the ramp rules: launch and recovery only, no loitering or fishing near the ramps, and parking rules are enforced.

Is Boat Ramp 22 at Canyon Lake Shores open?

Yes. Ramp 22 was the last county ramp to come back, held up by an accumulation of flood debris through most of August. Commissioner Doug Leecock announced on August 25 that all nine county ramps were open, and the county's live boat ramp map shows Ramp 22 open as of August 26, 2026. It is a free county ramp.

How much does it cost to launch a boat on Canyon Lake?

It depends entirely on which ramp you pick. The eleven county and Corps free ramps cost nothing. WORD charges park entry at Comal Park, Cranes Mill Park, and Canyon Park. Joint Base San Antonio charges $15 per vehicle for DoD cardholders and $20 per vehicle for non-DoD visitors at Jacobs Creek Park, which is open to the public despite the military operator. Canyon Lake Marina sells a $30 launch pass, available 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with all boats off the water by midnight.

Is Canyon Lake full?

Yes. Canyon Lake reached its conservation pool elevation of 909.00 feet on the morning of July 21, 2026, and sits at 909.35 feet as of August 26, 0.35 feet into the flood pool. That completes a rise of roughly 21 feet from its pre-flood level, most of it in four days, and closes a gap of more than four and a half years since the lake was last at 909 feet on November 28, 2021.

Is the water clear at Canyon Lake again?

Yes. The muddy brown water that came down with the flood surge has cleared, and the lake has returned to the clear green color it is known for. Water quality testing has been conducted at multiple locations on the lake, with results within acceptable standards for contact recreation. Swimming is at the individual's discretion, and visitors are encouraged to use good judgment, since a natural body of water can hold currents, submerged debris, and other hazards, especially after a flood. Swimming in the boat ramp areas is strictly prohibited.

Why are some ramps still closed if the lake is full?

Only two are, and neither is about water level. Cranes Mill Marina is a private facility working through its own sequence: debris first, then relocating the entire marina, then the ramp. As of August 26 it is still on the marina relocation step with no timeline. Ramp 20 at Potter's Creek East serves registered campers only, and we have not been able to reconfirm it with the Corps. Every ramp on the lake clears its low-water threshold at this elevation. The county closures that stretched through August were all about flood debris, some of which drifted onto ramps that had already been cleared once, and those are now resolved.

Why is Canyon Lake dropping if it just filled?

On purpose, though more slowly now. GBRA, in coordination with the Corps of Engineers, has been releasing water from Canyon Dam to bring the reservoir gradually back toward its normal conservation pool: a constant 300 cubic feet per second starting August 6, cut to 250 on August 17, and cut again to 150 on August 20. Inflow was running about 270 cubic feet per second on August 26 against 150 going out, and the lake is easing down a few hundredths of a foot a day, with late-summer evaporation doing much of the work. This does not affect ramp access. The highest low-water closure threshold on the lake is 905.15 feet at Ramp 5, and a drawdown aimed at conservation pool stops at 909.00.

Will the lake stay full?

For the near term, yes, with the caveat that "full" means at or near 909.00 feet rather than in the flood pool. Releases are set to draw the lake back down toward conservation pool, and the summer heat and a draining watershed will do the rest. Longer term, Canyon Lake will fluctuate again, because that is what a fluctuating lake does. The useful thing to remember is how fast the last swing went in both directions.

Could high water close any ramps?

It would take a further rise of about 1.4 feet, and the lake is currently moving the other way. The lowest high-water threshold among the open ramps belongs to Ramp 21 at Potter's Creek West, which closes above 910.73 feet, with Ramp 20 at 910.76 and Ramp 10 at 910.95 close behind. With the lake trending down, a high-water closure would take significant new rain in the upper watershed.

Is Hancock Cove (Ramp 16) coming back?

No. Joint Base San Antonio confirmed to us that Ramp 16 at Hancock Cove is permanently closed with no plans to reopen it. That is a permanent change to the lake rather than a flood closure. JBSA's other ramps are Sunny Side (Ramp 13, DoD access only) and Jacobs Creek Park (Ramps 14 and 15, open to the public).

Why do different sources give different answers about the ramps?

Because there is no single source. Canyon Lake's ramps are run by five separate authorities that do not publish each other's status. Today's status came from the county's live boat ramp map, Comal County Commissioner Doug Leecock's August 25 announcement, WORD and GBRA announcements, Corps of Engineers lake data, Joint Base San Antonio's ramp status page and a call to its staff, and a call to Cranes Mill Marina. Sources also go stale at different speeds, and a ramp listed as closed on a page written three days ago may well be open now. That is exactly why we maintain this page.

Did this flood set a record?

One record, yes, though not the one most people mean. The flood of record on Canyon Lake is still July 2002, when about a week of rain pushed an already full lake up roughly 40 feet to 950.32 feet, more than 7 feet over the emergency spillway. It remains the only time water has ever topped the spillway, and that six-week spill is what carved Canyon Lake Gorge. In the daily record, which begins in October 1988, the biggest single-day rises all came in floods like that one, floods that started full and climbed into the flood pool: 14.11 feet on July 4, 2002, 13.23 feet on June 23, 1997, and 12.39 feet on December 22, 1991. The 10.16-foot rise on July 17, 2026 ranks fourth.

Here is the record this flood does own: it is the largest rise ever measured while the lake was below full. Every bigger flood in the record began with a full lake. This one began in a drought at 61 percent full and rose 19.83 feet in four days entirely within the conservation pool, far beyond the previous below-full best of 11.45 feet set during the July 2025 flood. And one more piece has no precedent at all: the lake had never been as low as its all-time record low of 876.96 feet in May 2025, so the swing from record low to completely full in about fourteen months has never happened before in the lake's history.

Note: Conditions after a flood change quickly. Ramp operators can open or close a ramp at any time for debris, staffing, or safety. This page reflects what we have confirmed as of August 26, 2026. Always verify with the operating authority before heading to the lake.

Looking for Your Dream Lake House on Canyon Lake?

The lake that looked low in early July is completely full today, eighteen ramps are open, the water is back to that clear Canyon Lake green, and boats are everywhere. If watching this reminded you why you want to be on Canyon Lake, we would love to help you find the right waterfront home, one that performs across the full water cycle rather than just on a good day.

Explore our current Canyon Lake waterfront listings and sign up for Lake House Alerts to get access to exclusive off-market properties before they hit the market.