Established Camping
Cranes Mill Park
Warning 1 Alert is In Effect
There is 1 alert for this campground. Camp safely!
Warning 1 Alert is In Effect
There is 1 alert for this campground. Camp safely!
Air Quality at this campground may currently be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
About
US Army Corps of Engineers
Canyon Lake
Overview
Cranes Mill Park is located on a long peninsula on the southwestern shore of Canyon Lake in Texas Hill Country, halfway between Austin and San Antonio. Dramatic sunrises to the east of the park across Canyon Lake and sunsets on the western side of the park behind the Guadalupe River make this an unforgettable location.
Recreation
Cranes Mill Park offers a ramp for boating and two fishing piers. The Canyon Lake area has many options for recreation including: helicopter tours, boating, kayaking, canoeing, jet-skiing, dining, hiking, biking, fishing, camping, waterskiing, parasailing, horseback riding, guided gorge tours , river tubing, and much more. Anglers are welcome to try their hand at trout fishing in the Guadalupe River between the dam and New Braunfels.
Facilities
Cranes Mill Park hosts 30 RV sites, 34 tent sites, water and electrical at most sites, a dump station, restrooms with hot and cold showers, boat ramp in the park with restroom facilities, two fishing piers, adjacent marina and many undeveloped acres of land where the wildlife is abundant.
Natural Features
The Guadalupe River flows into Canyon Lake on the west side of Cranes Mill Park creating tranquil, warm summer evenings as the sun rests across the horizon. The peninsula is home to wildlife including deer, squirrel, fox, armadillo, raccoon, Cardinals, dove, Mockingbirds, finch and swallow.
Nearby Attractions
Some of the local attractions include: Historic Downtown Gruene Texas, Natural Bridge Caverns, Wonder World in San Marcos, Comal River, Guadalupe River, San Marcos River, Lake Dunlap, Lake McQueeny, historic downtown New Braunfels, San Antonio River Walk, Six Flags, Sea World and many others.
Charges & Cancellations
The reservation system has the right to charge fees for cancellation of a reservation, or for changes to a reservation. Changes include shortening a stay, extending a stay, or site transfers.
Location
Cranes Mill Park is located in Texas
Directions
From IH 35 take Exit 191 north of New Braunfels, Texas. FM 306 is exit 191. Drive west on FM 306 for about 14 miles. Turn left on FM 2673 at the red light just after the first Guadalupe River crossing. Cranes Mill Park is located at the westernmost end of FM 2673 and South Cranes Mill Road. Drive until FM 2673 goes down to a two lane road going through a neighborhood. Continue through the neighborhood. You will go down a steep incline and be at a Y in the road. Go left on at the Y and you have entered the park. The gate house is at the far end of the road past the marina.
Coordinates
29.8888889 N
98.2927778 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiFair
- VerizonGood
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileGood
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Tent Cabin
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Phone Service
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Water Hookups
- Big Rig Friendly
Nice size spaces
I passed off about 75 feet between sites. Most have views of the lake. At the moment the water level is very low and facilities near this campground are high and dry.
Great Family Spot
We LOVE this park! Recommend it to everyone!
Another fine COE campground
Disclaimer: I am biased towards COE campgrounds. Cheap, ample grass, trees, water, blue sky and stars at night. Usually a paved pad, reliable utilities, picnic table, fire ring, grill, friendly volunteers. Did I mention cheap? With a National Park Pass you get 50% off so nightly rate is usually $11-15 range. How can you go wrong. Almost always good site spacing, 20-30 feet. Almost always well maintained. Waaayy closer to camping than commercial RV parks.
Cranes Mill is 4 of 5 on COE scale, paved pads, pretty level. Good spacing, generally 25-30 feet. Hooded picnic table with usual fire ring, grill. Excellent bath houses. Canyon Lake was low when I was there (Nov,'22) but still fishing and boating activity. Small towns/shops <5miles, major shopping 15 miles. I'm going back in Feb'22 for another stay.
Good cell coverage - Verizon, 3bars LTE, 10+mb down, ATT 3bars LTE 10+mb down. I work remote so this is important. No issues in my ten day stay.
Green grass and a beautiful lake
Sights are not real level but still a nice park. Bathrooms have recently been remodeled
Another Enjoyable Experience
Our $15 a day rate reflects America The Beautiful/Access Pass. Arrived about 3:30 PM as you cannot check in before 3:00 PM. Check in was quick and easy. We were not provided with a map nor rules sheet but the info is on park info boards and it's such a small park, you don't need a map. We had no problem backing into site 17 with water& 50/30 AMP. Water pressure was good. We did have to be careful when backing in as there was a trash dumpster at the entrance of the site. The sites here are huge and the cement pad is long plus there’s a parking space for a vehicle or boat. All the RV sites have water& electric. Most RV sites looked level, but there were a couple of interior sites that had a slight hill. There was a fire ban so no fires but grills either propane or charcoal were allowed. We received a few OTA channels but there was a clear shot to the southern sky for satellite. We got 2 bars on Verizon and with our JetPack we could get internet, call, and text service. There was no formal dog area but we could walk down to the boat ramp and through the tent area. Early each morning there were deer wondering throughout the park. Fishing was also decent off the shore. If I had my kayak, it would have been fairly easy to launch behind the camp site.
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Beautiful Campground - Convenient to large cities as well!
We stayed here almost 2 weeks! Absolutely beautiful, quiet campground. Weekends were busier with the boaters. Site was level. Very Spacious and away from neighbors. AT&T and T-Mobile coverage. Picnic Table was the best design. It had a tin roof for shading. Lots of deer to watch in the morning and evenings. They did have a very strict 10 pm curfew to get back into the campground. We had a great time in New Braunfels, San Antonio and Austin! Be sure to visit Goofy's Bar & Grill and Dam Red Barn there in Canyon Lake as well.
Canyon Lake Beauty
Saw this park on an episode of Grand Adventure with Marc Guido. We were able to reserve the site from the episode and Marc’s review was spot on. A great small park on beautiful Canyon Lake in legendary Texas Hill Country.
The park is perfectly situated to explore the Hill Country. Austin, San Marcos, Gruene Hall, Luckenbach and much more all within a short drive.
Nice Spot for a weekend
Nice small campground a bit off the beaten path. Our tent site was surrounded by a low pipe fence. We parked in our designated parking spot (2 vehicles allowed) and had to walk about 30 yards to our site. It wasn’t horrible but the fence meant we couldn’t roll from the car straight there. We had a beautiful view of the lake! I loved the covered table and surrounding pad. Nice fire pit. I also liked that we saw the sheriff and a host drive through the campground a few times. The bathhouse was functional but poorly maintained. It would have benefited from a daily sweep and counter wipe down at minimum. There was one bathhouse for the whole campground so it is a fairly long walk from the peninsula end to the toilet. A bike would be a good accessory. The boat ramp was closed and gated on our trip we weren’t sure why. This was disappointing because we weren’t able to get our kayaks in the water. I’m not sure if the closure is temporary.
Great COE park
This is a great park. Much like the others in the area. The bathrooms were clean and the staff was very friendly. Close ramp access to the lake.
Nice and clean
Good condition. Paved pads not level. No playground or beach. Good fishing.
Great place on Canyon Lake
Great state park. Right on Canyon Lake. Clean sites and bathrooms. Quiet campground overall.
great place
Plenty of room on each campsite close to stores clean bathhouse
100% Recommend
Great park! Very clean and the sites are well maintained. They aren’t all level but compared to other campgrounds they are pretty even. Loved the extra parking spot for our truck. This campground feels super secluded away from the bustle of town, but is an easy 30-40 mins drive into New Braunfels/San Antonio. I’d recommend picking up food at the H‑E‑B on they way in. There is a Lowe’s grocery store near by but the selection of organic produce was non existent. Didn’t have a chance to explore the towns near by but did spend a lot of time in New Braunfels which is very quaint. We’d recommend and if we’re ever back in the area would stay again.
Peace and quiet
Nice open space with a lot of places for camping far from other sites. The Stars looked amazing at night. Ended up staying an extra night because we didn't want to leave. The bathrooms were very clean and showers were amazing.
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Really nice spot
We stained over New Years, beautiful little spot. Camp was very clean and had decent large bathrooms with a clean shower. Sites are large and well maintained, covered area was very nice and sturdy. Large amount of room between sites. No sewer hock up so we had to pump out. No fires they had a burn ban in effect but we were allowed to grill. Had a few visitors to the site. Would definitely stay again, very nice small RV park.
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Serene setting at dusk
Cranes mill is a National Park. I purchased the senior lifetime pass and was able to stay every night for half price at this serene park. We arrived on the afternoon of Columbus Day weekend and we're happy that the park cleared out a bit on Monday. The views were spectacular at sunset. I appreciated camping on a small peninsula being able to see Canyon Lake on both sides of our campground. Most of the pads were fairly level though ours was a bit steep. We were disappointed that there was a burn ban at that time. The small town of Startzeville is very near with adequate grocery and forgotten item facilities. We found this a very nice, clean and quiet camp site in near proximity of home.
RV Camping
Nice RV Camping close to the Lake
great park on canyon lake
like to use the park across from this , Ft. sam army park, but they are all nice on canyon lake
Clean Campground
The water level of Canyon Lake was down so access to the water wasn’t real easy. once in the water it was great floating in a tube. very clean bathrooms. each campsite has a covered picnic table, barbs and fire pit. I will definitely return.
Great place
Quiet and peaceful
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Canyon Lake
I absolutely love canyon lake and have been to pretty much all of the surrounding parks. Cranes Mill has great trees for hammock camping as well as traditional camp sites. There are all the normal amenities you'd expect and there is a lot of space for everyone to spread out. Definitely recommend the park!