Lake Buchanan, Texas, United States

5kzsull01 5:00 PM May 1, 2019

Our Scenic Rides and Very Interesting Nature Cruises on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country
We have taken multiple scenic rides around and nature cruises on Lake Buchanan in both Burnet and Llano, Texas while visiting our daughter in Austin, Texas. We found that there is no road around the whole lake. So we have explored the East and West sides of the lake, which is over 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, separately. East Side of the Lake: To explore the East side of the lake, we have taken Texas 29 to FM 2341 which has various hills and mountains with a few nice views of the lake. Burnet County Park is about mid-lake on the East side, with good views. A few miles beyond the park off FM 2341, is the ‘Vanishing Texas River Cruise’, which is an excellent nature cruise on Lake Buchanan and then up the Colorado River. The cruise is quite enjoyable, being very interesting and informative, covering such aspects of the lake as its history, the geology of the lake and the surrounding area and the plant and wildlife comprising the environmental ecosystem of the lake. We have enjoyed both the Scenic Wilderness Cruise as well as the Eagle Cruise. Please refer to the below for further details about our experiences on this cruise. Finally, FM 2341 ends at Canyon of the Eagles Park, on the upper East side of the lake. Also, on the East side of the lake is the Buchanan Dam, which could be seen from Texas 29. From Burnet, take Texas 29 to Highway 690 to reach the dam. This dam is one of the largest of its kind in the US. West Side of the Lake: The West side of the lake is not as hilly as the East side, but the lake is more visible from the road on this side. We have taken Texas 29 to FM 261 to Llano County Park/Blackrock Park, which is on the Southwest corner of the lake. This park has a road with a rock jetty with very nice scenic views of the lake plus picnicking and fishing. There are also some nice views beyond this park on Route 225, however, this may be a bit too residential for sight-seeing. In addition, Cedar Point Park, off FM 2241 to FM 3014 has lake views. The ‘Vanishing Texas River Cruise (on the East Side of the Lake):’: . My husband and I took the ‘Vanishing Texas River Cruise’ on Lake Buchanan in Burnet, Texas on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019.. We took the two hour Scenic Wilderness Cruise that went on Lake Buchanan and up the Colorado River. The day started out cloudy and relatively cool but turned out to be beautiful while we were on the cruise, which helped make our cruise an excellent one!! This was the third time that we took the ‘Vanishing Texas River Cruise’ since May of 2016 and have always enjoyed it. Each time it has been different and definitely a worthwhile nature cruise. Our tour guide, Ali, had an impressive wealth of knowledge about the lake and the surrounding area. He provided great background information about the Colorado River, Texas’s longest River, as well as about the multiple highland lakes formed from the river and the surrounding Texas Hill Country, including its many canyons. He shared details about the history of Lake Buchanan, its unique geological formations, such as its bent and twisted limestone that was a result of the uplift of the land that caused the unique geography associated with the area, and about the plant and wildlife comprising the environmental ecosystem of the lake. The information that he provided was interesting, informative, educational and made our tour of the beautiful scenic lake very enjoyable, allowing us to have a great appreciation for the lake, its wildlife, and the surrounding Texas Hill Country. Ali pointed out multiple birds, including herons, osprey, ducks, Canadian Geese, a flock of white pelicans, cormorants, white egrets, and buzzards, among others. He provided information about the traits of each bird, including their colors, how they live and fly (including their wing patterns), and the process that they use to find and eat their food. He also pointed out and provided details about many different trees and plants growing on the banks of the river, including cactus, yucca, mountain laurels, vitex, blue bonnets, oak trees, elm trees, cedar trees, native pecan trees, fern and Texas Buckeye, among others. In addition, he pointed out a Feral hog. All the detailed information Ali shared was great and quite interesting!! Ali also provided very interesting details about the Comanche, who once lived in the area, including their ceremonial rock, and how they wiped out the Spanish settlements. We really liked the waterfall, the cave below it, and surrounding geological rock formations and their historic significance based on the background information that Ali provided. The willow trees growing on the boundary of the river channel, which were more than half covered with water, have an interesting tree structure, history and provide a diversity of growth and an infrastructure that widens the base of the food chain in the lake’s ecosystem. All quite interesting!! The cruise was an excellent experience and we highly recommend it to others. We have also taken this cruise in May of 2016 and the Eagle Cruise in December 2017 We are glad we took this cruise and we would definitely take it again. We hope that you have the opportunity to enjoy it as much as we did!!

4Kerry Constantin 5:00 PM Dec 15, 2020

Beautiful Lake
This lake is beautiful and offers many different activities from kayaking to fishing to motorsports. Be sure to visit the falls at the northwest end of the lake. It was difficult to find many free boat launches for our kayaks but we did find the LCR parks which are $5 for the day or $20 for the year and can be used at any of their parks. If feeling extremely adventurous you could put in at Colorado Bend State Park and take our at Lake Buchanan.