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Old 04-11-2008, 12:53 AM
 
146 posts, read 517,037 times
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I'm considering relocating from central IL. to the Austin/Round Rock area at some point. I ruled out the Dallas area due to the exremely poor air quality of the suberbs near Irving (the location of the company I work for in the Dallas area). Abilene would fit my family's budget better but my wife and I don't like the cold/snow and isolated location. I haven't had a chance to research the San Antonio area yet. Any suggestions?

Anyway, as unimportant as it might seem, one thing we'd like to live near is a good lake beach. I've been having a hard time finding any lake beaches in Texas. My online searches haven't came up with anything. I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me, on this thread or by PM, where there is a lake beach in or near Austin. I'd like to find a few big enough to play volleyball or football near the water with family and friends but if they don't exist in Texas then a small beach would be ok too.
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Old 04-11-2008, 06:58 AM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
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Lake Travis, and there is a great lake in Georgetown...
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Old 04-11-2008, 10:01 AM
 
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jenbar, are there fairly big sandy beaches there also?
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Old 04-11-2008, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
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Lake Travis has Volente Beach and Paleface Park. Georgetown also has a nice smaller beach. There is also Lake Austin, Lady Bird Lake, and Lake Buchanan. Inks, LBJ, and Canyon are other large lakes around the San Antonio, Austin corridor, but not familiar with beaches on those. Oh, wait. Buchanan has an island that, if you have a boat, lots of people frequent and it has sandy shore. There are more Lakes, swimming holes, creeks and rivers around here than you can throw a stick at. I've heard the beach area at Lake Georgetown is somewhat a rocky texture as opposed to soft sand.
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Old 04-11-2008, 10:50 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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There are very few sand beaches on the lakes in Texas. Essentially every lake in the state is man-made by daming up a river; therefore, all the lakes are 'new', especially in geological terms. There are a few grassy beaches (I know Canyon has a nice one). Lake G'town has a pebble beach, but I would not play football there...

As for volleyball, I think Carlos n Charlies has a sand court right there by the lake, not sure what the rules/cost for using it. Aussie's (downtown) has a couple of sand courts, too, and Zilker Park is pretty much perfect for a football game (or ultimate is more popular), but it is grass as well. Zilker does have 4 sand courts for VB and there is Barton springs pool right there....
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Old 04-11-2008, 10:48 PM
 
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roses and trainwreck, I want to thank you both for being a big help with all the info the two of you took the time to type to a total stranger. Have a good weekend.
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Old 04-12-2008, 06:51 PM
 
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benandgrace, we visited Lake Michigan in January And the beach was beautiful and really BIG (and covered in snow of course ) ! I'm afraid there's nothing like that around here.

Emma Long Park has a sandy beach and lots of grassy, shady areas by the water. And as loveroses mentioned, Volente Beach Water Park has a pretty nice sandy beach and you can get a season pass. One thing you can do on Lake Travis that you probably wouldn't in Illinois is find a nice cove with rocky cliffs for swimming, jumping off the cliffs, etc. The water is warm and clear and we spend a lot of our time IN it or ON it, not beside it
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Old 04-12-2008, 08:00 PM
 
146 posts, read 517,037 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texastea View Post
benandgrace, we visited Lake Michigan in January And the beach was beautiful and really BIG (and covered in snow of course ) ! I'm afraid there's nothing like that around here.

Emma Long Park has a sandy beach and lots of grassy, shady areas by the water. And as loveroses mentioned, Volente Beach Water Park has a pretty nice sandy beach and you can get a season pass. One thing you can do on Lake Travis that you probably wouldn't in Illinois is find a nice cove with rocky cliffs for swimming, jumping off the cliffs, etc. The water is warm and clear and we spend a lot of our time IN it or ON it, not beside it

Thanks for the info . I do travel up to Indiana Dunes Beach on occasion in the summer. My wife has relatives near there. It's nice there but I don't want to move to that area on due to the very cold weather. My wife also has relatives in Oceanside CA and I like the beach there. I can't afford CA, so I'll have to settle for warm and hot weather in TX with man made beaches. Anyway, I'm wondering if some of the lake texoma beaches and islands are as nice as those at Indian Dunes. Anyone have any opinions? I've checked out lake travis and lake texoma online. Both are nice but lake texoma seems to have nice islands and the best beaches. I read on another website about there being white (transported there I assume) sand at certain spots around lake texoma. I'm wondering if that is true. If I was to base my decision on outdoor recreation alone (which I'm not, but it is big factor) between Austin and Dallas, it would be hard. The Dallas area seems to have the nicer beach but Austin seems to have more outdoor activities and scenery. The Dallas area tornado/straight line wind/storms could be the deciding factor for a move near Austin.

Has anyone reading this thread been to lake texoma? IMO, it looks great from the pics.

Island pics:
http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/lake_texoma_2005

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http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/image/21157365

http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/image/14879085


One more question. In lake travis, texoma, or anywhere in texas other than a pool, are there alligaters or anything else dangerous to swimmers? Thanks.


Ben
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Old 04-13-2008, 06:18 AM
 
2,238 posts, read 9,014,679 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainwreck20 View Post
Essentially every lake in the state is man-made by daming up a river; therefore, all the lakes are 'new', especially in geological terms.
There is only 1 natural lake in Texas.
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Old 04-13-2008, 06:21 AM
 
2,238 posts, read 9,014,679 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by benandgrace View Post
One more question. In lake travis, texoma, or anywhere in texas other than a pool, are there alligaters or anything else dangerous to swimmers? Thanks.

Ben
you can definitely find a few alligators in SE Texas. All TX lakes though have water moccasins. Generally, if you stay away from the brushy shorelines and any floating vegetation, you'll stay clear of snakes though. The biggest risk on all TX lakes is alcohol. Probably 50% of boaters are drunk or high, at least on Lake Travis anyway.
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