Homes for Sale on the Guadalupe River

More About Guadalupe River Real Estate in New Braunfels

Where the River Runs Through New Braunfels

The section of the Guadalupe most people picture when they say "the Guad" begins at the Canyon Lake dam and ends where the river slows into Lake Dunlap on the southeast side of town. The listings on this page cover that whole stretch, and it splits into two very different markets. The upper portion is the River Road corridor: unincorporated Comal County, winding between the dam and Gruene, lined with outfitters, camps, and river cabins. The lower portion runs through Gruene and the city of New Braunfels, where riverfront homes sit inside established neighborhoods with city services, city zoning, and New Braunfels ISD or Comal ISD schools depending on the address. Confirm zoning and school attendance for any specific property before you commit.

River Road: Weekend Places and Second Homes

River Road is where most second-home and rental buyers land, and the reason is the same thing that makes it a harder full-time address: tubing season. From late spring through Labor Day the road carries steady traffic to and from the outfitters, and summer weekends are busy. Buyers who want a place to enjoy in the off-season and rent during the peak see that as the whole point. Buyers who plan to live there year-round should drive River Road on a Saturday in July before deciding. Outside of season the corridor goes quiet, the water below the dam runs clear and cold, and the cypress-lined bends are the ones on the postcards.

In-Town Riverfront and River-Access Neighborhoods

Inside and around the city, river living usually comes with a neighborhood attached. Riada has true riverfront lots plus an HOA park on the river for owners whose lots sit back from the water. River Place at Gruene has a riverfront HOA park as well, an easy walk from the shops and music at Gruene, the historic district inside the city limits that also holds a handful of riverfront homes of its own. River Oaks has a homeowners' park on the river at the Guadalupe Chute, one of the best-known rapids on this stretch. Upstream of Gruene, River Chase and Riverforest offer acreage homesites with private river access for buyers who want the water without a lot directly on it. Most buyers in these neighborhoods are primary-residence buyers who want the river as part of everyday life rather than a vacation, with downtown New Braunfels minutes away and drive times of roughly 35 minutes to downtown San Antonio and about 45 minutes to Austin, traffic depending.

A Word on Short-Term Rentals

Rental income is part of many buyers' math on this river, so one caution. Inside New Braunfels city limits, only a small number of waterfront properties sit in zoning that allows an owner to even apply for a short-term rental permit. Along River Road, in unincorporated Comal County, the rules are different. Before you underwrite a purchase on rental income, confirm the specific address with the city or the county, and do it before you write the offer rather than after. Our team can tell you early which properties have a realistic path and which do not.

The Full Guadalupe River Guide

This page is the New Braunfels view. For the waterfront side of the decision, the full guide lives with our sister company, The Lakefront Group: Guadalupe River homes for sale. Our owner, Hunter Croan, was raised on Lake McQueeney and lives on Lake Dunlap today, at the downstream end of this very stretch, so the river is not an abstraction to our team. It is home.

Ready to look at river homes? Contact us or call 830-302-4663. To see new Guadalupe River listings before the crowd, sign up for Lake House Alerts through The Lakefront Group. No junk email, just listings.