The water seems fairly clean, and there was, surprisingly, very little trash.Īll I can tell you about the water depth is that it is greater than 5 feet, the length of my paddle. I managed to entertain myself for several hours just playing around like this. The bridges are too low on the water to go underneath, but it's an easy drag-around. Okay, now what? Well, you can go for spins around the islands, explore the nooks and crannies, and drag the boat around the bridges to get to other areas. If you paddle at a leisurely 2 mph, then you can cover 2,000 feet in about 12 minutes. The lake is 90 acres in size, about 2,000-feet long, end to end. I had brought along my canoe dolly, so I loaded up my boat with my equipment, and wheeled it down the concrete path and through some grass, to the waterline. And a family who was throwing balls into the water for their two dogs to retrieve.įrom the parking lot to the water is a portage of about 100 yards. There was one couple who watched me with interest as I unloaded my canoe, who then went for a walk on the trails. I had the park almost entirely to myself. The distance from my home to the lake was just under 4 miles. I returned with my canoe on Sunday, a day when the construction workers wouldn't be active in the area, so they wouldn't have that as an excuse to keep me out. So, if challenged, that's my story public land, public park, open access, no boat prohibition. Furthermore, the 'Park Rules' sign says nothing about boats not being allowed. However, that's a future-tense statement, the park isn't officially open yet, and that seems to be just someone's plans for the future, but not yet codified in rules. But there was that blurb in the news story about ' there will be no boats'. According to the news stories and other research, the lake area is owned by the city of Katy, it's a public park, there are no locked gates or 'Keep Out' signs, so that eliminates the trespassing concern. I've never heard of anyone visiting this lake before, and I would like to be the first. I decided that a canoe paddle on the lake was possible and desirable. Several hours later, I had run out of new things to explore. I crossed the muddy bulldozed areas, and explored the huge two-story high piles of dirt.

And walked all the paved trails, crossed the bridges, and read the interpretive signs. I climbed up on top of the levee on the west side to get the high view of things. But it was exercise, and going fast wasn't important.

There was some difficulty crossing the field from my entry point due to thick, waist-high grass, and the shoreline was often choked with heavy brush. Note the paved walking trails, and the three boardwalk bridges extending out to small islands.Īnd in the last image the artist's rendition, the lake is behind the hotel and convention center. On the aerial view of the land, Katy Mills Mall is at the top left. In the news story, above, the thing that caught my attention is the line by the developer that ' it will feature walking trails but no boats or canoes'.

Hidden lake katy