Joint Base San Antonio Canyon Lake Recreation Park

We stayed here for a couple days recently. Rain the first day, next day beautiful sunshine, next day rain. Just the way we like our trips! It was very nice, close to home for us. There were deer everywhere. I fed them apples. The came right up to our door. One day one of them stomped at Gerry, but then it might been the dogs he was walking. Very pleasant place. Will go again if we can get it. It stays pretty busy duty the summer months by the military people from Ft. Sam, Lackland and Randolph.

This is the former Randolph AFB recreation area at Canyon Lake, TX (sometimes called Sunny Side). On the other side of Jacobs Creek Road is the former Fort Sam Houston recreation area. Both areas are now run by Joint Base San Antonio and there is often some confusion between the two areas, which seem to each have different management. We stayed at the Ft Sam area a few weeks ago and were interested in how the Randolph side compares. Both have very similar facilities – boat ramp, marina, boat rentals, large picnic and swimming areas. The RV sites are very similar – level concrete pads with full W/E/S hook-ups, picnic tables and fire rings except the Randolph area does not have the shade covers found at most of the Ft Sam RV sites. Also, the Randolph sites are on an unpaved roadway, which can get a little dusty and they have no restroom facilities within easy walking distance of the RV sites. There were no homesteaders while we were there and, in fact, the place almost totally emptied out on Monday. There was no park Wi-Fi, but fairly good T-mobile and Sprint coverage. Be aware that there are some electric only sites which are really just the edge of a parking lot and are pretty small (pop-up sized). They are adequate and close to the lake, but be aware that they are not like the other RV sites. Both rec areas are excellent facilities with shady sites and lots of wildlife to admire and feed. (Don’t forget to bring a bag of deer corn.) The biggest difference we found was in the management. It was difficult to make a reservation at the Ft Sam side because they weren’t answering their phone (over two days of trying) and when they did answer they wouldn’t make a reservation because it was only fifteen minutes until closing time. We found them a little brusque when we got there. By comparison, the Randolph side answered the phone on the first try and were very cordial making the reservation and during check in.

GREAT place and the reception crew at the front gate were GREAT to work with....very friendly and helpful.  We were here for a week and found the facilities to be excellent and enjoyed our stay.  Highly recommended. Plus watching the deer walk all around our campsite was a real treat.