New Braunfels, Texas

Introduction

New Braunfels sits at the confluence of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, thirty miles northeast of San Antonio and forty-five miles southwest of Austin on Interstate 35. The Comal River -- often called the shortest navigable river in Texas -- begins at Comal Springs inside Landa Park and flows less than three miles before joining the Guadalupe. The springs produce roughly 200 million gallons per day in normal conditions, making them the largest in Texas and among the largest in the American Southwest. The water emerges at 72 degrees year-round. That constant temperature, combined with the clarity of the spring-fed flow, is the reason millions of people float these rivers every summer and the reason the town exists where it does.

The city is the seat of Comal County (the fastest-growing county in Texas by percentage for multiple years running) and functions as both a bedroom community for San Antonio commuters on its southern edge and a standalone destination for river recreation, German food, live music at Gruene Hall, and Schlitterbahn. The I-35 corridor bisects the city and delivers most of its visitors -- and most of its traffic problems.

What New Braunfels Is Known For

1. The Comal River. Spring-fed, 72 degrees year-round, and short enough to float in two hours on the horseshoe loop. The party float. On summer Saturdays, hundreds of tubers fill the river can-to-can from Prince Solms Park to Hinman Island. The full Comal float (Landa Park to the Guadalupe confluence) takes three to four hours and is significantly less crowded.

2. The Guadalupe River. Longer, faster, more variable. Put in at Gruene (Rockin' R or Texas Tubes on Gruene Road) and float three to five hours depending on the take-out. Actual rapids in spots -- nothing dangerous, but enough to dump an inattentive tuber. Water temperature varies because the Guadalupe is not entirely spring-fed at this stretch.

3. Schlitterbahn. Opened August 2, 1979, when Bob and Billye Henry converted Camp Landa (a 13-acre riverside resort) into a waterpark with four slides and twenty lifeguards. The name means "slippery road" in German. The Henry family expanded it every year for four decades until selling to Cedar Fair in 2019 (now Six Flags). The original New Braunfels park remains the flagship -- it uses actual Comal River water in several attractions and sprawls across both sides of the river.

4. Gruene Historic District. A separate community absorbed by New Braunfels in 1979 (the same year Schlitterbahn opened). Gruene Hall, the Gristmill, the cotton gin ruins, and the antique shops on Hunter Road. Covered in its own page.

5. Wurstfest. A ten-day German heritage festival held every November at Landa Park since 1961. Attendance started at 10,000 and now exceeds 100,000 across the run. Sausage, beer, polka, and oompah bands in the Wursthalle. The event is one of the largest German festivals in the American South.

History and Heritage

Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels arrived in Texas in late 1844 as the Commissioner General of the Adelsverein -- the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, a colonization venture backed by German nobility. The society had purchased land grants in the Texas interior, but the grants were remote and largely inaccessible. Prince Carl needed a waystation between the coast (where immigrants landed at Indianola) and the interior grants.

On March 21, 1845 -- Good Friday -- surveyor Nicolaus Zink led the first wagon train of German settlers up the Guadalupe River to the ford of the San Antonio-Nacogdoches road. They camped at a site on Comal Creek (now Dry Comal Creek) chosen by Prince Carl for its reliable water from Comal Springs and its position on the main road between San Antonio and Austin. Zink platted town lots and farm lots and supervised construction of a stockade called Zinkenburg to protect against Comanche raids.

Prince Carl named the settlement for his family seat in Germany -- Braunfels, a castle town on the Lahn River in Hesse. He stayed only a few months before returning to Germany, replaced by John O. Meusebach, who proved a more practical administrator. But the colony thrived. The springs provided water power for gristmills and sawmills. The road provided commerce. By 1850, New Braunfels was the fourth-largest town in Texas, with a population exceeding 1,500.

The German character of the town persisted through the Civil War (many German Texans opposed secession, creating tension with Confederate authorities), through Reconstruction, and into the twentieth century. German was spoken in homes and churches into the 1940s. The Comal County Courthouse -- designed by J. Riley Gordon in Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1898 -- still anchors Main Plaza, which occupies the same site Zink platted in 1845. The courthouse was restored to its 1898 appearance at a cost of $3.5 million.

Tourism became the dominant industry after World War II. The completion of I-35 put New Braunfels within easy driving distance of both San Antonio and Austin. Natural Bridge Caverns opened in the early 1960s. Wurstfest began in 1961. Canyon Lake was completed in 1964, adding a reservoir to the existing river attractions. By the mid-1980s, the city supported thirty hotels and motels. By 2020, tourism and river recreation were generating hundreds of millions in annual economic impact.

The growth surge of the 2010s and 2020s has been primarily residential -- families and remote workers from Austin and San Antonio drawn by lower housing costs, good schools (Comal ISD), and proximity to both cities via I-35. The population increased by roughly 35% between 2020 and 2025. That growth has brought traffic congestion (I-35 through town is frequently gridlocked on summer weekends), school crowding, and the tension between preserving the town's character and accommodating its new residents.

The Rivers

The Comal River begins at Comal Springs inside Landa Park. The springs emerge from the Edwards Aquifer through multiple openings in the limestone -- the largest spring group in Texas, producing an average of 300 cubic feet per second (though flow varies with aquifer levels; during the 1956 drought, the springs nearly ceased). The water flows into 14-acre Landa Lake, then continues as the Comal River for approximately 2.5 miles before joining the Guadalupe River near downtown.

The Guadalupe River enters New Braunfels from the northwest, flowing through the Gruene area before receiving the Comal and continuing southeast toward the Gulf. Above New Braunfels, the Guadalupe is dam-controlled (Canyon Lake releases), which means its flow and temperature vary more than the spring-fed Comal.

For floating, the practical difference is this: the Comal is short, warm, clear, and crowded. The Guadalupe is longer, cooler, faster, and has more space between groups. The Comal horseshoe loop (Prince Solms Park to the tube chute and back) takes about two hours and requires no shuttle. The Guadalupe requires an outfitter shuttle between put-in and take-out.

Summer weekends on both rivers are extremely crowded. The city has implemented can bans, capacity limits, and noise ordinances in recent years to manage the impact. Weekday floats are meaningfully different experiences from Saturday floats.

Where to Stay

New Braunfels has a wide range of lodging, from river-adjacent vacation rentals to chain hotels on I-35. The Gruene area (covered separately) has B&Bs and boutique properties. For the rivers specifically, proximity to your put-in matters -- staying near Landa Park puts you on the Comal; staying on Gruene Road puts you on the Guadalupe.

Chain hotels cluster along I-35 (exit 187, 189, 190) and along Loop 337. Vacation rentals on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers are the premium option for groups -- many have direct river access and private tube launches. Rates spike dramatically on summer weekends and during Wurstfest.

Practical Information

- Getting there: I-35 from Austin (45 min without traffic) or San Antonio (30 min without traffic). On summer Saturdays, add 30-60 minutes for I-35 congestion through town.

- Parking: Downtown parking is limited on weekends. Landa Park has free lots but they fill by 10am on summer Saturdays. Outfitters provide parking with tube rental.

- River rules: No glass on either river. Styrofoam coolers banned on the Comal. Disposable containers banned on the Comal (reusable only). The Guadalupe is less restrictive but check current ordinances.

- River conditions: Check USGS gauge at Sattler (08167800) for Guadalupe flow. High water = outfitters close, no refunds. Comal Springs flow rarely drops enough to close the river, but during severe drought (2011, 2022-23) it has been restricted.

- Cell service: Good throughout town. Spotty on the rivers in some canyon sections of the Guadalupe.

- Groceries: H-E-B (multiple locations), Walmart, Costco on I-35.

- Pronunciation: New BRAWN-fels (not "Brown-fels"). Locals say it fast -- sounds like "New Braunfls."

Why New Braunfels Matters in the Region

New Braunfels is the largest city between Austin and San Antonio that is not a suburb of either. It has its own economy, its own identity, and its own gravity. The rivers make it a regional recreation destination (an estimated 1.5 million tubers per year on the Comal and Guadalupe combined). The German heritage gives it a cultural identity distinct from generic Texas Hill Country towns. And its position on I-35 -- the most-traveled highway in Texas -- means it absorbs growth whether it wants to or not.

For visitors, New Braunfels is the river town. The Comal and Guadalupe are the reason most people come, and the German food, Gruene Hall, and Schlitterbahn are what they discover once they arrive. For residents, it is a city in transition -- still small enough to feel like a town, growing fast enough that the feeling may not last.

New Braunfels, Texas. Comal County. Population approximately 125,000 (2024 estimate). At the confluence of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers on Interstate 35.