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Welcome to Canyon Lake RV Resort
The Friendliest Mission, TX RV Park
In the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas!

Make Canyon Lake RV Resort your vacation or retirement destination
in the subtropical climate of the beautiful Rio Grande Valley

Canyon Lake RV Resort is the finest Mission,TX RV park you'll find
  • 10-acre Private Lake & Island!
  • Texas-shaped Swimming Pool & Spa!
  • Large Spanish-style Recreation Hall!
  • Live Entertainment & Dancing!
  • Organized Activities & Tours!
  • Terrific Area Attractions!
  • Daily Activities Calendar!
  • Mexican Border only 15 minutes!
  • Convenient to Everything!
  • Super Competitive Rates!
  • Family-Owned Resort!
  • Famous South Texas Hospitality!

With mild temperatures, endless activities, and our welcoming community of friends, Canyon Lake RV Resort in Mission, TX is a wonderful place to spend the winter... or the whole year!

Our beautiful 55+ Rio Grande Valley RV Park features 419 level sites with full hook-ups for RVs and Park Models. We also have Park Models for rent and for sale, ready to set up on the site of your choice. What a great place to vacation... or to spend your golden years.

One of Canyon Lake RV Resort's greatest features is our own private 10-acre lake, with a foot bridge leading to our own private island! You'll love strolling across the bridge for a picnic under our beautiful gazebo.

Come enjoy our sparkling Texas-shaped heated swimming pool, invigorating whirlpool spa, shuffleboard courts and 10,000 square foot recreation hall with billiards room & library.

Our Rio Grande Valley RV Park Offers South Texas Activities Galore!

Enjoy fun activities such as daily line dancing, country music jams, pot luck nights, bocce ball, bingo, arts & crafts, and woodworking our very own fully equipped woodworking shop! And much, much more. There is so much to see and do... including just kicking back and doing nothing at all!

The palm-lined entrance to Canyon Lake RV Resort, the Rio Grande Valley campground of choice

Our Professional Activities Director also arranges memorable excursions to nearby attractions such as Padre Island, State Parks and exciting destinations when camping in the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico.

To ensure our guests enjoy every comfort and convenience, we have a large, modern on-site laundromat, weekly propane deliveries and produce truck, mail room, and available cable TV and phone hook-ups. You'll love all that our South Texas camping resort has to offer.

You'll also appreciate how close we are to every imaginable Rio Grand Valley camping convenience and service. We're right near everything — Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, tons of restaurants (from frugal to fancy), area Churches, a great Shopping Mall, Movie Theaters, Health Clubs, Mission Regional Medical Center, Flea Market, McAllen Community Center and much, much more.

Canyon Lake RV Resort — the Mission, TX RV Park with a Texas-shaped swimming pool!

Besides the historical and cultural influences that Mexico has for Texas Rio Grande Valley RV campers, you'll love some other more practical benefits. For example, many of our residents take advantage of the fact that Mexican dentists charge less than half of what US dentists charge... and still do a great job.

Lots of people enjoy the benefits of learning a second language. If you're interested in learning Spanish, you can click here to get started for free. You might just find learning a second language easier than you expected, not to mention a fun learning experience.

Come Enjoy Our Welcoming Mission, Texas RV Park

Here at Canyon Lake RV Resort, you'll find the best combination of peace and tranquility, exciting daily activities, beautiful sub-tropical environment and the convenience of every imaginable service.

We know there are lots of choices for RV campgrounds in South Texas. Come see why so many of our long-time guests have chosen to call Mission's Canyon Lake RV Resort their RV camping home in the beautiful South Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Visit Our Sister Parks!

Sleepy Valley Resort  |  Pleasant Valley Resort


Canyon Lake RV Resort Is Known For Fabulous Bird Watching

Great White Heron Buff Bellied Hummingbird Green Jay Vermillion Flycatcher Green Heron White-tailed Kite

As published in the Progress Times...

Winter Texans build homes for the poor

Canyon Lake RV Resort residents have built 334 homes

By Kathy Olivarez

Editor’s Note: This story was written for publication in the Progress Times Winter Texan Appreciation Edition, however, we felt our local readers would also enjoy reading about this industrious and charitable group of Winter Texans.

Many Winter Texans are generous with their time and talents, helping those who are less fortunate. One of these groups of Winter Texans live at Canyon Lake RV Resort in Mission – Canyon Lake Builders.

Twice a week, between mid-November and mid-March, groups of men from Canyon Lake Builders go to Nuevo Progreso and build a new home for an impoverished Mexican family.

The project is a direct result from the good works started by Mabel Clare Proudly, who came to the Valley from Cleveland, Ohio about the time Hurricane Beulah devastated the Valley in 1967. When the hurricane struck, Mabel served as a Red Cross volunteer. She noticed that many children were on the streets of Nuevo Progreso because there was no school. They lived in dire conditions and she felt they would have no hope for a better future unless they got an education.

Because many of the children were homeless, Mabel asked many poor families to take in the children, with a promise to bring them food, clothing and medical needs and help with their education. She also promised to build them a house if possible.

To help with the health care of the residents and children of Nuevo Progreso, she began a medical and dental clinic with volunteer dentists, doctors and nurses from the United States and Canada. Later, a group called “Mabel’s Free Clinic” built a clinic still in operation today, although it is staffed by Mexican doctors and dentists who volunteer time.

With the promised school built and a free clinic for medical care, Mabel then turned her eyes toward housing for her Mexican friends. In 1988, Herb and Bev Feierabend met Mabel Clare. Herb was a retired minister living at Canyon Lake. In March of 1991, Mabel asked the couple to help build three houses in Nuevo Progreso. Herb asked Delmar Oldenettel, a knowledgeable carpenter, to go along.

In 1992, the three decided to build another house with the help of Lester Vetos, who became chief carpenter. The project took two days. In 1993, the Feierabend children donated the money for a house to be built in honor of their parents’ 40th anniversary. Eight residents of Canyon Lake went along to help. This house marked the start of the Canyon Lake House Building Project.

In the beginning, residents of Canyon Lake passed the hat at dances. Betty “Red” Endres acted as bookkeeper. Pancake dinners were also held to raise money.

By the time the 2008-2009 building season ends in March, residents of Canyon Lake will have built 334 homes for poor Mexican families. A total of 27 homes will be built this year. The homes are simple one-room homes with two windows and a door. In the beginning, they were built on dirt floors, but today each home is built on a cement pad.

A Mexican national is hired to build the pads and have them ready when it is time to build the home. He is the only person who is paid in the house-building project.

To raise money for the houses, residents of Canyon Lake go to their churches and civic groups where they live and talk about the work that is being done. Today, each house costs about $1,000. Some are able to raise only part of the money. But last year a couple from Alberta, Canada raised $8,000 to fund housing construction. Another couple in the park was able to raise $10,000 in their hometown.

Residents of the park continue to raise funds with an auction once a year where they make and sell items and with an annual spaghetti supper.

To be eligible for a home, the people must own the lot where the house is being built. They must have a job. And they must have children.

Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, residents involved in the building project leave Canyon Lake at 6:30 a.m. They get to the bridge in Progreso at 7:30 a.m, taking lumber with them, along with other building supplies. Today, many of the supplies are purchased in Mexico to avoid problems at the bridge. Herb says it takes about a ton of lumber to build the house. The park has a 1984 truck that was donated to the project to carry the building materials.

They cross easily at the bridge. At one time they had to pay a 24 percent import fee, but when Vicente Fox was president of Mexico, that fee was repealed.

Lumber is delivered to the site the day before it is needed. Bev says they never have any problem with any supplies being stolen. The people are grateful for the help they are receiving and would not consider taking any of their ladders or supplies.

Construction starts by building the frames for the walls that are to be covered with grooved siding. The windows are cut out while the walls are still laying flat. Bev said that windows are donated from homes or businesses that have been torn down. Many Winter Texans collect them during their summers back home and bring them back to be used by the builders. The men build the doors themselves.

Bev said the men have the steps down so well that it takes less than two hours during peak of season to build a home. In November, there are usually 15 to 20 builders, but in February there may be as many as 40 to 50 builders.

“It does not take long for 40 men to nail a house like that together,” said Bev.

The project is limited to residents of Canyon Lake. Other men living in other RV parks have offered to help build. But if the crowd gets too large, it is more of a hazard.

The women of Canyon Lake get involved in the project too. Many women help make new quilts to be provided for each member of the family. The women have started searching Ropa Usadas (used clothing stores) and garage sales to find size-appropriate clothing for the family members. If there is a baby, a layette is given. Toys are often donated to the children in the families. A box of food staples is also given to each family.

In the beginning the only piece of furniture that was provided was a bench. Today, the family gets a table as well, and the Winter Texans have started searching garage sales for beds, mattresses and chairs.

Bev recalls that they delivered a soft chair to one home, and as the woman sat down on it cautiously, they realized she had never sat in a padded chair before.

When the house is complete, a Spanish Bible is given to each family along with a wooden cross to hang on the wall.

When the house is finished, the family poses for a picture with a sign that is made for each home, telling who donated the money to buy the materials for that home.

The people who receive the homes are grateful. Often they live with other family members in very crowded conditions. Some live in shelters made of cardboard boxes or whatever materials they are able to find. But the residents of Canyon Lake do not do the project so the people will feel grateful. They do it because they love helping their fellow man. Canyon Lake is truly an RV park with a heart.

Copyright © Progress Times

Image of Canyon Lake Builders nailing a new roof

Image of Canyon Lake Builders with a finished home