Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls and Kingsland lie within half an hour of one another, close enough that buyers often treat them as one market. They are not one market.

How Do Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls and Kingsland Differ?

The differences that matter to a land buyer are the lake, the local government and what is already built around the land. Horseshoe Bay is an incorporated resort city on Lake LBJ that straddles Llano and Burnet counties. Marble Falls is the area's working town, an incorporated city in Burnet County on Lake Marble Falls, 46 miles northwest of Austin on US 281. Kingsland is unincorporated and lies on Lake LBJ in Llano County, where the Llano River joins the Colorado.

Buying Land in Horseshoe Bay, TX

Horseshoe Bay land for sale falls into two kinds: lots in and around Horseshoe Bay Resort's golf communities, and land in the gated communities nearby. Inside city limits, the city's Development Services Department handles building permits, plan review and inspections. Buyers should also check applicable community restrictions and any additional approvals their project may require. For the gated communities in town and what each is built around, see our guide to Lake LBJ communities.

The Trails of Horseshoe Bay sells acreage: homesites from about two-thirds of an acre to just over five, priced from $350,000 to $995,000, around a 300-acre wildlife preserve with an equestrian center and a private marina on Lake LBJ. For builders and developers, Phase 4 offers larger tracts, select ones with a deeded boat slip.

Horseshoe Bay land for sale at The Trails · Phase 4 tracts for developers and builders

Is Marble Falls on Lake LBJ?

No. Marble Falls lies on Lake Marble Falls, the next lake down the Colorado River, below Wirtz Dam; Lake LBJ begins just upstream. Lake Marble Falls is the smaller of the two, and most of the land for sale around the town is not on the water at all.

Buying Land in Marble Falls

Marble Falls land for sale covers the widest range of the three towns: lots inside the city, acreage beyond its limits and commercial ground along US 281. Inside city limits, city zoning and permitting apply. Outside them, Burnet County rules and each tract's deed restrictions decide what can be built. Because most of this land is off the water, a buyer in Marble Falls is usually choosing proximity to the town's stores and services over lake frontage.

Buying Land in Kingsland, TX

Kingsland TX land for sale runs from lots on Lake LBJ and the Llano River to rural tracts outside the subdivisions. Kingsland has no city government, and Texas counties generally have no zoning power, so what you and your neighbors can build is governed almost entirely by deed restrictions. Read them for the tract you are buying and for the lots around it. Outside a water or sewer district, plan for a well or an on-site septic system, which requires a permit and soil that can take it.

Where Llano County Land Fits

Llano County land for sale stretches from the Lake LBJ shoreline at Horseshoe Bay, Kingsland and Sunrise Beach to the ranch country around the town of Llano, and The Trails sits within it. Much of the county's rural land carries agricultural appraisal, and land that does can often move to wildlife valuation, which keeps taxes at agricultural levels while the owner manages for native wildlife. Our guide to the Texas wildlife exemption explains what the conversion requires.

Choosing Between Them

Each town asks you to give something up.

If Horseshoe Bay is on your list, the Land Office can walk you through the homesites currently available at The Trails: 512-470-5517.

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