It is hard to imagine The Woodlands without its lake. However, for an entire decade after The Woodlands officially opened in 1974, Lake Woodlands did not yet exist.

“It was part of the plan from the very beginning, even back in the early ’70s when I came aboard,” said Robert Heineman, vice president of planning for The Woodlands Development Company.

The lake, which was excavated in 1984, has been an amenity in The Woodlands since its official opening in 1985, Heineman said. To form the 8-foot-deep lake, soil was pushed out to the border and built up for future home lots and other developments, Heineman said.

Before the lake was filled, residents were able to attend the Bottom of the Lake Party, Heineman said. 

“There were [people] who parachuted from planes and landed on the edge of the lake,” he said. “There was a tug of war, and the losers kind of got dragged into the mud. [There was] music, and it was really the first large festival in The Woodlands.”

A unique fixture in Lake Woodlands is the massive green Rise of the Midgard Serpent sculpture that can be seen on the water from Woodlands Parkway.

The serpent, created by Marc Rosenthal, was unveiled during the Bottom of the Lake Party and has been in the lake since it was first filled in, said Chris Nunes, parks and recreation director for The Woodlands Township.

When Lake Woodlands was being excavated, The Woodlands had a population of about 20,000, and only the villages of Panther Creek and Grogan’s Mill had been developed, Heineman said. The Village of Cochran’s Crossing was in its early phases, Heineman said.

“The lake was planned and was built as a recreational lake—unlike some of the other bodies of water in The Woodlands that have flood detention capabilities,” Heineman said.

Although many homes and several businesses have been built along the shore of Lake Woodlands since it was filled in, many amenities, such as Northshore and Southshore parks, have been situated on the lake for decades, Nunes said.

As the land surrounding Lake Woodlands has been developed, more access points have been made for water activities, such as kayaking, canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding. Rowing teams also use Lake Woodlands for practice sessions, Heineman said.

“It was envisioned as an amenity for all of the residents of The Woodlands,”he said. “Not only a visual amenity, but we wanted it to be an active amenity.”