A Houston nudist landmark asks guests to cover up
Emerald Lake Resort says the change is temporary, but offers few details about what comes next
A notice on the website of Emerald Lake Resort, the nudist club in Porter, Texas that has billed itself for years as “Houston’s only nude beach,” now asks guests to stay clothed in its common areas.
The statement, posted under the name “Resort Management” and addressed to “Members and Residents,” describes a revised dress code that took effect immediately and remains in place “until further notice.” Guests are asked to keep covered in common areas, with a light wrap, shawl, thin robe, or towel offering “basic coverage of private areas.” Management frames the change as part of a broader set of “improvements” to the facilities, references unspecified “fee adjustments,” and calls the measures temporary, language the notice itself softens further by calling them steps “for now” and part of “this transition.”
The notice does not explain what the improvements are, how long the transition is expected to last, or what prompted it. Reached by phone and email over several days, resort staff said they could not answer questions about the policy, and the resort’s owners did not make themselves available for an interview.
The property dates to the 1980s, but its life as a nudist resort began in 2001, on a spring-fed lake about a half hour north of downtown Houston. It is affiliated with the American Association for Nude Recreation and The Naturist Society, and nudity has been required, weather permitting, with newcomers allowed to stay wrapped only until they grow comfortable. The new notice inverts that arrangement, at least in the common areas, and at least for now.
For most of the past two decades, Emerald Lake has been a fixture of nudist life around Houston, a wooded community of members and RVers built around the lake. In recent years it has leaned more social and event-driven, drawing weekend crowds to a place that bills itself as the only one of its kind in the region. A move away from nude recreation, even a partial one, would mark a real change for a club that has defined itself by it.
What the notice leaves unanswered is whether this is a renovation-period accommodation or the beginning of a more permanent move away from the resort’s nudist identity. The careful, provisional language cuts both ways. A club making temporary changes during construction would write something like this. So would a club managing a longer transition it is not yet ready to announce.
There is reason to watch closely. Development has been pressing in on Emerald Lake for years. As far back as 2019, residents told ABC13 Houston they worried about new construction near the wooded property, as the Grand Parkway extension advanced and an adjacent lot was cleared. Across the country, established clubs from California to Georgia’s Serendipity Park have faced similar pressure from rising land values and encroaching neighbors.
For now, the only confirmed change is the one posted on the resort’s own homepage: at a club that has spent more than two decades asking guests to take everything off, management is asking them to keep something on.
Planet Nude will update this story as more becomes clear. 🪐
Have you been to Emerald Lake, or do you know what’s happening out there? I’d like to hear from you. Send me a note at evan@planetnude.co.
8 million people in 100º heat and you can't run a nudist club. We're dying!
Exactly Bill. A developer bought the wooded lot on the north side of Emerald Lake. They cleared the lot and put up a big apartment complex. Now the residents are complaining about the nude people next door. Emerald Lake has been a nudist resort since 2001.