Runaway Bay, Texas

Runaway Bay is a city in Wise County, Texas, lying at the Southern end of Lake Bridgeport. The population was 1,546 in 2020.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which, of it is land and is water.

Race	Number	Percentage
White	1,314	84.99%
Black or African American	13	0.84%
Native American or Alaska Native	13	0.84%
Asian	8	0.52%
Some Other Race	1	0.06%
Mixed/Multi-Racial	44	2.85%
Hispanic or Latino	153	9.9%
Total	1,546

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,546 people, 734 households, and 501 families residing in the city.

The Club at Runaway Bay was an 18-hole golf course and club house designed by Leon Howard and established in 1969. It was Par 72, length 7032 yards and had a course rating of 73.1. It was featured in the 2008–09 edition of Golf Digest as one of the "Best Places to Play."
The course closed on November 3, 2024.

On January 17, 2010, the golf course was the subject of a chupacabra sighting in which the unidentified dead animal was described as a "brown, earth-colored creature is hairless with oversized canines and elongated padded feet with inch-long toes tapered with sharp, curved claws. The creature also had long hind legs." Upon investigation, a biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department identified the animal as a hairless raccoon.

The City of Runaway Bay is served by the Bridgeport Independent School District with some minor parts of the city extending to Jacksboro Independent School District.