Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area

This is another Great in deep e. Texas. They have really clean it up over the years. Even thin out more by the swimming area and boat ramps. Has a boat ramp but no electric motors. Also a dump station. They upgraded a RV spot that also has a playground too. You will find remants of the old sawmill here.

If you're someone who camps to get away from everyone, this is not the spot for you. It should come to no surprise that it isn't secluded as it does have several sites available. There's bathrooms and showers, a swim area, fishing, and a selection of trails to do while staying here. At the primitive sites you get a fire pit and a picnic table. Great place overall.

Pretty campground. Tall pine trees. Camped with our camper van along the loblolly loop. Not suitable for large rigs in this section. Level tent pads. Sites have access to the lake. Loved the tall trees. Restroom/shower rooms were very clean. See previous reviews about this. Paved roads & driveways in this section. No water & electric hookups in this section, but available in another section of the campground. Water spigot nearby for drinking water. Busy Hwy 7 is nearby; road noise from big rigs can get loud sometimes. AT&T cell/data service okay. No T-Mobile cell/data service. Would like to camp here again & explore some of the hiking trails.

Solo camped with my big dog and had a blast. I went Sunday thru Tuesday, so I was the only camper on the entire loop!

Lots of water spigots, lots of shade, and sturdy fire pits make this campground really convenient. Most lakeside campsites appeared to have canoe ramps worn in.

The bathrooms were spectacular. Each pod of bathrooms had 4 separate ADA compliant facilities, and each facility/room had a shower, a toilet, a sink, benches, transfer bars, and MOST importantly a locking door. It meant I didn't have to leave my dog in the car or wrestle him into a bathroom stall every time I had to go! Also, the showers had hot water.

I didn't get a chance to use the trails, as heavy rains the day before I got there had knocked out the bridges on the trails, so, I had a great time hanging out at my site with a beautiful view!

What the campsites lacks in remoteness it makes up for with everything else. 

Very well-maintained National Forest site just off Texas Highway 7 in the middle of the Davey Crockett National Forest. 

Highlights for the site include:

• very well-spaced apart offering more privacy than usually afforded

• restrooms and showers were clean.

• Access to hacking trails in the national forest

• Easy access to food/fuel/firewood

• A large variety of species for birdwatching

• Small lake with deck for launching kayaks or SUPs

There was not water at every site, so bring a longer hose and be ready to fill your tanks or containers.

Road noise from highway was audible, but not too distracting.

This is one of our favorite campgrounds due to the sense woods, well spaced campsites, clean family style bathrooms, and activities such as hiking, fishing, and swimming. Highly recommend!

In the fall I could imagine staying here for a week. I didn't, this time, but I could imagine doing it. campsites were large and deep. Obviously you don't want to hang around the grass near the lakefront too much, cause of gators. Pick your site carefully online before you go, there are good and bad sites. Our site had quite a bit of litter and small bits of trash. The site with the lake views are stunning. Get them if you can. 

Bathhouse is fully enclosed bathroom and shower, fully ADA, and locking doors. Sinks have outlets. I don't know what else to say but the lolliby loop was really nice. Walking the campgrounds was very pleasurable. The little hiking trails were nice too. the sections of the 4C trail we walked were really chill, very flat. The more dynamic and better marked trails were in mission tejas about 20mins away, but, the better campsites were at Lake Ratcliff. Not a great or inviting park name, but it was nice campsite. Only downside was the highway was audible at all hours.

Amenities used:

Bathhouse

Nice campground area. In the Davey Crockett Nat forest. Nice little swimming area. Clean bathrooms.quiet

Nice, quiet, area to get away and enjoy alone or with family. Great trails and a small lake to enjoy kayaking, fishing, and swimming.

Great campground in the Pineywoods of east Texas. Stayed 14 days in site 20 on Dogwood loop. Nice size sites with plenty of room between. Restrooms and showers clean, though showers do need some repair. Plenty of walking/hiking trails and wood for fires. Swim area looks nice, though we visited in November so we didn't swim. Can see the foundation for the old mill in back of the park.

The campground is located in the Davy Crockett National Forest, with spots located around the edges of a small lake. Although we could occasionally hear noise from the highway, it was mostly peaceful and quiet. The campgrounds are spacious, with tent platforms, poles to hang trash, and large picnic tables. The bathrooms were amazingly clean and with camp hosts and park rangers on site, we always had help with anything we needed. We hiked and kayaked (with our own boats) and it was all just lovely. I would go back for sure!

We rolled in at night, but woke up to a forest of breathtaking loblolly pines! The camp sites are very nice and spatious with plenty of room between your site and your neighbors site. Very clean, nice bathrooms. We loved it.

Beautiful place! We are at campsite 10 right on the lake. Breathtaking tall trees. Well kept clean campsites with a fire pit. The park host brought over firewood right to our site. No need to buy firewood at all. Plenty of cut wood around the park. Easy kid friendly hiking trails around the park. Restrooms were immaculate. So peaceful and quiet at night. I am smitten.

East Texas weather is so unpredictable. When we arrived at camp it was nice and sunny, so my friend and I decided to walk our dogs. On our walk we got caught in the middle of a down pour! We laughed our way back to camp and waited out the rest of the storm in our cars. It cleared up quickly and we were back out in the wild. We took an inflatable kayak out on the lake. Decent little lake. People were in the swimming area. Would camp here again.

This is a nice little campground and a pretty little east Texas lake. It is clean and everyone we met was friendly. The tent sites don’t have electric but include a picnic table and fire pit. We had a great visit!

I spent about 5 days in Sam Houston National Forest. The campsite was pretty good in my opinion. Yes, there is plenty of sites here as this is a big National forest. I came here with my boyfriend and friend and there was plenty of room. The only downside was that it was really difficult to find dry firewood. At night it was really chilly with a breeze blowing across. The neighboring site were very respectful in talking with a low voice especially because they had a big group. The sites were quite close with only bushes dividing up the camps with a 5 second walk. We were able to visit Huntsville state park on the east side of Sam Houston National forest the next week

Well spaced out, but not huge sites (both RV hookup electric and Non "tent only") which allow you to not really spread out, but at least people aren't on top of you. Like most campgrounds you have your standard table and fire ring, but you also have access to flush toilets and showers.

The recreation area also rents out canoes and has pretty good fishing or you can make sure of thee swimming area and the tons of trails for some short nice hikes or a long trek through the region.