Agency-listedUSFSUnpriced · confirmRoad season: open (MVUM)
Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · TX · 31.38350, -95.15330
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 520 (Ratcliff Lake R A), 340 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as bituminous surface treatment surface and maintenance level 5 – high degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 520 (Ratcliff Lake R A), 340 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 520 (Ratcliff Lake R A): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 296 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Ratcliff Lake Recreation AreaNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel1 mi
- @Mail10 mi
- GGrocery15 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- MMechanic19 mi
- +Urgent care24 mi
- HHardware25 mi
- LLaundry25 mi
- EVEV fast charger27 mi
- ShShower51 mi
- WWater51 mi
- DDump60 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 51-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 1 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
296 ft
Ground slope
1.7% · flat
State
TX
Coordinates
31.38350, -95.15330
Cost
Unpriced — no source gives a price; assume it may cost something and confirm before you go
Nearby & resupply — around Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLee Creek · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Ratcliff Lake (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townAllen Chapel · ~0.8 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~1.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesBrookshire Brothers Express · ~14.6 mi
- PharmacyBrookshire Brothers Pharmacy · ~18.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicWoodland Heights Medical Center · ~23.9 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~25.7 mi
EV charging — from Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger26.8 mi straight-line E — Hyundai Of Lufkin · Blink Network · J1772, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 10 within 50 · 95 within 100 · 399 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)33.5 mi — Nacogdoches, TX - Tesla Supercharger, Nacogdoches
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO36.6 mi — PALESTINE TOY CPE250, Palestine
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)26.8 mi — Hyundai Of Lufkin · Blink Network · J1772, CCS · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 348914 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Flush restroomRatcliff Lake · at this camp · USFS
- Flush restroomRatcliff Lake Day Use · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toilet566 Piney Creek Hc · ~5.0 mi SW · USFS
- Flush restroomKickapoo · ~23.4 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area · National Forests in Texas · TX
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Lee Creek as a perennial stream, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 1.7% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area elsewhere
Other camps near Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- 566 Piney Creek Hc~5.0 mi
- White Rock Hc~9.1 mi · fee
- Neches Bluff Overlook~12.7 mi
The unit that manages Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area are set by National Forests in Texas, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Source
OpenStreetMap contributors
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
auto: drive (road/trail right there)
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Leave no trace →All field notes →