Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area

Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area in the Davy Crockett National Forest near Kennard grew from an East Texas timber site into a year-round public park. Its lake began as the mill pond of pioneer settler J. H. Ratcliff’s sawmill, then became part of the much larger Four C Mill operation after Central Coal and Coke Company assembled vast timber holdings in the area. As old-growth timber declined, the mill closed in 1920. During the New Deal, Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1803 reshaped the site by damming the pond, building park facilities, and reforesting the cutover land. Today it remains a forested recreation area shaped by both conservation and storm damage.

Texas · United States