Neches Bluff Overlook Dispersed Camping

I was nervous driving up the road and seeing only small pull offs but we kept going & found a great open space for ourselves & new caravan companion! Well kept, some trash around which was sad. I ended up driving to the ranger station to buy a parks pass & they were so sweet, asking how it was up here & if they needed to come take care of anything. We stayed for 3 nights under the beautiful pine trees & had lots of space to explore with our dogs. Super quiet, great spot.

Stayed here two nights in a great pullthrough spot right next to the main entrance road and just feet from the main trailhead. It was the start of duck hunting season so it was a tad busy. Overall the spots are pretty clean, we had a nice fire ring at out spot, our site was firm and level and although we didn't use it, the bathroom area was nice. Entry to the area was gravel road, not too dumpy, and everyone we talked to was very friendly.

Some family made a bit of noise in the early evening, typical kid stuff, but they quieted down long before bed time. On day two we were enjoying a quiet morning, late start, when we heard what we thought was gunfire very close to camp. I assumed it was duckhunters, and it was close enough to get my adrenaline going. But..

It turns out it was actually a large old tree that snapped and fell right across the main entry road, only about 300 yards from our camp. My GF and I pulled the branches out of the road so we could exit without using the shoulder, since we were pulling a large cargo trailer. So be mindful of sleeping under any dead trees if you are tent camping!

Overall a pleasant two day, two night stay that I would visit again. The town of Alto about 7 miles away has decent grocery stores. But aside from hiking and hunting there isn't a ton to do right around there. I tried magnet fishing in the nearby river but didnt "catch" anything.

Free. Clean with easy access. FS Road from Hwy 21 is not marked, Only one other camper; however, 1/2 dozen day visitors. Grassy sites were grown up, but very doable for parking w/ a few small fire pits. Apparently the FS isn't mowing this location as grown up in various places, but not bad. Pit toilet is open and maintained regularly w/ cleaning log on door. Overlook view was nice for East Tx. Slight distant road noise from rural Hwy 21. One bar with ATT LTE. A stray cat visited site around dinner and lunch. Did have someone stop on the opposite side of the loop from my camp, late afternoon, and did some shooting with a .22. Not the best place for that w/ all the NF land around. 4C trailhead is ribboned off from past wind damage (although it is being traveled). Overall pleasant stay, would stay again. Might pass during deer season.

We camped here for one night. The nearby trailhead was closed due to tornado damage from 4/2019, but the only noise was birdsong. There are a handful of areas suitable for RVs, and ours was out of line of sight of any other of the sparsely occupied sites. The site we selected had some trash, but nothing that wasn't remedied with a trashbag and 5 minutes of work. No leveling was necessary.

The dirt access road had a few moderately sized potholes, but otherwise it's easy to get to. There are no services outside of the vault toilet - we used the dump station at Mission Tejas State Park just 10 minutes down the highway.

An easy drive to site. Some wash-boarding but no big deal. This is essentially just an area with mown grass. Parking is where ever you can fit which should be easy even with large RV's. The only road coming in follows the ridge and it loops so there is no problem getting out. If it has rained, the road may be muddy but still firm. A few firepits already in place with stumps for seating around it. There are no services here at all. No toilet or even trash service so whatever you bring in, you'll have to take out. It looks like people take that seriously because it's really clean.

AT&T is good here with 72% signal strength or Three bars. Had no problem streaming. Verizon is weak with one bar.

Nearby (I was told) is Ratcliff Lake park with awesome brand new showers for those that paid the recreation fees. This site is free but it may be worth a night at Ratcliff just for the shower.