Huntsville State Park

Huntsville State Park is about 1,445 acres nestled in the Sam Houston National Forest. The focal point of the park is the 210-acre Lake Raven. With the lake, 21 miles of hiking, biking trails and 160 campsites, Huntsville State Park is a busy place.

We arrived on a sunny November Sunday afternoon and the park was running parallel drive through check-in lines. Checking in was smooth and efficient. We did manage to get turned around once … or twice finding our campsite in the Raven Hill Camping Area.

This a good place to give everyone with a trailer of any size a heads-up. The park topography is varied and for that reason the campsites are level as they can be. You should be prepared to spend some time leveling your trailer. We had to use most of the leveling material we had to get our trailer level. That said, it was not the most unleveled site I have managed to successfully get my campsite squared away.

After we were all level and connected, we did very little the next four days and some nice camper left a good supply of firewood by the fire pit, so we enjoyed a campfire on some of the cool nights that spent there.

Screened in Shelters.

I wish I had known about screened in shelters when I was younger and had a growing family. These shelters are ideal for a family camping on a budget. The amenities contained in these shelters vary from park to park. Generally, they have bunk-beds, access to water and are near bathhouses with bathroom facilities and showers. They usually have a fire ring and picnic table. For information, call the park office.

There are 60 screened Shelters in Huntsville State Park!

Huntsville State Park, like many Texas State Parks in Texas, had its early roots with the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). This was a depression era jobs program to create jobs. There are still Infrastructure and buildings still in use that was built by CCC Company 1823(CV). The Lodge Building, the boathouse, the original dam, and some culvert work that can be spotted out on some of the hiking trails.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(CV)
and Huntsville State Park

From 1937 to 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(CV), an experienced company of African American World War I veterans, made initial improvements to the site, including construction of the combination building, the boat house, and the dam and spillway creating Lake Raven. The company also had to clear the future lake bed of standing timber before filling the lake. Other CCC projects in the park included a swimming platform, stone culverts, picnic areas, Lake shore Road, a bridge, stone road-curbing, a well, water intake structure, and frame pump house.