Cagle Recreation Area

Campground well maintained and the hosts were wonderful.

Aside from our fire ring not being properly maintained, meaning, the air holes for ring were buried and I didn't even know they were there until I saw other sites, which caused us to not be able to have a fire at all because it kept going out due to no oxygen, the stay was great. Ppl with annoying barking dogs was a bummer but we still had fun.

Aside from our fire ring not being properly maintained, meaning, the air holes for ring were buried and I didn't even know they were there until I saw other sites, which caused us to not be able to have a fire at all because it kept going out due to no oxygen, the stay was great. Ppl with annoying barking dogs was a bummer but we still had fun.

Great experience and helpful hosts. Well worth the time

Great experience and helpful hosts. Well worth the time

Beautiful place and well maintained facilities. The hosts are very friendly. We will definitely go back!

Beautiful place and well maintained facilities. The hosts are very friendly. We will definitely go back!

With the Natioanl forest folks doing a controled burn it was hard to enjoy the camping trip. Wish we would have been notified we might have cancelled and done something else for the kids spring break.

With the Natioanl forest folks doing a controled burn it was hard to enjoy the camping trip. Wish we would have been notified we might have cancelled and done something else for the kids spring break.

Our criticism is not of the Cagle Campground per se, but of the forest service. The campground host was very helpful, and the sites were nice and spacious. And the setting beautiful. But there is a dearth of online information with detailed maps of hiking trails and fishing spots. After a four-hour drive, we counted on getting good information there. But the ranger station on FM 1375 inexplicably is closed on weekends! Why? Only when asked, the woman at the campground guard station provided general printed information, no maps. Thankfully, the host found at least some material with very general maps, and had local knowledge of where to find bait and firewood. There's limited space to fish from the bank near the boat ramp, and no pier, with wakes making the water choppy, and weeds making it impossible to use lures. We wanted to hike at least a portion of the Lone Star Trail, ideally with a loop nearby. We found a segment from FM 1375 to Stubblefield and back (no loop), but it was a nice hike. Doing that, we found we also could fish at Stubblefield, which we tried briefly, with no luck. On Sunday, at the start of Spring Break, the forest service did prescribed burning right next to Cagle, with thick smoke filling the campground. We understand the need for this, but couldn't it have waited a week? Some campers left. We escaped to the Big Thicket for a day. On the way back, we checked out Double Lake near Coldspring, which advertised three fishing piers. But only one was standing, and the lake was overgrown with vegetation. On the Tuesday we left, we stopped at the ranger station. Bingo ... hiking trail maps. A helpful attendant told us about a portion of the Lone Star Trail that affords a loop. Which helped us not at all, as we were leaving. I asked another person why they closed weekends, and she said she wondered the same, that it was the superintendent's decision. She said there are some handouts outside at a drive-up station -- but no detailed hiking trail maps.