Graham Creek Ranch - Republic Ranches

Graham Creek Ranch - Angelina County, Zavalla, TX

Bordered on three sides by over 150,000 acres of the Angelina National Forest, Graham Creek Ranch is an ideally located 479+/- acre recreational ranch Southeast of Zavalla, Texas. This property boasts private paved access, extensive frontage on three creeks, and hundreds of conserved acres creating a game-rich mix of upland and bottomland forest, providing a diverse and complete habitat for a myriad of wildlife and hunting opportunities.

This property is perfectly suited for a buyer looking to enjoy East Texas tranquility and seeking a recreational or hunting-centric retreat within a few hours of either Dallas or Houston. The ranch’s acreage is protected under a perpetual conservation easement, thoughtfully transitioning degraded grazing land into a diverse landscape of forested upland and bottomland habitat. The property’s conservation-based mission has already produced exceptional results, including trophy white-tailed deer and annual increases in waterfowl utilization across the property’s wetlands. Excluded from the easement is a section of the ranch located just off the Forest Hopson road set aside for development; these few acres make an ideal spot for building living and working quarters. With the thoughtful conservation of this property tied into 150,000 acres of managed national forest, this is an actual once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a generational hunting and recreation property that will exist in prime wildlife habitat forever.

Key Attributes

Location

Situated in southern Angelina County, the ranch is insulated on 3 boundaries by the Angelina National Forest, which spans over 150,000 acres. The ranch also benefits from proximity to the I-69 corridor and several adjacent East Texas cities within reasonable travel times.

15 minutes from Zavalla, TX
35 minutes from Lufkin, TX
2 hours 20 minutes from Houston, TX
3 hours 30 minutes from Dallas, TX

Topography, Rangeland & Habitat

Bisected by Graham, Gum Branch, and Cypress Creeks, the property is a highly productive landscape thanks to the sediment-rich soils common in this part of the East Texas piney woods ecoregion. Running alongside the creeks are corridors of old-growth hardwoods providing wildlife highways for whitetail deer and hogs, perches for various bird species, and hidden stand locations for bow and gun hunters alike.

Historical use of this property involved cattle ranching in part due to the highly productive grasslands. As a result, this property was largely deforested and managed as a pasture-centric ranch. The restorative work that has been initiated at Graham Creek emphasizes a return to the historical land type that would have existed on this property, with specific focus on the roles of the environment to benefit ecosystem services and wildlife species. This property in time will become a nearly 500-acre sanctuary of historical native East Texas Forest surrounded by a vast 150,000 acres of protected National Forest. Contiguous habitat of this size is hard to find anywhere in the state.

Wildlife

Unlike many others, this property has been designed and managed to produce the highest quality of native ecosystems. Along with this level of planning and intention comes the beneficiaries of this work, the wildlife.

As seen through the pictures within this listing, many of the resident East Texas species are found on this ranch, including whitetail, wild pigs, bobcats, coyotes, etc.., and as the pictures show, they are in excellent condition, experiencing optimal nutrition thanks to Graham Creek and the neighboring parcels providing a continuous expense of exceptional cover and food. Thanks to the convergence of several creeks and streams on the property, there is also ample wetland habitat, which attracts wintering waterfowl between the fall and winter seasons. Common species utilizing this habitat at Graham Creek include wood ducks, mallards, gadwall, and green-wing teal.

Graham Creek is an exceptional property, already heavily utilized by wildlife. The easement, which includes restoring the forested systems, will only further enhance the ranch’s wildlife potential as time goes on.

Agriculture

The property is under a conservation easement that does not allow for commercial livestock and agriculture.

Improvements

Electricity and a water well exist on the property, there are also 4 separate storage buildings/barns in the 2+/- acre exclusion area that will complement future living quarters.

Water

There are no known wells on the property.

Electricity

Electricity is present on the property, pulled onto the ranch off of Forest Hopson Road.

Minerals

Surface estate only.

Area History

The nearby town of Zavalla, named for Empresario-Lorenzo de Zavala, began in the early 1900s as a railroad stop serving the timber and cotton industries of Angelina County’s Piney Woods. The arrival of nearby Sam Rayburn Lake brought new opportunities, from recreation to land development, while preserving the area’s rural character. Today, the land around Zavalla offers ranch buyers a blend of productive soils, open pasture, and abundant water resources—paired with easy access to hunting, fishing, and the quiet pace of small-town Texas life.

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