Should the Sam Houston National Forest come off your list now that the heat has finally broken and the trails north of Willis are good walking again? The question comes up because November brings both the best trail weather of the year and the busiest stretch of the hunting calendar, on the same land.
The forest stays open and in use. Texas Parks and Wildlife runs the forest as a public hunting unit, and its own map marks recreation areas near Willis, including Stubblefield and Double Lake, as places where hunting is not allowed. So for the next ten weeks, where you go in the forest matters more than whether you go.
The dates that matter this fall
Archery season is already well underway. Here is how the Texas Parks and Wildlife 2026–27 white-tailed deer calendar lays out the North Zone, which covers Montgomery County:
- Oct. 3 through Nov. 6, 2026: archery-only season, statewide.
- Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, 2026: the first youth-only weekend. That's this coming weekend.
- Nov. 7, 2026 through Jan. 3, 2027: North Zone general season.
- Jan. 4 through 17, 2027: a late youth-only season, which the forest's own unit map also lists as muzzleloader season.
Saturday, Nov. 7, is the day things change. Hunters do need paperwork for this land. TPWD requires anyone 17 or older to hold an Annual Public Hunting Permit on designated public hunting lands, and every hunter on the forest unit has to check in through electronic on-site registration in the Texas Hunt & Fish app.
Two places the hunting map leaves out
TPWD's Sam Houston National Forest WMA map shows a 162,984-acre unit owned by the U.S. Forest Service. It spans Montgomery, Walker and San Jacinto counties. The map's legend separates public hunting areas from national forest recreation areas, and Stubblefield and Double Lake are both labeled "NO Hunting." The map gives Scott's Ridge Recreation Area on the Lake Conroe side the same label.
Stubblefield and Double Lake give a Willis household two easy fallbacks for opening weekend, and both have more going on than a quick picnic.
Stubblefield sits on the north arm of Lake Conroe off FM 1375. It's the closer of the two for most of Willis. The Forest Service listing shows day-use hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and an overnight site fee of $15, or $7.50 with a Senior or Access Pass. Campsites are first-come, first-served, and you claim one in person at the campground, according to Recreation.gov. The Lone Star Hiking Trail runs right through the campground at mile 19.7, then crosses a bridge toward Stubblefield Lake Road. That makes Stubblefield a hunting-free starting point on the forest's long trail.
Double Lake is a longer drive east, and it covers more ground. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1937. The Forest Service page describes a 21-mile mountain bike trail around a lake stocked with bass, bream and catfish, plus a 5-mile one-way hike on the Lone Star Hiking Trail into the Big Creek Scenic Area. The site is listed as open. The swim beach is closed for the season, and day use costs $7 per vehicle.
The catch is that the no-hunting label covers the recreation areas. The trails leading away from them don't stay inside those boundaries. Once you're a few miles out on the Lone Star Hiking Trail or the bike loops, you're back in the parts of the forest the map shows as open to hunting.
How the forest near Willis breaks down this season
| Spot | Hunting status on the TPWD map | Cost | Fall 2026 notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stubblefield, off FM 1375 | No hunting | $15 overnight site | First-come campsites; Lone Star Hiking Trail passes through at mile 19.7 |
| Double Lake | No hunting | $7 per vehicle, day use | Swim beach closed for the season; 21-mile bike loop |
| Lone Star Hiking Trail, outside recreation areas | Runs through public hunting land | No fee | Camping limited to designated areas Sept. 26 to Jan. 8 |
| Sam Houston Multiple-Use Trails | Runs through public hunting land | $5 per person per day, $25 annual | Closes when soil is too wet |
The multiple-use system has 85 miles shared by hikers, cyclists, horses and registered OHVs. The Forest Service closes it when wet ground could be damaged.
The trailheads closest to town
If you want more distance than the recreation areas offer, the Lone Star Hiking Trail Club's trailhead list shows that the western end of the trail runs close to Willis.
- Trailhead #6, South Stubblefield: off FM 1375, the nearest launch for most of Willis.
- Trailheads #3 and #4: along FM 149. The Little Lake Creek Loop meets the main trail at #4.
- Trailhead #2, Sand Branch: on FS 211, also called Bethel Road.
- Trailhead #1: reached from FM 149 and FM 1375 by way of FS 219.
The club's route guide places the North Wilderness and Sand Branch segment between Bethel Road and the FM 149 crossing at Trailhead #3. That puts the Little Lake Creek Wilderness only a short drive from the north side of Willis. All of these trailheads lead into land the TPWD map shows as public hunting area. Hikers there are sharing the woods with hunters on general season weekends.
The USDA's hunting guidance tells hunters to wear hunter orange as their outer layer and to stay alert near trails. That guidance is written for hunters. Still, a hiker in the same color is easy to spot from a stand.
Camping rules changed in September
Deer season opens Nov. 7, but the camping restriction started more than a month earlier. The Forest Service's Lone Star Hiking Trail page states it directly:
"Camping is permitted anywhere along the trail except in designated areas from September 26 to January 8 during hunting season. Overnight camping is allowed in designated camping areas only during that time period."
The club's guide says the same thing more specifically. During hunting season, camping is limited to developed campgrounds, established hunter camps and established trail primitive camps. Pitching a tent wherever night falls won't work until after Jan. 8, so an overnight trip from the Stubblefield end should be planned around designated sites.
A campfire also takes planning. A Forest Service order in effect through Dec. 31, 2026 prohibits fires within 300 feet of designated trails or developed parking areas. It bans explosives and fireworks. It also prohibits fires and charcoal grills in any county under a burn ban.
This post covers general information about published rules. It is not legal advice. If you're unsure whether a hunting permit, camping rule or fire order applies to your plans, check with Texas Parks and Wildlife or the Sam Houston Ranger District.
Call before you load the car
The posted status pages don't always match each other. The Forest Service trail page doesn't list a current condition for the Lone Star Hiking Trail. It tells visitors to call the district office at (936) 344-6205. A flood closure order that covered Stubblefield, Double Lake, the Lone Star Hiking Trail and the Little Lake Creek segments ended June 1, 2026, by its own terms. It may still show up among the forest's alerts.
A few other things can change a plan:
- Trail status panels. The Sam Houston Trails Coalition, which maintains the hiking, cycling and equestrian networks, posts a status panel. It shows Double Lake cycling and the RRT equestrian trail as open, and parts of the multiple-use system as partially open.
- Road work. Work on FS Road 234 began the week of June 23, 2026, with equipment, haul trucks and possible delays. The Forest Service alert gives no end date.
- Prescribed burns. The Forest Service publishes a 2026 burn-unit map for the Sam Houston and says burns happen throughout the year depending on weather and fuel conditions.
Hiking with a group this season
If you'd rather hike with a group during hunting season, the Lone Star Hiking Trail Club's calendar has a 9 a.m. hike nearly every Saturday through early December. Each covers 5 to 7 miles:
- Nov. 7: a women's hike at the Big Creek Scenic Area from Trailhead 12, on the opening day of general season.
- Nov. 14: a Huntsville Section hike from Trailhead 7.
- Nov. 28: the club's "Big Woods" Thanksgiving hike from Trailhead 9.
- Dec. 5: a Magnolia West women's hike from Trailhead 10.
If you'd rather ride, Cherokee Outlaw Ranch at 91 Scott Lane in Willis offers guided horseback rides directly into the Sam Houston National Forest.
At Aqua Terra Real Estate, we spend a lot of time on the land around Willis, from the FM 1375 shoreline to the back roads off FM 149. If you'd like to know which nearby properties have quick access to the forest's trailheads, give us a call and we'll be glad to talk through it.
