PLEASE NOTE: a large portion of the trail is now closed due to tornado damage.

Trail Closure Info:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/texas/home/?cid=fseprd624937

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/texas/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD622929

The trail not only passes through several distinct vegetation communities, but the entire landscape surrounding the trail is a vast cultural resource. The 4-C NRT is named for the Central Coal & Coke Company, which logged virgin timber from the region in the early 1920s. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted the trees that are now the forest surrounding the trail.

The southern trailhead for the trail is at Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area. Ratcliff Lake was the log pond for the sawmill operations of the Central Coal & Coke Company. Much of the 4-C NRT travels along abandoned railroad tramways once used to transport lumber.

The 4-C NRT passes through pine stands, bottomland hardwoods, sloughs and upland forests, as well as the 3,900-acre Big Slough Wilderness Area, one of only five National Wilderness Areas in East Texas. The first _-mile of the 4-C NRT has been developed to be wheelchair accessible.

At twenty miles, the 4-C NRT offers visitors hiking experiences in a diversity of environments, and lends itself well to hiking either in sections, as a one-way, 20-mile (two day) trip or a two-way, 40-mile (four day) backpacking trip. The 4-C NRT is one of only a handful of trails in East Texas of substantial length, i.e. greater than 3 - 4 miles.