Lake Livingston
A Trinity River reservoir, a regional water supply, and the reason a lot of people are in Polk County at all.
Buying on the lake? The Lake Livingston Buyer Guide covers TRA permits, the 2,000-foot septic rule and flood zones.
Right now on the lake
Live, fetched when you load the page. The gauge is USGS 08066190 at Goodrich; USGS states its readings are provisional and may be revised. Burn ban and road conditions are on the front page.
Before you leave the driveway
Check what changes before you hitch up.
Level, park capacity and weather move by the hour. This page holds the part that does not — who owns what, what each source states, and when we last checked. These links give you today's answer.
Free and public access in Polk County
Every record below carries the source it came from. Facilities we could not confirm from a current first-party source are not listed — see the note at the foot of this page.
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Lake Livingston State Park
How this record was verified
Address and phone from the TPWD fisheries page for this lake. TPWD lists the park with the fullest amenity set of any access facility on the reservoir. Ramp lane count NOT established — a widely repeated figure of three two-lane ramps could not be confirmed from a TPWD source and is not published here. RAMP COUNT ESTABLISHED 2026-09-07: PolkTX was at the park on 2026-09-06 and confirmed three ramps of two lanes each first-hand. That is the figure the sentence above declined to publish on the strength of repetition alone; it is now published on the strength of the visit, and TPWD still does not state it.Sources · 3
- TPWD Lake Livingston State ParkTier A
- TPWD Lake Livingston public access facilitiesTier A
- PolkTX site visit, September 6, 2026Tier C_observed
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07 -
Tigerville Park
How this record was verified
TRA describes Tigerville Park as a day-use facility in Livingston with a free public boat ramp, restroom facilities and day-use picnic amenities. Street address, lane count and hours not established. Photographed 2026-09-06. The historic Tigerville community is separately documented on FM 3277 in northwestern Polk County; whether the park shares that location is unverified. LANE COUNT ESTABLISHED 2026-09-07: PolkTX was at the park on 2026-09-06 and counted a single-lane ramp. The sentence above records that the count was previously unestablished; it is superseded by the visit, not by a source.Sources · 3
- TPWD Lake Livingston public access facilitiesTier A
- Trinity River Authority recreation pageTier A
- PolkTX site visit, September 6, 2026Tier C_observed
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07 -
Blanchard Public Ramp
Heads upSignage photographed at the ramp on 2026-09-06 advertises The Lake Life Marina as coming soon, with valet boat storage and pre-leasing. No opening date has been published, and the marina is not yet among the brands the operator lists. TRA states the two-lane ramp, free boater parking, the TRA fishing pier, shoreline fishing and open green space stay publicly available under the lease.
How this record was verified
TRA states the ramp is free to use, has two lanes, and that free boater parking, the TRA fishing pier, shoreline fishing and open green space remain publicly available under the Lake Life Foundation lease. TRA states swimming is prohibited and that entering the water within 100 feet of the ramp is prohibited. Street address not established. Photographed 2026-09-06.Sources · 3
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07
Fee ramps and marinas in Polk County
Privately operated. Fees and terms below are the operator's own published figures as of the verified date on each record, and can change without notice — confirm before you tow.
These are editorial records. No facility paid to appear here, and payment would not change which facilities are listed or the order they appear in.
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Kickapoo Marina
How this record was verified
Operator states a double side-by-side concrete boat launch, $5 per launch, $5 for shoreline fishing, and a fish cleaning station on site. Operator states there is no gas station and no bait or tackle at this location, with both available less than a mile away. Contacts listed as Nancy for boat slips 936-327-0110 and Manny for RV sites 936-646-3340. Operator states additional boat slips are set to be built in 2026. Livingston address places it in Polk County.Sources · 2
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07 -
Beacon Bay Marina & RV Park
How this record was verified
Operator states two boat launches, one deep-water launch usable at low lake levels, in a protected cove. Launch fee $20 per day, paid at the marina store drop box before launching. Parking is for launching vehicles only; additional vehicles $10 per vehicle per day. Marina also lists boat stalls, an RV park, and fuel and store. Livingston address places it in Polk County.Sources · 2
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07
Private — guests only
These have a boat ramp, but it is not public access. You cannot launch here unless you are staying at the property.
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On The Lake RV and Cabin Resort
Formerly Lake Livingston / Onalaska KOAHow this record was verified
Formerly the Lake Livingston KOA; the operator's own listings render the name as On The Lake RV Resort (Formerly Lake Livingston KOA). Operator lists an onsite boat ramp among resort amenities, alongside a marina, private beach, pool and restaurant. Treated here as private, for resort guests only. The operator does not publish launch terms for non-guests; PolkTX lists it as guest access rather than public access because the ramp is presented as a resort amenity. Not confirmed by the operator. Onalaska address places it in Polk County.Sources · 1
CONFIRMED · verified 2026-09-07
The dam
Livingston Dam impounds the Trinity River at the south end of the reservoir. The Trinity River Authority owns and operates the dam and publishes lake level, discharge and rainfall data for the basin.
TRA states that its lake and river data are provisional, may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunction or physical changes at the measurement site, and that users should consider that before relying on them for decisions concerning personal or public safety. The reading at the top of this page is the USGS gauge at Goodrich, not TRA's, and USGS labels its own data provisional on the same grounds. Neither is a substitute for the operator: for gate releases and what TRA is actually doing at the dam, go to TRA.
The short history
Built for water supply. It has no flood storage.
TRA financed and built both the lake and Livingston Dam under a contract with the city of Houston, and still owns and operates both. It calls this the largest single-purpose reservoir in Texas — about 83,000 surface acres, 450 miles of shoreline, and the only dam on the main stem of the Trinity.
Single-purpose is the phrase that matters. TRA states the lake has no flood control or flood storage capacity. Twelve tainter gates control the flow, and spillway operation mirrors the river: as river flow rises, discharges rise with it.
Sources · 1
One thing nobody agrees on
Even the finish date is disputed.
TRA says the lake was completed in 1971. TPWD's survey report says it was constructed in 1969, and TPWD's own reservoir page says impounded 1969. The acreage splits three ways too, across the same three pages.
We show all three rather than picking one. The full comparison is further down this page.
Sources · 3
At the dam today
Twenty-four megawatts, and no effect on the level.
TRA broke ground with the East Texas Electric Cooperative on the R.C. Thomas Hydroelectric Project on 27 May 2015 and dedicated it on 12 November 2021. TRA states the plant generates roughly 124 million kilowatt-hours a year from run-of-the-river flows and downstream releases, and that lake level is not affected by its operation.
Sources · 1
Fishing
A white bass lake, first and foremost.
TPWD calls this a notable white bass fishery — plentiful, and growing to large sizes — with a catfish fishery dominated by blue catfish. Largemouth, striped and hybrid bass and crappie it rates as less abundant, though good catches are possible where habitat is available.
TPWD's own tips: white bass in early spring in the creeks; striped bass around the 190 bridge, trolling and vertical jigging spoons or live shad; largemouth in the bays and creeks from the Kickapoo area northward, best in spring and autumn; channel and blue catfish year-round over the main river channel.
Blue and channel catfish carry a 50-fish daily bag here, and TPWD states commercial harvest is allowed. Everything else follows statewide limits, which change — check before you keep.
Protect the lake
Clean. Drain. Dry.
TPWD states zebra mussels have invaded this reservoir. Before you move a boat, trailer, livewell, bait bucket or gear to another water body, clean it, drain it and let it dry. Draining the water is required by law, and possession and transport of zebra mussels is illegal.
TPWD names giant salvinia and water hyacinth, along with siltation and habitat loss, as the primary management challenges here. Since 2013 Lake Livingston Friends of Reservoirs, with six school districts and other local partners, has planted over 10,000 water willow.
Cleanboat, trailer and gear
Drainrequired by law
Drybefore the next lake
Sources · 3
Elsewhere on the lake
Lake Livingston is not a Polk County lake. These facilities are confirmed but sit outside the county.
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Patrick's Ferry San Jacinto County
Trinity River AuthorityHow this record was verified
TRA names Patrick's Ferry as one of four free public boat ramps it owns and maintains. TPWD lists it with the same minimal amenity set as its other public ramps. The shoreline at this facility is in Polk County, but the land the ramp sits on is in San Jacinto County, verified first-hand on 2026-09-07. It therefore renders with the facilities outside the county rather than in the Polk County groups, and is excluded from the unverified-facility count because its operator status is not in doubt. US 190 BRIDGE WORK (from 2026-10-19): TxDOT's Lufkin District announced on 2026-10-14 that maintenance on the US 190 Lake Livingston bridge will not affect access to this ramp. Expect signal-controlled delays on the bridge itself; see polktx.com/roads/.Sources · 2
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Point Blank Public Ramp San Jacinto County
Trinity River AuthorityHow this record was verified
TRA names Point Blank as one of four free public boat ramps it owns and maintains. The town of Point Blank is in San Jacinto County; the ramp's county assignment follows from the place name and has not been independently confirmed. Rendered outside the Polk County group.Sources · 2
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Wolf Creek Park San Jacinto County
Trinity River AuthorityHow this record was verified
TRA describes Wolf Creek Park as a 110-acre camping facility near Coldspring, opened 1972, with 102 campsites, restrooms and showers, boat ramps, fishing piers, fish cleaning stations, marina, playground and courts, open March through November. Coldspring is in San Jacinto County. Rendered outside the Polk County group.Sources · 2
Where the sources disagree
These are unresolved. We show both positions rather than picking one.
TPWD and TRA do not agree on which ramps are free public ramps.
Six public boat ramps serve the lake, alongside a number of privately operated ramps. By name the list reads as Cauthan, Riverside, Patrick's Ferry, Blanchard, Tigerville and Point Blank.
TRA owns and maintains four free public boat ramps around the lake: Blanchard, Patrick's Ferry, Whiterock and Point Blank, in addition to Tigerville Park's free public ramp and Wolf Creek Park.
Unresolved: TPWD lists no Whiterock public ramp, only White Rock City Marina. TRA does not mention Cauthan or Riverside. Ownership of Cauthan and Riverside is not established.
Sources disagree on how many counties the reservoir touches.
An 83,277-acre impoundment on the Trinity River in Trinity, Polk, San Jacinto and Walker counties.
Six counties, adding Houston and Madison.
Unresolved: Not independently reconciled. The difference may be whether upper-arm backwater counties are counted.
Sources disagree on when the reservoir was completed and how large it is.
Completed in 1971 under a contract between TRA and the city of Houston. About 83,000 surface acres with 450 miles of shoreline, and the largest single-purpose reservoir in Texas.
An 83,277-acre impoundment constructed in 1969 by the Trinity River Authority and the City of Houston for municipal, agricultural and industrial purposes.
Surface area 90,000 acres. Impounded 1969. Maximum depth 77 feet, conservation pool elevation 131 feet msl.
Unresolved: Two dates, 1969 and 1971, and three acreages roughly 7,000 acres apart — two of them on TPWD's own site. Impoundment and completion may simply be different milestones, and the acreage may differ by whether it is measured at conservation pool; neither reading has been confirmed from a source that states which it means.
What we are not listing yet
TPWD's access directory carries 25 further facilities on this reservoir — marinas, resorts and private ramps. We could not establish present operator status for any of them from a current first-party source, and several of those entries have been in that directory a long time.
Rather than send someone towing a boat to a marina that may have closed, we hold them until a phone call confirms them. If you operate one of these and want it listed, get in touch.
Research sources
Every source behind this page, first-party where one exists. Live conditions and rules should always be checked with the agency itself before you travel.
- TPWD Lake Livingston reservoir page ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD Livingston Reservoir 2016 survey report ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD fish consumption bans and advisories ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD bag and size limits for Lake Livingston ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD required safety equipment ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD habitat structure viewer ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TPWD Lake Livingston State Park ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TRA Lake Livingston project page ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TRA recreation page ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TRA press release, July 27, 2026 ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TRA history ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- National Weather Service forecast for Livingston ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- TRA lake and river data ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
- USGS gauge 08066190, Livingston Reservoir near Goodrich ↗ Tier A · read 2026-09-07
For visitors, locals and future neighbors
The lake is part of the county, not an amenity bolted onto it.
Coming for the day, thinking of moving, or already here — the rest of PolkTX covers the communities around the water. Many lakeside subdivisions have a ramp of their own, but those are member-only and are not public access, which is why none of them appears above.