Come enjoy the cool waters of Lake Bridgeport, one of the most beautiful lakes with clear water in north Texas. It sits in Jack and Wise Counties 65 miles northwest of Ft. Worth, Texas, covers 11,954 acres with 170 miles of shoreline, and has four islands. The West Fork of the Trinity River supplies the water. Around the shoreline, visitors can find boat-launching ramps, boat rental services, campgrounds and cabins, marinas, RV parks, and picnic areas.
There are bunches of communities ringed around Lake Bridgeport along with the Chupacabra Point and Bridgeport Falls Paddling Trails for canoes and kayaks. The City of Runaway Bay sits on a southern peninsula and offers an 18-hole golf course and marina. The Twin Hills Cycle Ranch on the eastern shore provides dirt bikers and ATV owners a place to rip wide open on 2,000 acres of trails. The City of Bridgeport operates the Northwest OHV Park and let’s you rough it with your SUV, UTV, or Jeep on 300 acres. The landscape of this area is marked with rocky shorelines, boulders, cliffs, prairie lands, and forested areas.
The Sid Richardson Scout Camp on the northeastern edge of Lake Bridgeport is a Boy Scout haven that offers 72 merit badges and has a Technology Center, Flight Simulation Center with 16 F-16 cockpits, and a Space Shuttle Simulator. A variety of hiking trails with some paved weave around the lake, and there are miles of equestrian trails. A maintenance worker thought he found a dead chupacabra in 2010 on the Runaway Bay Golf Course. Chupacabras are mythical creatures from Mexico that suck the blood from livestock, but after an examination by a state biologist, the chupacabra turned out to be a baby hairless raccoon. However, the chupacabra moniker stuck around Lake Bridgeport.
History of Lake Bridgeport
The U.S. established Ft. Richardson in 1866 to protect settlers from Kiowa and Comanche Indians and began construction in 1867. It was Texas’s northernmost outpost and headquarters for the Sixth U.S. Calvary, the Fourth U.S. Calvary, and the Eleventh U.S. Infantry until 1876. The soldiers kept up maintenance of the post, assisted law officers with peacekeeping, hunted criminals, accompanied wagon trains, monitored elections, safeguarded cattle herds, and guarded against marauding Indians. Ft. Richardson was chiefly responsible for the settlement of the region where Lake Bridgeport is today.
Between April and September, soldiers patrolled nonstop for raiding Indians. In 1871, General William Sherman authorized Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, Fourth Cavalry, to go on the offensive against Comanche Cheifs Quannah Parker and Mow Way. In 1872 Col. Mackenzie’s soldiers rescued 130 women and children captured by Indians and killed fifty Indian warriors. The Red River War, 1874-1875, saw the final defeat of the Indians. With the north Texas frontier safe by 1878, settlers moved in to the region. The U.S. Army abandoned Fort Richardson and left it to ruin.
The City of Jacksboro kept up maintenance on some of the buildings. In 1940, the Texas National Guard assembled Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Division (the Lost Battalion) for active duty at Ft. Richardson. The U.S. declared Ft. Richardson a national landmark in 1963. In 1968, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department took over management of the historic fort and forged ahead with major renovations that visitors enjoy today.
The Bridgeport Dam construction was completed in 1931 at a cost of $2 million. Impoundment of Lake Bridgeport began in 1932. It serves the purposes of controlling flood waters of the West Fork of the Trinity River along with Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth, water storage, and recreation. Modifications made in the early 1970s allowed for enlargement of the lake and a new spillway north of the main dam.
Lake Bridgeport Fishing
Use everything in your tackle box at Lake Bridgeport, because the predominant species to go after are largemouth, smallmouth, hybrid striped, spotted, and white bass, channel and flathead catfish, white crappie, bluegill (perch, sunfish), and longnose and spotted gar. Snatch up your fishing gear and boats, and head up to this lake for a great day of fishing. No boat? No problem! Find an experienced fishing guide, and let them do the hard work on our Lake Bridgeport Fishing Guides page.
Lake Bridgeport Marinas
Only two full service marinas call Lake Bridgeport their home, North Side Marina and Resort and Runaway Bay Marina. North Side Marina is a full service marina with a BBQ and burger joint, lake houses and cabins, an RV park, and paddle and kayak rentals. The City of Runaway Bay operates Runaway Bay Marina with 118 boat slips. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department operates Lakeside Marina with courtesy docks, a gas dock, and restrooms. Boat ramps are scattered throughout the parks around the lake. Find a marina on our Lake Bridgeport Marinas page.
Cabins and Rental Homes
Lake Bridgeport offers cool clear water and your options range from small rustic cabins to large homes with modern features and on the waterfront with private boat docks. This lake bundles gobs of natural fun in a small parcel, so book your vacation time accommodations in advance. Prices vary per night, but you can find something to fit your budget from a one bedroom condominium at Runaway Bay to large homes for enormous fun with friends and family. Book your memorable getaway on our Lake Bridgeport Cabins page.
Camping on Lake Bridgeport
There are several campgrounds and RV parks located around Lake Bridgeport including Bay Landing in Runaway Bay, Austin Campsite, North Side Marina, Paradise RV Park, Thousand Trails with 224 sites, and Wise County Park. Ft. Richardson State Park, Historic Site & Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway is only 26 miles west of Lake Bridgeport. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department restored this historic fort with the post hospital, officer's quarters, enlisted men’s quarters, a powder magazine, a morgue, a commissary, a guard house, and a bakery. Fort Richardson offers historical studies, picnicking, camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, nature studies, swimming accessible via Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway, wading in the creek (seasonal), ranger programs, and fishing.
Bring your supplies with you because stores are scarce except for a Dollar General near Runaway Bay at Lake Bridgeport. The captivating sunrises and sunsets alone will take your breath away while camping with family and friends at Lake Bridgeport. Find the park that will accommodate your camping adventures on our Lake Bridgeport Camping page.
Lake Bridgeport Real Estate
Waterfront homes go for an average price of $448,000. There are plenty of cheaper lots and homes salt and peppered around the lake. The housing market for upscale waterfront homes is limited with about ten available at any given time. Lake lots are more plentiful with about 140 available on average. Plan on amusing yourself or drive to Ft. Worth for entertainment and dining. The nearest Walmart is in Decatur, Texas, about 30 miles east of Lake Bridgeport, but there is a Dollar General a few miles east of Runaway Bay. There are few restaurants around or near this natural wonderland. Chico and Bridgeport, Texas are the closest towns with schools, and only Chico has a high school. Find out what’s available from an expert real estate professional on our Lake Bridgeport Homes for Sale page.
Flora and Fauna
West of I35 in north Texas is the beginning of West Texas, and the variety of animals include American badgers, American beavers, armadillos, several species of bats, bobcats, gray and red foxes, fox squirrels, southern flying squirrels, javelina hogs, American minks, mountain lions, raccoons, North American river otters, wild boars, and mule and white-tailed deer. Watch out for snakes because there are 15 species with the poisonous ones being copperheads, rattlesnakes, and water moccasins (cottonmouth). At the Wild Animal Retreat Center for Animal Research & Education or CARE five miles south of the City of Bridgeport, you can visit bobcats, cougars, lemurs, leopards, lions, llamas and guanacos, lynxes, servals, tigers, and tortoises.
Birders can find 250 species of birds around Lake Bridgeport, migratory and permanent residents. The most common bird sighting are of: American goldfinchs, black-crested titmouse blue jays, brown-headed cowbirds, carolina chickadees, chipping sparrows, common grackles, dark-eyed juncos, downy woodpeckers, eurasian collared-doves, European starlings, golden-fronted woodpeckers, great-tailed grackles, house finches, house sparrows, ladder-backed woodpeckers, mourning doves, northern cardinals, northern flickers, northern mockingbirds, pine siskins, purple finches, red-bellied woodpeckers, red-breasted nuthatches, red-winged blackbirds, rock pigeons, tufted titmouses, white-breasted nuthatches, white-crowned sparrows, white-throated sparrows, white-winged doves,and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Game birds include doves, ducks, geese, quail, sandhill cranes, teals, and wild turkeys.
Native perennial and annual grasses serve as important food sources for much of the herbivore wildlife, and weeds and wildflowers bloom prolifically in this region. Just a few of the most beautiful wild flowers to enjoy are American beauty berries, American trumpet vines, black-eyed Susans, blue jackets, butterfly milkweeds, Dakota mock vervains, Indian blankets, mountain pinks, partridge peas, Persian silk trees, silverleaf nightshade, Texas bluebonnets, Texas bindweed, Texas stork’s bills, turkey tangle frogfruits, wing-pod portulacas, and yellow flaxes. The most common trees are cottonwoods, live and post oaks, and mesquite trees.
Lake Bridgeport Weather
It rains an average of 42 inches per year at Lake Bridgeport with 233 sunny days and less than an inch of snow per year. Temperatures range from a July high at 93 to 95 degrees and January low of 30 degrees. April, May, and October are the most pleasant months to enjoy at this lake. You can always check our Lake Bridgeport Weather page for up-to-date weather info.