Texas Grand Ranch vies to be the next great wooded community.

The Woodlands may be Houston’s most popular nearby wooded residential neighborhood, but Texas Grand Ranch, near New Waverly, is vying to become the next great forested community by the big city.

The major difference is this developing area, which is situated roughly an hour north of Houston, features acreage homes for those looking to be surrounded by nature.

A representative for the large enclave describes their intended demographic as home shoppers in search of “more space, a high and dry elevation, lots of privacy and trees, and peace of mind knowing they are surrounded by thousands of acres of protected National Forest and State Park land.”

The area includes a quiet portion of Lake Conroe frontage ideal for fishing and boating. Biking, horse-riding and hiking trails aren’t far from the homesites at the Ranch.

A collection of homebuilders have already signed on to begin erecting custom houses from the ground up: Kirk Homes, Tilson Custom Home Builders, TDCox Homes LLC, Blackoak Homes, Sierra Classic Custom Homes and RVision Homes. While Texas Grand Ranch isn’t affiliated with these builders, they come recommended by some Ranch residents.

Two to 5-acre pre-construction homesites at Texas Grand Ranch are currently priced from $59,900, and Texas veterans qualify for special financing.

Among the inventory are cul-de-sac lots, state park parcels and some national forest properties that will be released to the market on Aug. 24.

“The thing that makes Texas Grand Ranch unique is that we are in the middle of 166,000 acre Sam Houston National Forest,” Bear Prince, land consultant and broker at Texas Grand Ranch said in a prepared statement. “This is a beautiful playground. That’s what people love about it. People come up from Houston to enjoy the forest on the weekends. We get to live in it.”