Went camping with my mom and my kids for a weekends trip. We stayed in one of the 2 cabins because my mom needs her sleeping machine. It was a nice little trip. I took a hike with my little man to see the pine trees lined up and then the next morning took my daughter the short way. The kids loved the lake and my mom loved the fishing. The power plant across the lake lights up pretty but the constant hum coming from it is a bit strange. All and all it was a nice little trip and I'm looking forward to going back. I didn't get a chance to go on the island and I'd really like to go back to do that trail. read more

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Fairly small park with not much to offer. I was supposed to do a campout here with my hiking group last year in December, but I was moving. So, after Thanksgiving, I was already in East TX and decided to drive to the park to check it out. Checkin was easy at the ranger headquarters. I went inside to purchase a magnet. Their stickers selection was limited and the designs were unappealing. My first impression with the creek lake that it was very beautiful and reminded me of Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas. The beach portion doesn't allow dogs, so I just viewed it from the park. There's a total of three trails. I found one, but not the other. I searched high and low to find it, but was unsuccessful. I ended up going on the Island Trail. The view of the power plant was nice. The plant was loud. The Island trail was a smooth hike. The path is covered in pine needles and if you look closely, you can find armadillos, rabbits, and field mice. Now the camping portion was very crowded and the sites were close to each other. I didn't see any private sites. It reminded me of Blanco State Park; where you're just close enough to your neighbors where you can see and hear them. How fun! This park isn't worth coming back to explore. I didn't like it much. read more

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Stay at many TX parks and this 1 far at best. Sits are normally short, not level. My 35 ft RV took a bit to get in site, then use of levelers & blocks. Wish the concrete barrier block pushed back further. Had found a better site, ready to move but then found out was 30 amp only, like 50. Didn't know Power plant on lake- really loud at night & certain hours/ days. Good thing on Park dealt with several personnel at check in area, all nice & friendly. read more

Awesome! great fishing! Very calm and relaxing 24 hours a day. Check out the little island, so majestic. Strongly considering for my wedding location. read more

One of the smaller of Texas State Parks, Martin Creek Lake SP offers fishing, boating, hiking, picnicking, swimming, and camping. It has anything from (very short) hike-in primitive, shelter, and electric campsites. Full restrooms with flush toilets and showers are also available. Post-Thanksgiving, this was a great midway point from Dallas and Houston to meet a friend traveling all the way to Ohio by car! Having lost reception as we approached the park, we were not able to communicate with the friend we were meeting. We were so thankful that the park staff knew who we were looking for. They even recalled the color of his rental car! On this first visit we enjoyed a short, leisurely hike around the island. The island is accessible via footbridge (currently decorated with a simple strand of white lights), is about a mile around, and includes primitive, hike-in, lakeside campsites. We enjoyed our walk through the pine-covered trail and joked about using the nearby power plant as the backdrop of any photos of our excursion;P. The sand was nice on the island shores with some small shells scattered here and there and beautiful fall foliage surrounding it. It was so beautiful one could feel they are on a special nature retreat...until looking up at the horizon and viewing the MASSIVE power plant - visible to one side of the island and many of the water-facing campsites throughout the park. We enjoyed a post-hike drive where we checked out the layout of the park and campsites. We loved seeing the campers with some holiday spirit who had decorated their campsites in strands of lights and blowup characters. This was quite a cheery site:) All-in-all, this was a great place for a short hike and catch-up with a good friend! The piney woods were a nice change from Metropolitan DFW. The hiking trails were somewhat limited and the power plant an eyesore. If overnighting, we feel there are many other State Parks with better options - though the size of the park and length of its trails might appeal more to families. If camping here and wanting a more naturific experience, I would say, just choose your campsite wisely--looking for one which does not face the power plant--if that is a priority for you:). read more

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Great Camping. We were in spot 66 and it was walking distance to the lake. Didn't catch any fish but we still enjoyed our selves. Had a great time with the family. We will be revisiting. read more

Was it worth the drive from Shreveport? Absolutely! Though the trails are not as nice as in Caddo Lake SP you also get about 1/5 as many bugs. Still there are so interesting features along the trails and the lake is pretty. The RV half of the park was nice to walk around too. read more

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Want to go camping to enjoy nature? Don't come here! There's a huge factory of death staring at you right across the water. The air is thick with chemicals it's hard to breathe and no doubt the water is poisonous too. There is a constant loud rumble of the refinery's machines working. It's like camping next to a generator, no peace or quite. Literally disgusting. This place should be closed down. read more

Martin Creek Lake State Park - The view! - Parks Near Me - Tatum, Texas

Martin Creek Lake State Park is a popular fishing spot as there were plenty of fishers along the docks and shore. I really enjoyed the Island Trail on the smaller island that's connected with a pedestrian bridge. There are campsites on the little island too and this is where I'd want to be! P01-P06 is the better side of the island so try to book one of those sites. The trails were quiet and it was cool walking though the evenly spaced pine trees. The trails were easy too so perfect for the whole family. read more

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Probably in my top 20% of state parks and we've been to a lot. Camping spots are spaced out but oddly shaped and not as long as advertised. Trails are nice and well maintained. Lake is not the best for boats but is nice to look at. The power plant makes some noise but it's on audible when you're near the lake and don't get the tree cover to help deaden the sound. read more

This is a gem of a state park. I was a little hesitant to book based on reviews about lack of maintenance and the power plant. So glad I didn't listen! Not sure what the other people are taking about with lack of maintenance...I didn't find that to be true at all! Yes, the power plant is there but we found it kind of intriguing. It's definitely different lol. But not bothersome. The staff is super friendly and helpful. We stayed at Site #57 (a 30amp site that has a lakeview from the site and a tree backing. A little more privacy than some of the sites.) easy time backing in, easy connections. Did not use bathroom on site, so can't speak to that (used camper bathroom.) we rented canoes and staff was very nice. (It was $18 for 2 hours. Less per hour if you rent for longer.) hiking around the island was cool. Side note: If you are tent camping, the primitive walk-in camping on the island is right on the waters edge and looks pretty awesome! Very chill place. Fishing, biking, hiking...a great place to truly relax and not be rushing all the time. Just what we wanted. We will be back! read more

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Terrible! Will never stay here again and I recommend you don't either. No chance in getting to eat your food because the flies are ridiculous!! I have never seen so many flies in my life! They made it impossible to cook. Then at 9 am we were RUSHED off our spot because they had to fix the roof on the picnic area shelter. Two guys pulled up and asked if we were staying all day. We said we were leaving shortly, since our tent was still up and we had just gotten up. Once they pulled away, a white pickup truck parked practically on top of our car and stayed there the entire time we took our tent down and packed up. NOT COOL! We will not be returning!!! read more

Martin Creek Lake State Park - The white pickup truck who rudely parked on top of us until we packed up and left. - Parks Near Me - Tatum, Texas

Great park. Roads are flat so it was easy for me to ride my bike. Hiking trails were moderate to easy but wet and sloshy due to recent rain. Geocaching was fun. Fishing was good, kids caught catfish. We will definitely be back. read more

Martin Creek Lake State Park - Parks Near Me - Tatum, Texas

Spend 4 days in this pretty park. Shelter #12. Very nice shelter. Very well kept facilities. I wanted to give this place a better rating but there are some blaring issues. 1) that eye sore of a power plant across the lake just bothered me to no end. It emits a loud hum 24/7, and there are trains constantly coming and going. At night it looks like a Christmas tree. It's a deal breaker for me! 2) zero cellphone service in most of the park, except for a few designated areas. 3) the weeds in the lake were out of control. They need to be swept out of there. read more

This was our first family camping trip with the kids (7,6,5). We went during the 4th of July weekend and had an absolute blast! We arrived late into the night, but still managed to find a nice spot with the most amazing canopy of trees. Screened shelter #16. There were argentine ants at our site, but nothing some bug spray from the dollar couldn't handle. Martin Creek lake, to my knowledge, has an annual Fourth of July bicycle parade. The park and the city of Tatum supplied all kinds of decorations. It was truly an experience I will never forget. We explored the hiking trails, dipped in the lake swimming area and enjoyed exploring the beautiful park at Martin Creek Lake. We plan on going back next July 4th. read more

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Camping in RV, every other parksite aside. Keeping the distance.Quiet, except for power plant,not that noisy tho. Enjoying the weekend with son and family. read more

HUGE lake, warm swimming (water is heated by a power plant across the lake) and great fishing. Heavily wooded throughout, and a nice distance between screened shelters. read more

Our family had a great time camping here. Its lush and green and beautiful. The campsites are spacious and the bathrooms are clean. The island is a fun place to explore and the park was perfect for our little one. The power plant while unsightly when your directly looking at it and makes some noise didn't take away from our enjoyment of the park or our trip there. Its far from any highway so most of the noise you hear is nature. Do educate yourself on how to identify poison ivy and poison oak as there is a bit of it there. As with any other time in nature if you stay on the designated trails and you shouldn't have a problem. read more

Love this place!! Its very clean and the people at the gate are friendly. Very peaceful and calming.

There's water so that's cool. Not very well maintained. Trash makes the flies worse than the normal Texas nuisance level.

It's hard to decide if this park deserves two stars or only one star. I went last October, and found the park to be so littered with branches, brush, and pieces of sawed-up trees, that even the park office was encouraging campers to pick it up off the ground and burn it - something that is unheard of in a state park - usually they have strict rules about gathering firewood off the ground. I was there during the week, and I saw no one from the park picking it up. The trails were impassable by bike and sometimes by foot due to deadfall. I realize that we had had a terrible drought, but so did other parks in the area that were not in total disarray. I also did not like the very noisy coal-burning power plant across the lake, which scared my dog the entire time, and which would wake us up in the middle of the night, sometimes two times, with train whistles. In my estimation, not only did morale seem to be low amongst the rangers stationed here, but this park was placed badly, right across the way from a huge power plant. This was my last visit here. read more

This is our second visit in two years Camping in an RV. This is a nice park. The power plant is a bit noisy for my liking, but it is the infestation of ants that makes me give this park two stars. We left a day early because we just couldn't get rid of the creatures and they were just getting worse. The park knows that they have a problem. They have a post on their bulletin board that we saw after the fact that says to be prepared to take action if the ants become a problem. And a problem they are. As I said, this is our second visit. We will not try it again. It is too bad as otherwise this is a good camp ground. read more

Great place! Had a blast for spring break! For those asking we stayed on sites 61, 62. Close to the bathrooms and perfect. Site 61 had a built canopy over the picnic table which was great ( not all sites have them). The Rangers were helpful and the staff at the office were kind and helpful even when we changed sites - we were given 62 and 63 but noticed that 61 had the canopy and the group there had just left. Bathrooms were clean and stocked - PLENTY OF HOT WATER! At the bathrooms we used there were three showers and they were great as they were private with doors and changing area for each stall. We hiked and went through the geocaching with some of our group-fun!!! Something to do that we enjoyed as we had never done it before. Kids fished a couple times just For fun as they did not need a license because they fished off the pier. As other reviews mention it I will say you can see and hear the plant but even those that are light sleepers had no issues with it- so when I give this review a five it's because the plant is not a big issue. We did not bring our bikes which after hiking the trails I wish we had! The park rangers were vigilant which we loved! They were nice but we definitely did not have any issues with noisy neighbors as we have had in the past during spring break so that was a plus! Definitely a great place! read more