Beautiful place to camp and spend some time out in the water. I wish they enforced the noise restriction rules more than other regulations but besides that it's perfect. read more

Very cool. Extremely nice people. I went with my 8 year old. They give your kid an activity book, with goals to accomplish, and a marker to check them off. If you do enough of the activities while you're there, they'll make your kid an honorary park ranger and give him/her a badge. Really great idea. read more

Quite and peaceful. Hiking trails and nice. We did encounter a coral snake while hiking. Keep your eyes open

Lake Somerville State Park- Nails seemed pretty empty when not by the shore with the fishermen. I didn't see anyone on the Overlook or Rocky Point Trails. It's very doable to hit up both official sides of the State Park and get in Lake Somerville Trailway in a day. With a horse or a full day, you could hike between them. read more

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We just revisited this park to do a little day trip and kayaking during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was so easy to reserve a day pass online, easy to launch our kayaks, and easy to set up a picnic after. read more

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Limited number of campsites due to flooding last year. Will be nice when the closed camping loop gets rebuilt (electric hookups and new restrooms) sometime in late 2019 or in 2020. This park is on a flood control lake and is prone to flooding during a major event such as we had with hurricane Harvey. read more

Nails Creek State Park - Campsite #34 - Parks Near Me - Ledbetter, Texas

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My boyfriend and I spent the weekend at Nails Creek State Park Easter weekend 2014. Nails Creek is the fourth or fifth Texas State Park I've been to and although it wasn't my favorite of the parks I've been to, it was a very solid park and campground with highlights such as multiple trail options, private campsites, and beautiful wildflowers! We originally made reservations at Nails Creek because it was the only state park within a reasonable distance from Austin with any campsite openings even though we booked four weeks in advance. Honestly I feel like that's the reason most people visit Nails Creek for the first time because the name is not super appealing. We originally reserved a tent only site (numbers 11-20 on the map) which was $10 a night but after we checked in and saw the sites, we decided to pay the extra $6 a night for a site with water and electricity in the Bent Tree loop just because the sites offer considerably more privacy. Unless you're going with a group of 4 or 5 families, I would recommend the $16 Bent Tree or Cedar Creek sites for this reason although not all of them have the same view as the sites near the lake. The lake was underwhelming, they did have canoes for rent and fishing areas but no great swimming options. We did see a ton of birds on the lake and an armadillo rustling around the woods next to our campsite one night! We biked from the Lake Somerville Trailhead, around the pond and back to camp. An enjoyable bike, around 7 miles, and the wildflowers were in full bloom. A ranger told us the first two miles of the trail are a "Level 2" mountain biking, which was fun but a little tough, so we took the bypass around the hill on the way back. If you're looking for a change of routine from your normal camp grounds, a new bike trail, or the only campsite available is at Nails Creek, go check it out. Especially in April when it's semi cool and the flowers are in bloom. If you're going in the summer and want to swim, go somewhere else with better water options. read more

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This state park is HUGE! There are (2) halves to the park so make sure if going to the correct side if going with a group of people. We stayed in the Equestrian portion which was actually really cool for even setting up hammocks. Nice, clean bathrooms. One of the bathrooms was a little older and had bad water pressure but nice and hot. Great fishing spots and caught a 16'' blue cat! ( and released :) Can't wait to go back and stay on the other side - rent a canoe and check out the whole lake. read more

A group of 11 of us went to hike 10.5 miles at Nails Creek State Park on the hottest weekend of 2011. There were no other cars in the parking lot. The only other humans we saw were the two people at the park's main office and a groundskeeper. The park's main office at the end of FM 180 was pretty spiffy! There was a wide assortment of useful things and souvenirs sold. There are also useful papers about the birds there and maps of the trails. The restroom at the park office was very clean and modern. There is also a vending machine selling cold drinks at fair prices (for vending-machine standards)--$1.25 for a 20-oz soft drink bottle, $1.50 for a 20-oz Powerade. For people without a Texas State Parks Pass, the park's entrance fee was $3. At the time of this review, Texas is in one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Virtually 99.9% of Texas is in drought with 74% classified as Extreme Drought. Thus, we ended up not seeing any water out here. Flag Pond and Lake Somerville were dry. However, the trails were long, well-maintained, and varied enough to be worth a Saturday afternoon. You can also camp onsite but there doesn't appear to be any running water deeper in. People also bring their horses to walk on some of the trails. Parts of the trails are quite sandy and a challenge to walk on. My favorite thing about Nails Creek was getting to see deer, live armadillos, and tons of vultures. Who knows what other animals come out when it's not 110 degrees outside? I would give it an extra star if the trails were marked better. There were many intersections with branches off the main trail. Without my GPS track or the guidance of others, I wouldn't have known where to go. If you are very sensitive to chemicals, this area has lots of pumperjacks, oil wells, and pipelines. In some of the grassy areas, especially around the parking lots, there are tons of burrs that stick to your shoes and socks. They have sharp needles and were not fun to pick off. read more

Went camping here with husband and friends. The hiking is great, with many miles of trails to choose from. Campsites were nice size. Be aware this is a campground that has equestrian sites. There were not any horses when we were there but, there is a potential to have to camp by a smelly horse corral. Finally, bathroom/shower area is clean. Only real complaint: they had no soap in the ladies room and zero paper towels in men's room for both days we were there. They even cleaned the bathroom on Sunday morning but, did not replace either of these items. read more

Our first experience at Nail Creek was last summer when we took the kayaks out there. We were literally the only ones out on this 15,000 acre lake. Really awesome. So may birds (like 10,000) and we could see the fish in the lake because it was so shallow. We paddles across the lake and up the most serene gorgeous creeks ever. Ended our trip with a shower in the amazingly clean and new bath house then a picnic lunch at a table over looking the lake. We cruised the camping areas and made a promise to come back and camp. So this Fall we made another short trek up from Austin (85 minutes or so). Had made a reservation but there were only 2 campsites left. I think we got one of the BEST campsites in the whole park. It was in Bent Tree #26...very private from the road, a short hike to the waters edge, and the bathhouse was easily accessible (unless you are in a bad way...it takes maybe 5 minutes to walk to). We brought wood from home - but there is wood for sale at the ranger station for donation. The site was great, the sun came up over the trees - through which we could see the lake, the bird watching was great, it is an equestrian camp so we were surrounded by horses who had come with our neighbors. Campsites all have corrals - really an extra special touch for horse lovers. Three reasons I gave it one star: *noisy oil and gas lease equipment on the property *duck hunting on the lake *party atmosphere Sat night Read more below for details: Fri was great, Sat went beautifully until about 3:30 when a new neighbor pulled in right next door, opened her camper doors and started blaring her music. We called the rangers - who came within the half hour and instructed her to turn it down. Which eventually got turned back up. She was obviously there to party...and drink. She was so loud and obnoxious. She went down the way with another group of folks but made her way back up about 8:30 and srted with the music again. By then the ranger station was closed so we called Lee County sheriffs and they sent the park rangers out - who talked to her again. She actually turned the music off and didn't turn it back on all eve. Thank goodness. We were in a pop up she was in a rv. The ranger that came out at 9:00-ish did suggest we could move to another site. It would have taken us about 2 hours (or more) to pack up and move and we had been there since Friday - she had been there 6 hours and drove an rv...would have rather had them suggest SHE could move. Okay so enough venting.....when you go to this park expect that there could be partying until late in the night. I read other reviews that mentioned this also (maybe on the park site). One other important bit of info...there is a gas and oil lease on the property so there is a low groaning sound 24 hours a dya in the distance. We thought it was a rv running its generator - but nope. It was not pleasant to go to the woods for quiet and hear that the ENTIRE time we were there. It was duck hunting season when we went - so they could hunt out on the lake at sunrise and sunset. So we woke to gunshots every morning. There was no hunting IN the park or on the shore. But still- yuck. Great day trip, kayaking, bird watching (especially during migration season) read more

We went to ride horses and were a little disappointed because many of the trails were flooded so there was limited riding but the pens were very nice and the camp sites were nice. We stayed in the equine section with electricity. There is not shade where the pens are so you should take a tarp big enough to cover them. Some pens have large rocks in them! The trails are nice except they aren't marked! There are a lot of signs of wild hogs which could pose a problem if confronted so it could be somewhat dangerous. There was a large group that were camping and took up several sites and they had many young children and were somewhat loud so that was somewhat annoying but it was a good trip. read more

We just returned from a weekend jaunt to Nails Creek. We camped in our pop up trailer and had a wonderful time. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice this park was. The main attraction apparently is Lake Somerville, which is practically dried up due to severe drought conditions over the last few years. Even without the water this place was beautiful. We were the last people to check in on Saturday, so we got the last "picking" of our spot and it was still a great place. Lots of trees and privacy from other campers. The restrooms were super clean, which is really appreciated, especially when we learned that the people to staff it are 100% volunteers. The showers were wonderful as well, and one stall had a door with a hook so you have a place to hang your towel to help keep it scorpion-free. We brought our toddler, and he had a blast. We spotted lots of jackrabbits, beautiful deer, cardinals, hawks, and vultures. We loved this park and had a great time. We'll definitely be back and are also curious about the two other state parks nearby: Lake Somerville and Rocky Creek. Our date of travel was the first weekend in October 2013, so the weather was wonderful. read more