State: Texas
Address 1: 9515 County Road 2181D
City: Tatum
Zip: 75691
Phone: 903-836-4336
Open all Year: Yes
Number of Sites: 91
Electric Water: 58
Camp URL: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/martin_creek/
Full Hook: Yes
About: Activities include excellent, year-round fishing; camping; wildlife observation and photography; picnicking; boating; water skiing; unsupervised lake swimming; backpacking; hiking; and interpretive programs on Saturday (when staffing allows). An annual perch fishing contest is held for children ages 4 to 12 is held first Saturday in September.
Facilities include restrooms with showers; hike-in primitive campsites with no drinking water available (one of the primitive areas is located on an island accessed via a charming wooden bridge); campsites with water and electricity (all have fire rings and picnic tables); screened shelters; 2 cottages (converted screened shelters which have been air-conditioned and heated, have water, electricity and bunk beds – capacity 5; a group picnic pavilion; a 1.5-mile hiking trail; a 6-mile mountain bike trail; a 4-lane concrete boat ramp; a trailer dump station; a playground; and a lighted fishing pier. Two cabins accommodate 4; no additional persons authorized. They have central air and heat, kitchen with 4-burner stove and oven, refrigerator, coffee maker, screened back porch, and outdoor smoker/cooker. There are no fireplaces or wood-burning stoves. No bath or bed linens are provided. Be sure to stop by the Texas State Park Store.
During fall, usually late October through the first two weeks of November, is a particularly scenic time at Martin Creek. Visitors can marvel at the colorful foliage displayed by the many varieties of hardwoods, interspersed with loblolly and short-leaf pine trees.
This forest shelters abundant wildlife including gophers, swamp rabbits, nutria, white-tailed deer, raccoons, armadillos, and squirrels. Park visitors enjoy excellent year-round fishing, due to water warmed by the power plant. Fish include large-mouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, perch, ball, and sunfish. Among the most commonly seen birds are mallard ducks, great blue herons, green-backed herons, great egrets, northern cardinals, blue jays, red-headed woodpeckers, bobwhites, and northern mockingbirds.
