Martin Creek Lake State Park

Martin Creek Lake State Park
Tatum, Texas
March 2012

This was pretty neat park, just outside of Longview Texas.   It sits on a 5000 acre lake that supplies water for a power plant.   The fishing is excellent.   We saw several large catfish being cleaned.

The park has 80 RV sites and 20 cabins.   The RV sites are shaded, nice size and in decent shape.  Some of the pads were worn and broken.   Several of the sites has covered picnic tables.

The park has a island that is connected by a foot bridge and the island is only used for primitive camping.

We give this park a 7 out of 10.

Pros
Nice size lake
Great fishing
lots of spots
lots of shade
some spots had covered picnic tables
Cool primitive camping area

Cons
You could hear the power plant that was across the lake.

 

 

 

Caddo Lake State Park

Caddo Lake State Park
Karnack, Texas
March 2012

This is pretty neat park located on Caddo Lake.   Caddo lake is the largest natural lake in Texas.   The park has 10 cabins and 65 RV spots.   Eight of the sites are pull thrus   The sites are in good shape.  Nice level pads with lots of space and shade.   We stayed in the Squirrel Haven Loop which was a short walk / bike ride to the Saw Mill Pond.  

We rented canoes and kayaks and played around in the pond area.   No swimming is allowed because of the alligators.   We also booked a pontoon boat ride tour out to the Big Cypress Bayou.   We were a little disappointed the tour stopped short of going out to the main part of the lake.   Next time we would of toured the lake with another guide outside of the park.   We've heard that there are steamboats that still tour the main lake.

We did enjoy all of the history behind this park and area.

We give this park a 8.5 out of 10.

PROS
Good sites
Canoe & Kayak rentals
Bayou Tours
Cool History

CONS
Tour didn't do main part of the lake.

Atlanta State Park

Atlanta State Park
Atlanta, Texas
March 2012

This is pretty bid park but only has 60 RV sites.   There are three loops with several pull thru sites.
There is also two boat ramps, one on each side of the park.   The park sits on the 20,000 acre Wright Patman lake.   It used to be call Lake Texarkana.  The lake isn't very deep.   Average depth is 8.5' deep.

The campsites were OK.   Most of them had shade and were decent sized.   We took a hike from one side to the other which was about four miles.

We give this park a 7 out of 10.

Pros
Big Park
Big Lake
Good hiking

Cons
Shallow lake