Explore Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway: A Texas Gem
By: Charles Christopher Jackson
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: 1976
Updated: October 22, 2025
Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway, on the shores of Somerville Lake, thirty miles southwest of Bryan in southern Burleson and eastern Lee counties, is one of the most popular recreational resorts in Central Texas. The park, consisting of approximately 8,700 acres, includes four sections—the 640-acre Birch Creek Unit in Burleson County, on the northern shore of the lake near the town of Somerville; the 300-acre Nails Creek Unit, on the lake's southwestern rim in Lee County; the Somerville Public Hunting Land tract of more than 3,500 acres; and the Trailway that connects the two units and contains the balance of the acreage in the park. The property was leased from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1969, two years after the completion of Somerville Dam, and the park officially opened in 1970. The Somerville Trailway, a twenty-six-mile system of hiking and nature trails on the western edge of the reservoir, connects the Birch Creek and Nails Creek units and offers primitive camping and group camping.
The woodlands along the shores of Lake Somerville feature several species of oak, including post, water, red, and blackjack, abundant groves of willows, and dense stands of yaupon; post and red oaks and yaupon undergrowth cover about half of the land in the vicinity of the lake. White-tailed deer, coyotes, armadillos, foxes, opossums, raccoons, and many songbirds can be seen in the park units. Much of the shoreline consists of sandy beach. During periods of unusually intense rainfall low-lying portions of the shore become submerged and acquire the marshy appearance of a Louisiana bayou.
Swimming, water skiing, boating, fishing, biking, and camping are favorite activities within the park, which includes almost forty miles of trails. Both the Birch Creek and Nails Creek units also have wheelchair-accessible trails. In total, the park has more than 150 campsites, including sites for equestrian camping, as well as a dining hall, group hall, and two pavilions. Both park units provide picnic sites, restrooms, boat ramps, and fish-cleaning shelters. The Somerville Trailway is open to both pedestrian and equestrian traffic and features numerous rest stops and shade shelters. A spectacular spring wildflower display occurs annually on the trail section between the Nails Creek headquarters and Flag Pond, a 350-acre impoundment on the Yegua Creek watershed that serves as a wetland for winter waterfowl. Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway hosts various events throughout the year.
Bibliography:
Carlton Bailes and Danny L. Hudson, A Guide to Texas Lakes, Including the Brazos, Colorado, Frio and Guadalupe Rivers (Houston: Pacesetter Press, 1982). Lake Somerville State Park & Trailway, Texas Parke and Wildlife Department (https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/lake-somerville), accessed October 8, 2025. Mickey Little, Hiking and Backpacking Trails of Texas (Houston: Lone Star, 1981; 3d ed. 1990).
Categories:
Time Periods:
Places:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Charles Christopher Jackson Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/lake-somerville-state-recreation-area.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
GKL15
All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
- 1976
- October 22, 2025
