Explore Martin Creek Lake State Park: A Hidden Gem in Texas
By: Christopher Long
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: April 1, 1995
Updated: October 28, 2025
Martin Creek Lake State Park is off State Highway 43 four miles south of Tatum in Rusk County. The 286.9-acre park was originally the site of 5,000-acre Martin Creek Lake constructed by Texas Utilities Generating Company in the early 1970s to provide water for its nearby power plant. In 1976 the company deeded the land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park was named for the lake, which was named after Daniel Martin, a settler who arrived in the 1830s and helped found Harmony Hill, a historic community and now ghost town in the area. The park, located in the pineywoods, includes a mix of pines and hardwoods and is home to a wide variety of small animals and birds typical of the region. Because the lake is artificially warmed by the power plant, fishing, particularly for largemouth bass but also crappie, catfish, and sunfish, is good year-round. The park is a popular location for fishing tournaments, and facilities include a boat ramp, fishing pier, and fish cleaning station. Camping and picnicking are popular activities, and the park offers a pavilion, screened shelters, cabins, and more than fifty campsites. Visitors have the opportunity for primitive camping on a small island on the lake. Four miles of trails allow for hiking and biking.
Bibliography:
Martin Creek Lake State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/martin-creek-lake), accessed October 28, 2025. Ray Miller, Texas Parks (Houston: Cordovan, 1984).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Christopher Long Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Martin Creek Lake State Park,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/martin-creek-lake-state-recreation-area.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
GKM08
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- April 1, 1995
- October 28, 2025
