Campground Review: Lake Somerville State Park - Birch Creek Unit

Travel 10 miles northwest from Brenham, TX to Somerville and you'll be within reach of one of the jewels of the Texas State Park system, Lake Somerville State Park.  Somerville Lake was created in 1967 by the US Army Corps of Engineers damming Yegua Creek in the Brazos River basin.

The beach along Somerville Lake.

The maximum depth of the lake is listed as 38 feet but with the drought was probably lower than this during my visit to the park but, at 11,500 acres it's a pretty impressive body of inland water.  The state park is along the northern shore of the lake and had 120 RV campsites separated into three camp areas.  I stayed in the Yaupon Camping Area and totally lucked out when the ranger offered me Site 30 which she explained was "Right on the lake."  Score!

The Tank nestled under the trees at Site 30--lake in the background.

Here's the campground data sheet:

Hookups:                                20, 30, 50 amp, water

Fire ring:                                  yes

Water Access:                         yes

Dump station:                          yes

WiFi:                                       no

Level sites:                              most are, the ones near the lake slope towards the water

Laundry:                                  no

Store:                                      no

Pool:                                       no

Shade:                                     yes

Verizon reception:                   3g, 3 bars

Millenicom reception:              3 out of 4 bars

Cost:                                       $15 per night

I originally had only intended to stay two nights at the park but after setting up camp and seeing what a prime site I was in I jumped on Wally the Mountain Bike and pedaled the mile and a half back to the ranger station and signed up for two additional days.

The trail to the lake from Site 30.

There are over 20 miles of hiking and biking trails within Lake Somerville, many paralleling the lake with the added Spring bonus of beautiful flowers.

The Lake Trail parallels the beach for much of it's length.

 

It wasn't named Bluebonnet Trail but it could have been.

Here's a closer view.

Bluebonnets!

 Did someone ask what the sunrise over Somerville Lake looked like?

Sometimes being an early riser has it's rewards!

After close to a year on the road I've stayed at a good portion of the Texas State Park system and I'll put Lake Somerville State Park right up there with the best, particularly if you're interested in water activities like boating, fishing or just zoning out on the beach.  It fills up pretty quickly but if you can, request either Site 30 like I had or it's adjacent Site 29 which has a similar lake access, you'll love it!

Thanks for reading!