Last weekend we spent a couple of days in Lake Somerville State Park. It’s located about equidistant between Austin and Houston, near Brenham. We stayed in the Birch Creek Unit, specifically in the Old Hickory Loop. This is our second time there — the first was back in February when the weather was more agreeable. Camping in July in Texas (at least our part) is tough. It’s really hot, it’s humid, and it’s hard to do much outside. We hoped the lake would at least give us something to do.
The campsites at Lake Somerville Birch Creek are large, shaded, and private. It’s probably my favorite feature of the park — when you walk down the road, you can barely see where the RV spots are due to the trees. The sites have both electric and water hookups, and the camp bathrooms are acceptable. Our site, #99, had a HUGE grassy area to walk to the dogs. The second best thing about Lake Somerville is the miles of trails within the park — the Lake Somerville is Trailway is 26 miles long. When we visited in February, we took Remedy and Vice on an 8ish mile out and back hike to the Wolf Pond Primitive Campsites, where we saw no one the whole time.
These beach areas are great if you have a dog that likes to play in water or swim. My Shelties like to play in the water, but don’t like anything too deep, so this was perfect. Remedy and I floated and hung out in the shade, and when we were done for the day she barely moved for the rest of the night.
Lake Somerville is a nice option that’s a little less crowded then other State Parks close to Houston like Huntsville State Park, and MUCH more private. While I prefer the Hill Country, it’s nice to be able to do a quick weekend getaway without a 3.5-4 hour drive. It also has SO many hiking and biking trails. I can’t wait to go back when the weather is cooler to explore more of them.
