Marietta Landing Campground — Lake Murray State Park

If you are looking for special place at the lake that is a bit more secluded feeling this is the campsite for you at Lake Murray.  There is no swimming here so that is a big detour for a lot of those visiting with larger families looking to enjoy that aspect.  While there is boat access, it is not the most popular launch area so again, you will find it to be more wooded and peaceful than other areas.  

This campground is one of those you have to walk up and grab your spot first come first serve style.  With great sites for tents or RVs you would think that would mean it fills up rapidly, but I have seen this campground during various times of year and it always seems to be very relaxed and not over run, with the exception of course of the big lake holidays where every campsite is a little nuts at Lake Murray.

The restroom facilities here are nice but the improvements at this facility do not stop there with large concrete style picnic tables, an improved playground and nice pavement around camp for driving or bike riding.

Something that makes this place even more attractive to me is that they also allow primitive tent camping!!  I love not having to pay for amenities I am not typically using.  I can take advantage of nice facilities without having to pay for large amp hook ups which is a huge bonus for someone who does a travel blog about budget travel and cutting corners and being resourceful.   

After having been to this location several times previously I have noticed that following a holiday it can take a bit longer to get it all clean because people do not seem to understand honoring the trash in trash out policy of general respect, but in recent years I have notice a vast overall improvement of maintenance of all the facilities in this area.  They have made effort to continually improve and I look forward to seeing how far they come in the future!

Secluded Camping At Lake Murray

Lake Murray is a large state park which is an easy drive north from the DFW area, so I stay in the SP frequently, but never at this campground. It’s located a bit off the beaten path on the South end of the park. It’s also a smaller campground which accommodates smaller RV’s. Also, there is boat ramp, but it is not large and has little parking, plus it’s not located down the road that leads to the campsites. This means there isn’t constant traffic and power boat noise. 

The campground is tucked into a cove of Lake Murray and is down the road from the dam.  There are some very nice walk in tent camping sites where you could walk down to the rocky lake edge and swim. There are also a few drive in tent sites. However, be aware that when I stayed here in spring of 2020, there is no bath house or toilet facilities. There was a nice playground and a little picnic area right on the lake.

The RV sites are scattered around a circular road and there are several right on the lake. These are the best in my opinion. One of them (site 17) is labeled “premium” and I would pay the extra $ to snag this site. 

*   Site 14 - Water/Electric 50 and 30 amp, no sewer (dump on site)
    
*   gravel pad, mostly level, has a tree on awning side so couldn’t deploy my awning, but really unnecessary because the site was nicely shaded
    
*   Cement picnic bench, BBQ, fire ring
    
*   Walk down from site to water with rock ledge to sit a chair on and dangle feet in the lake!
    
*   Site is private on 1 side with forested creek/water run off area, but neighbor is fairly close on other side
    
*   \*\*\*No bathhouse (gutted - see photo)
    
*   Little cons: no trailheads within the campground, but Tucker Tower is a bike ride or hike over the dam and the trailhead to Ski Jump Campground the the Lodge connects here. (8.5 miles). Also Dump station at the campground is easy access, however the exit up the somewhat eroded gravel hill may require some maneuvering for larger rigs.
    

Definitely check out Tucker Tower when visiting and Lake Murray SP Nature Center is very well done! I’ll return again for the always good hiking and try to snag the premium site or site 9.

UPDATE 5/2021 - Marietta Landing Campground is being revamped.

Shaded easy lake access camping

The family stayed here for a few nights during the week and it was great. It is definitely not the “hot spot” of Lake Murray as there were very few people at this campground and no lake access. We drove around and noticed the surrounding campgrounds were much more full. That was more than okay with us, we love the secluded quiet feel with a view of the lake. We did not have sewer at our site and from the looks of it, there may be only a handful of spots within this campground that do. Our electric did short out on us a few times causing us to need to unplug and plug back in. It didn’t concern us too much, we understood it comes with territory when using these heavily used hook ups. The sites were clean for the most part. We were pleased and will most likely be back.

Nice Quiet Campground

Marietta Landing campground is on the south side of Lake Murray just east of  the dam and set back in a quiet wooded cove.  Recently remodeled, the campsites in the RV loop are all pretty spacious,  level, and paved.  Site 9 is not right on the water but does have a nice water view. With 20/30 amp service and water hookup.  Our trailer is small but a big trailer should have no trouble backing into the spacious spot. 
There is also a nearby older tent loop that is right now only used for day use picnicking and there is also small boat ramp and dock between the two loops There is no swimming area but there is a playground it is on a very very quiet cove where you can kick back on the rocky shores and pull a kayak or small water craft up near campsites. 
One thing, the bathhouse is  between the two loops so is a bit of a walk from the RV loop.  
