Lake Martin Recreation Area

This Rec Area is a joke. If they didn't have a sign that says it's military, this old soldier would have thought I found the last old fashioned fish camp for homesteaders and other old timers. They claim 66 site but in reality they have 5 if you happen to go for a few days. The rest are full of "longtimers", read homesteaders. The 5 sites they do have are rough, uneven and way overpriced at $20 a day for w/s/e ,no cable, no local over the air TV. It is scenic with the lake being very nice. I would not recommend this place unless you are looking for a place to hunker down for the rest of your days. Hard to believe its an Air Force facility. The only thing they did well was refund my 4 day fee when I left.

Our family went to Lake Martin in March 2010 had a blast hiking, swimming, cooking out and such BUT when we went to do some fishing we soon figured what the man was talking about on this blog.. The people who are living there were not very nice to our family we went to go on the dock that is out there and an older man walked out to tell us were were going on his dock. I thought he was joking but there soon after we realized he wasn't at all but very serious. He had a swing set up, outdoor grass, satellite, flower beds everything you would have at your HOUSE set up there. I have to say that made us very angry that this was a REC facility for military members to enjoy but it seemed very much like we were at a trailer park. WOW!! I will go back but I really hope that they figure this issue out and do something about it. Act like it is a campground and not a trailer park!! PLZZZZ

The ratings for this location are definitely for the cabins, trailers and marina. The lake is beautiful. Of the 76 sites advertised I only found 5 that were for the RV traveler and could not get conformation from any of the staff. The rest are permanently occupied by RV’s that stay there year round. They have decks and additions built on. Some even have private docks. They seemed to be used by the owners and their families for weekend getaways and vacations. We were to stay for two weeks but left after 3 nights. My wife went and checked in at the Marina and they gave her directions to our site. That was the last we saw anyone from the staff. We had site 52 which has full hook ups. The site is rock (not gravel) and just wide enough for the width of your axle. The sides then sloop down from there. It took 6 inches of leveling blocks on the right side to get it level. While standing on the ground at 5’9” tall I was on my tip toes to open the door. My wife had to balance on the step to get the door open. The area around the site is dirt with some weeds. The picnic table is on a cement slab. Site 53 had 4” of leveling blocks. Site 54 was not occupied but appeared to be a little more level but you have to back between 2 large trees, you may have a couple of feet on each side. 55 and 56 are permanent. 56 looks like nobody has been their in several years, dirty with pine needles and leaves. 57 is next one of the cabins and is level. It is built up with a retaining wall so with your rig to one side once you come off your steps you may have a step or two before you go over a 3’ foot retaining wall. The only other site I saw was by the beach and it appeared to be ok. We got 3 channels which were all PBS. I could not get any satellite reception from my site because of the trees. The town is 8 miles away. Wall Mart is 23 miles. If you have question that can not be answered by the reservation desk at Maxwell AFB they will tell you to call the campground. You may or may not get a call back. I didn’t. You would think that a campground that has the year round occupancy that this one has, the few sites they have for the rest of us who are Serving or who Have Served would be in the best conditions. This is not a Military campground it is a private trailer park on OUR LAND.

Great place for peace and quiet and to enjoy the lake. Did get a chance for walks and to sit by the lake, feed the very tame ducks who came to visit everyday and watch the sun go down. Asked about the 'full timers' they were there before the policy for max stays was in effect, as the manager said they help pay the bills for the slow times. One thing to mention that the town of Dadeville is approx 6 mls from the lake, at the closest Walmart it 14 mls. So you may want to stock up for the stay. Will be sure to come back given the chance.

My husband and I and our twin daughters just returned from a weekend staying in Chalet 3. We had a wonderful time and the facilities are awesome!! One of the staff named Amanda was so very friendly and so welcoming! We plan on bringing the whole family back in August and are counting the days! Brenda S.

We just arrived home after spending New Years Eve and Day at Chalet 1. It was the perfect place to bring in the new year!! It is an oasis of peace and quiet and with no distractions it was so very restful! We plan on making another reservation to bring my sister down for her birthday and we cannot wait until we are back!! Doug was so very friendly as was a young man with the name of Lindsay. We are so blessed to be able to stay at such a wonderful facility!!

We stopped by for only a one night stay. Although it is the "slow" season, we didn't see many sites open for camping. Actually, it seemed that 90% of the sites are occupied by long-term residents. Although, hardly anyone was around. It appears they keep their RV there and only visit occasionally. While I understand the financial benefit to the campground for long-term residents, many other military campgrounds have found a good compromise. I'm not sure that compromise is here. MANY of the long-term residents have built docks on the lake at their site, but has marked them as "Private Use Only". What? A military campground allowing PRIVATE modifications and restricting use to them!?!? One long-term resident has even built a building connected to their trailer. "Homesteading" has gone overboard here! It no longer seems like a military RECREATION facility, rather a military HOUSING area. But it's not all bad - this is a good, quiet location on the lake. It appears there's plenty of activities for the family during the prime season. Doug, the office staff was friendly and helpful.

The couple that run the camp are wonderful folks! The site was gorgeous - right on the water with nothing but peace and calm!! There are several LONG term campers who have a little ATTITUDE!! Retirees should not forget who owns the property we are VISITING! Even if we are paying... Camp was very clean - employees were all friendly - roads in good shape -- just a wonderful experience except for the long term folks attitude's.. Would go back in a heart beat!!

My husband & I absolutely love this place. We stayed in Chalet 1 the first time and loved it so much we brought my mom & step-father back to Chalet 3 for her birthday. The staff to include Johnny Davis, Doug and Penny Hooks are incredibly nice and so helpful and caring! We are already making plans to return again soon. Maxwell Gunter is so blessed to have such a special facility and such wonderful staff!

We stayed in Travel Trailer #80. It was nestled near the lake, with a small path down to the water. It was also a short walk to the marina, which worked well for us to fish with our young son. The trailer was a nice rig and so was the location. I agree with some of the previous posts: there does seem to be a lot of homesteaders, who have secured the best camping spots. If we had our camper here, we would have had a hard time getting into most of the remaining spots. That is our biggest complaint. The folks at the marina seemed very nice and helpful, but do not expect much of their country store. We did discover Oskar's restaurant which was affordable and good food (and a nice place to stop on our way out.) It rained most of the weekend and our trailer leaked a little where one tip out extended. But it was fine otherwise. The outdoor furniture was covered in mildew and infested with bugs so we used our own. I also had to clean the refrigerator, which also had some considerable mildew growing. It looked as though the previous occupants did not give it a good scrub down after they left, but it only took a few minutes for me to clean. Despite these minor inconveniences, we will go again and had a nice weekend stay.

This is a very nice campground. The lake this time of year is low as I was told they lower it in the winter. I was here for a week. Of the 66 RV sites and 11 cabins/rental trailers, I think I was the only person here except staff. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The bath houses are mostly clean. They are old and in need of TLC, but overall good. The floor paint is worn and peeling. There are three bath houses that have a washer/dryer in them. Bath house #3 in the area I was in (I was in space 57) the washer/dryer is in an exposed area so they are disconnected for the winter. Had to go to #2 to do laundry. $0.75 wash and $0.75 dry. Washer run about half an hour and dryers are 45 min. Most of the campers here appear to be here for the long haul. A lot have decks built by them, regular stairs to get into them, some skirting around them, fences, etc. Overall, it is a great place if you want peace and quiet at least this time of year. There were 4 empty spaces while I was here.

Maxwell/Gunter Rec Area is a very wonderful place to go. I've been to many lakes in my life and I got to say that Lake Martin is one of the best and cleanest lakes I have ever been on. The water is very clear and in the summer, it's very warm to jump in. The Rec Area is just wonderful. Has a very nice beach and a playground for the kids to play. Many RV sites and the new trailers are very nice and comfortable. They just added new screen-in decks on the trailers and that really makes a big difference. If you are like my family and myself and love being in the country to get away from everything to RELAX, then this is the place you need to be!! If you can not do without the city life and enjoy nature, then you need not come, because this is Mother Nature at her finest. The people that run the Rec Area are just wonderful. They will go out of their way to help, you can really tell that they care about the Rec Area. I can not say enough about them. I will give them an A+ on any rating scale.

The Lake Martin Rec Area now has 11 new mobile homes with new screened in decks and new patio funiture. There has been alot of construction at the rec area, which is why most have said it was trashy looking. New docks have been built at the marina. The Rec area has made a lots of improvements this past year, and the place looks wonderful! The park is out of the way from everything, that just makes your stay more relaxing. They do offer boat rentals, pontoon boats, ski boats, bass boats, and sea-doos, but be sure to call 7 days in advance. The staff at Lake Martin are doing there best to make your stay worth while. I recommend that you visit the rec area just once and hope that you experience the same pleasures that I have experienced. Note: Lake is Now at Full POOL!!!

Difficult to find and really out of the way, but all the staff are VERY friendly. No cable and just one TV station (PBS), so plan to watch DVDs or read when not enjoying the outdoors. Laundry is 75 cents for washers and 75 for dryers but the one located nearest to us isn't plugged in till the end of March due to possible freezing. Lots of walking for those who like the exercise. The roads are hilly and numerous and a walking trail too, but we were told there are a lot of ticks and scorpions. We didn't see any while we were there. I asked if there were "gators" in the lake and were told that there were "but they don't bother ya none". Hmmm.... Tiny town of Dadeville is about 8 miles away for shopping. Lots of trailers onsite but they were mostly all empty while we were there. We had most all of the place to ourselves, which has its advantages. This campground is mainly long term campers. The transient usually don't come until the summer months, we're told, when the staff says it is full.



NICE large beach area. Garbage cans are at each campsite, so no trips to the dumpster are necessary.

We didn't stay here just visited to check things out. I had called the reservations number to inquire about site sizes and whether I could get a 37-foot 5th wheel in. I had heard from others that it was pretty tight getting anything over 30 feet down some of the roads. The person answering the phone couldn't tell me anything because he was at Maxwell AFB. I called the site phone number he gave me for 3 days and didn't get an answer. I didn't want to go there without knowing if I could get in so we got a site at the nearby Wind Creek State Park (also on Lake Martin) and drove over to recreation area. The place was unacceptable. It looked trashy with many units looking as though they had been there forever. There were no one around to talk to including front gate. There was a large motor home trapped on of the roads trying to turn around and having a tough time. I didn't stop to offer help because several people were already trying to advise him how to get out. For all I know, he may be still there. I don't know how he was going to get out of that situation. We don't plan to go back there ever with or without 5th wheel.

To us this park looks like it has zero maintenance since it was built. The two person staff was very friendly but that can not make up for the run down condition of this facility. We agree with all the comments in the "rwthomasfamily" review and wonder how they rated it so high? And the "proxy review" appears to be based on staying in the cabins not in the camp area. There are numerous permenant trailers and motorhomes that have a run down look, if not mold growing; including one Class A gutted by fire! We have a 33 foot Class A towing a Ford Ranger, thankfully we disconnected at the office. The roads are narrow and tree lined, definitely a challenge for large Class A's or fifth wheels. Very few pull throughs, and many back-ins are not level. When we were there women's facilities had no heat, and all restrooms need work. Beautiful location that could one of the best if renovated. NOTE - lake is permanently down due to drought.

We had a wonderful time visiting Lake Martin! The recreation area is ok (not as nice as the other post would have you believe). Most sites are not level and there are many full timers/permanent residents whose rigs are not kept nice. Big rigs would have a difficult time getting into most sites. Facilities are old but kept clean. Not all sites have fire rings, but almost all have a grill and tables. Again, the grills and tables are mostly old. There are trailers for rent (new ones are being installed this year) and chalets for rent as well. The marina is nice and you can rent a variety of boats (ski, pontoon, bass, paddle, canoe). What makes this park worthwhile is the location and the employees (they were very polite and cared for the park). Our kids had fun on the beach too. If some money was spent for updating, it would be a much nicer park.

Visited Christmas/New Years break. Excellent Staff. Excellent facilities. Only detractor was that the Lake is lowered for off season maintenance, Great Camping lots, with excellently maintained facilities...I will definitely go back...New Chalets are FANTASTIC...