Lake Martin Beach Club opened this year on Blue Creek, at the old Creekside Lodge at 7051 Hwy. 49 S. in Dadeville. For its whole first summer, a low highway bridge kept part of the lake's boats from reaching its dock. That limit is now easing. As Alabama Power lowers Lake Martin toward winter pool, the water under the Hwy. 49 bridge drops and the space above it grows. The months when most boats come out of the water are the months when the most boats can actually fit under that bridge.
Three Venues Where a Drive-By Lodge Used to Be
The property was easy to miss for years. Lake Magazine described Creekside Lodge as a "somewhat forgotten drive-by venue" on the highway shoreline of Blue Creek. Spencer Mann had driven past it countless times after moving to the Lake Martin area more than a decade ago. Mann grew up in Andalusia and spent several years living along 30A and Sandestin. On a whim one late fall, he called the owner to ask about buying, and within days he was signing the paperwork.
His first plan was a boutique hotel and event center. About three or four days after closing, the idea of a coffee house came up, and that grew into the Beach Club. After months of renovation, the property now runs as a cluster of separate venues joined by a boardwalk, which Creative Habitats of Auburn helped redesign.
- Lake Martin Beach Club is the waterfront restaurant and bar. Mann told Lake Magazine the hot honey pepperoni flatbread is the No. 1 seller, followed by the shrimp po'boy. Funnel cakes are homemade.
- Wake House is the coffee and ice cream shop. Madison Mann has run it from the start, Mann said. It serves signature lattes, dirty sodas, cinnamon rolls, a Dirt Road Gourmet sausage and grits casserole, and biscuits with tomato or sausage gravy. On the sweet side there are turtle sundaes and ice cream nachos.
- The Creekside Lodge is still a hotel, with 24 rooms, three suites, a two-story stone fireplace, a pool and a hot tub.
- The Lounge was planned as an upscale cocktail bar with a second-story deck over the lake. Lake Magazine's profile described it as coming later. We couldn't confirm it has opened, so ask before you plan around it.
What It Costs and When It's Open
As of early October 2026, the Lake Martin Beach Club website lists these hours: Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. No hours are posted for Monday or Tuesday. Lake Magazine's profile said the club was open seven days a week, so the current website is the better guide. Check it before a weekday trip. Explore Lake Martin lists Wake House as open Wednesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The posted menus give a good sense of what a visit costs:
| Item | Posted price |
|---|---|
| Flatbreads | $19 |
| LMBC Wings | $14 for 8, $20 for 12 |
| Loaded Fries or Chili Cheese Fries | $13 |
| Frozen daiquiri | $12 for 16 oz, $18 for 24 oz, $25 for 32 oz |
| Soft-serve margarita | $14 for 16 oz |
Wings come in Buffalo, Spicy Peach, Nashville Hot, Jamaican Jerk, Garlic Parmesan, Carolina Gold, Honey BBQ and Lemon Pepper. The house cocktails are named for where you're sitting: Blue Creek Punch, Creekside Cooler, an LMBC Painkiller, Ranch Water and an Orange Crush.
The Bridge That Shaped the First Summer
All of this sits east of the Hwy. 49 bridge over Blue Creek. Boaters online have long described that bridge as low enough to limit boat traffic heading east into the creek. Mann spoke to this directly in the Lake Magazine profile:
"The tri-toons and fixed tower boats may not be able to make it under the bridge, but we watch lots of people slowly inch their pontoons under the bridge to make it here. But I think that's kind of part of the fun, when people turn it into an adventure to get here."
Nobody has published an official clearance figure. The best numbers come from lake boaters comparing notes online. In 2011, one estimated about 52 inches of clearance at full pool. Another called that "very close" and pointed out that the high-water stain is easy to see on the pillars. Another 2011 commenter said a 20-foot Chaparral fits without its tower and that anything above the windshield won't clear. In 2016, the owner of a 21-foot Caravelle deck boat wrote that they lower the top and the flagpole and have never had trouble with the lake as high as four inches below full pool. They also warned about wakes from other boats and suggested timing the pass so you're fully through before the waves arrive.
These are boaters' estimates, not measurements from ALDOT or Alabama Power. They do agree on one thing: in summer, with the lake near full pool, the space under that bridge is roughly the height of a windshield.
Why October Changes the Math
Lake Martin is a storage reservoir. Alabama Power keeps it high through summer and draws it down in late fall and winter to make room for winter and spring rain. Its operating guide sets 491 feet above mean sea level for May through September. The guide steps down to 489 feet in October, 486 in November and 484 in December. The guide is a ceiling for normal conditions, not a promise of the daily level.
This year there's no delay. On Oct. 4, 2026, Alabama Power reported the lake at 487.69 feet at Martin Dam. It also said the conditions for the Martin Fall Extension weren't met, so the extension won't happen in 2026. Alabama Power said in September that the drawdown usually wraps up in mid-November.
Every foot the lake drops is roughly another foot of air under a fixed bridge deck. Here's how the guide's steps compare with the 491-foot summer level the forum estimates were based on:
| Month | Guide elevation | Below summer pool |
|---|---|---|
| May–September | 491 ft | 0 ft |
| October | 489 ft | 2 ft |
| November | 486 ft | 5 ft |
| December | 484 ft | 7 ft |
| Actual reading, Oct. 4, 2026 | 487.69 ft | about 3.3 ft |
If the 52-inch estimate holds at full pool, the early-October level adds about 40 inches on top of it. That's arithmetic on an unofficial number, so treat it as a sign that conditions have improved, not a guarantee for your boat. Still, the summer complaint about the Beach Club was about headroom, and October gives you more headroom than any month since spring.
Doing the Fall Run Well
Lower water also brings its own problems, and no one has published a depth survey of Blue Creek at this year's levels. A few habits help:
- Check the current Lake Conditions note on Alabama Power's Lake Martin page the morning you go. The level changes, and rain can push it back up quickly.
- Know your boat's own bridge clearance with people and gear aboard. The 2016 Chaparral owner found their loaded boat measured about three inches lower than the empty figure in the manual.
- Use the high-water stain on the pillars as a reference, as boaters online have suggested for years, and go slowly in shallower stretches.
- Lower flagpoles and stow the stern light before you pass under. One 2011 commenter described watching a stern light get knocked lower than is legal.
Mann has also talked about the off-season. He described the property as a place for corporate retreats, weekend weddings and travelers in football season once summer ends. He also mentioned plans to add boat and jet ski rentals. No fall events had been posted for the property as of early October. The Creekside Lodge listing on Explore Lake Martin showed none. For now, a fall visit is mainly about the water: a Friday or Saturday lunch at 11, a flatbread on the boardwalk, and a pontoon that fits under the bridge with more room to spare than it had in July.
Docks, boat clearance and how the seasons change access on the water are things we talk through with clients every week. If you'd like to understand what Blue Creek's bridge, or any other stretch of shoreline, means for a property you own or are considering, Lake Area Realty Inc (AL) can help. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll go through it with you.
