Padre Island National Seashore
“Aromatic, salty air blew in off the water. Pelican formations cruised the shoreline. Seagulls and other shorebirds searched for food, and every minute the light transformed, making the water, clouds, and sand change colors. It’s a special place with rare species and isolated, undeveloped beaches—a national treasure and nature at her finest.” – Kenny Braun
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Sunshine and Shipwrecks – Padre Island, the longest barrier island in the world, embodies some of the state’s most pleasurable assets, entertaining Texans with miles of warm Gulf waves and sun-drenched, cinnamon shores. Whether your travel time to Padre is 10 minutes or 12 hours, most Texans have made the pilgrimage at least once, if not annually, negotiating the state’s highways for the quickest route to the island’s sand and surf.
Reptilian Grace: Sea Turtles on the Texas Gulf Coast – Texans love sea turtles, and sea turtles love Texas. Five species—green, loggerhead, hawksbill, leatherback, and Kemp’s ridley—have nested along our 400-odd miles of coast in recent years.
– If you love the beach but are looking for more communing with nature and less spring break reveling, consider Padre Island National Seashore.
Texas Top 40: Padre Island – The beaches of Padre Island are so inviting that inland lakes have been known to import loads of Padre sand for their own waterfronts.
Padre Island National Seashore – If there’s one idea that capitalists and socialists, liberals and conservatives alike can agree upon, it’s that public lands are a great concept: vast stretches of land, untainted by development, protected not only for Americans, but for citizens of the world who venture to our shores.
