entrance
Sand dunes
Release of Ripley's sea turtles
Posted on 11/25/2012 2:26:59 PM PST by patriot08
Outside of Padre Island, there is not a beach in the country where visitors can drive for more than 60 miles without seeing a utility line, light pole, street, boardwalk, commercial or residential structure.
Padre Island National Seashore represents the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world. And 66 of the park's 70 miles of beach are open to vehicle traffic. It has been that way long before Padre Island National Seashore was established 50 years ago this year.
Most of the park remains as wild as it has ever been.
(exercpt)
Horine said the national seashore stands out as major player in the region's nature tourism scheme, which represents 54 percent of the area's overall tourism. Non-Texans ranked the park among the top 10 Texas attractions in a survey by the Texas Department of Economic Development and Tourism. The American Bird Conservancy has designated the seashore a Globally Important Bird Area. It helps that Corpus Christi for years has been recognized as America's Birdiest City and is part of Texas Parks & Wildlife's Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, providing further recognition as a birding destination.
(exercpt)
By this time a project to establish the national seashore as a secondary nesting site for the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle was beginning to generate quite a following thanks to local and national media attention.
Read more at: http://www.caller.com/news/2012/nov/25/padre-island-national-seashore-remains-nearly-as/
(Excerpt) Read more at caller.com ...
entrance
Sand dunes
Release of Ripley's sea turtles
Running over turtles with your 4WD is more fun than popping bubble wrap.
(just kidding)
Wow, timely. My military son just went there this weekend. They camped right there. Great place for reflection, he needs some peace. I hoped it helped.
In September 2007, Corpus Christi, Texas wildlife officials found a record of 128 Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nests on Texas beaches, including 81 on North Padre Island (Padre Island National Seashore) and 4 on Mustang Island. Wildlife officials released 10,594 Kemp’s ridleys hatchlings along the Texas coast this year. The turtles are endangered due to shrimpers’ nets and they are popular in Mexico as boot material and food.
Birdwatching
Due to the location of Padre Island National Seashore on the Central Flyway, a major migratory route for birds, about 380 species of birds have been documented within the park, which represents approximately 45% of all bird species documented within North America. The park was designated as a “Globally Important Bird Area” by the American Bird Conservancy in 1998 for providing an “important habitat for globally significant numbers of Brown Pelicans, Redheads (5% of the world’s population), Least Terns (8% of the North American population), Piping Plovers (10% of the world’s population), Reddish Egrets (7% of the biogeographic population) and Peregrine Falcons (7% of the North American population).[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padre_Island_National_Seashore
For years, legends have been told of great treasures hidden on Padre Island and just off its shores. The stories are of fortunes of gold and silver carried by Spanish galleons lost at sea and of vast sums of money and gems buried in the sand. Some of this wealth has indeed been found, and more may be discovered in the future. Meanwhile, there are natural treasures just as great—perhaps even greater—to enjoy in Padre Island National Seashore. Located along the south Texas coast, this sparkling preserve by the sea embraces 80 miles of white sand-and-shell beaches, picturesque windswept dunes, wild landscapes of grasslands and tidal flats teeming with shore life, and warm offshore waters. The National Seashore is one of the longest stretches of primitive, undeveloped ocean beach in the United States.
http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/pais/
Thanks for posting this. It’s a destination I look forward to seeing some day.
I went to school in Corpus......that meant my education was on Padre Island..
My family started going to Port Aransas over 50 years ago
Dont go much anymore but I still love it
We live close by.
My family and I have spend many happy days there.
The silence, and the nothingness as far as you can see- not a sign of modern civilization anywhere just the ocean and the sand dunes- just as it was when God made it.
It’s a culture shock at first.
As a child I always dreamed we’d find some of that buried treasure rumored to be there. LOL
Did find many beautiful seashells and have many beautiful memories of days spent there with family.
Love to go to Port Aransas.
Great fishing around there.
It's a **horrible** place. South Padre is a **much** better vacation experience.
North Padre Island beaches are filthy with jetsam and flotsam and mountains of plastic debris washed up from the prevailing onshore currents.
It is hotter than h*** and you can cut the humidity with a knife.
There are biting ants that sting your feet and ankles.
There are stinging jelly fish and bite from the blue bottle ones will ruin your day.
There are armies of stinging ants in the public showers.
The oil rigs on the horizon spoil the view.
When we were there they were having and onshore SHARK fishing contest.
Don’t go there Froggie, I’ll put my woman on ya. You might as well spout how much you enjoy shooting neighborhood cats. Our whole deal is baby sea turtles, we go looking for nests every time we visit.
I love North Padre, been camping down there a bunch of times. You never know for sure what the conditions will be, but if you can get past Big Shell beach heading south it is usually quite navigable. Camping down around 40-50 is my fave, but be prepared to spend a few days to get good and relaxed. We build a tarp shelter from scavanged lumber and put our tent next to it. Takes a full day or two before you can get all set up and rigged. If you know how to fish the snappers and redfish will feed you well, as will the crabs certain parts of the year.
My absolute favorite place on earth (possible exception for Brewster County), in the right conditions. Absolute hell in the worst. Eat yer Wheaties. My homepage has a couple of shots from trips down yonder, have a glance.
Just don’t do like my dumass pal BBQ Dan and leave your coolers full of food on the sand, the coyotes will relieve you of all tasty items and you’ll never know they were there. Except for the tracks ;)
It's a **horrible** place. South Padre is a **much** better vacation experience.
North Padre Island beaches are filthy with jetsam and flotsam and mountains of plastic debris washed up from the prevailing onshore currents.
It is hotter than h*** and you can cut the humidity with a knife.
There are biting ants that sting your feet and ankles.
There are stinging jelly fish and bite from the blue bottle ones will ruin your day.
There are armies of stinging ants in the public showers.
The oil rigs on the horizon spoil the view.
When we were there they were having and onshore SHARK fishing contest.
Oh...Yes, I forgot the coyotes.
When we were there the local paper was reporting that they were so numerous and bold that they were chasing kids and pets down neighborhood streets.
Be careful if you camp.
The ranger at the federal park entrance warned my bother that if he planned on traveling the roads near the border to go armed. She said that she **always** carried.!
And....The federal park was paving its roads. What a smelly mess! The construction crews closed the boat launching sites without notice making many boaters furious.
When we were there there was no camp host and on the weekends ARMIES of illegals took over the campsites without paying. They uses the campsite showers and restrooms freely and left a huge mess. Personally, I was afraid to leave the campsite for free things would be stolen.
Finally...If you are a kite boarder, FORGET IT! The Bird Island beach access to the Laguna Madre is for **windsurfers** only! And...the windsurfers are very nasty about it.
I forgot.
ALWAYS wear protective foot gear on the beach and in the surf. The currents are onshore and wash up very dangerous items. Also, the are the hooks from the fishermen.
I mean it. I have not much fear of them dogs, but the little bastids stole several racks of ribs and some other goodies out of a cooler, about two feet from my tent one night.
I never heard nothin’ but ol’ Dan was super pissed the next morning. I tried to told him he was a maroon for leaving them coolers on the ground. Dang fool thought I would protect them but I was snugglin’ with the missus and heard not a bark. My food was all locked in the back of the truck.
Still not a better place. Here is a fun story:
I was down about the 45 one time, camp all set up, my pals went down to the jettys at the Mansfield Cut for some fishing and left me there, drunk. I decided it would be fun to romp nekkid in the surf, but then along came the NPS kids in their 4wd. Weasels saw me and chased me around my truck, NEKKID by the way, and then went on laughing down the strand.
I don’t trust Gubmint employees, they’ll mess with ya!
As a kid, we used to join about ten other navy families and go camping on the beach on Padre island. It was the biggest blast and thrill for a kid. It’s where I learned the thrill of stalking and shooting...poor sand crabs. Whereas some of the parents just partied, my poor dad lost his hair from trying to keep track of all the kids playing lord of the flies.
Yep! Those coyotes can be **dangerous**! We had to keep a gate on the door to our camper. The camp host warned us that the coyotes will steal food. I would be very careful not to let children run about.
The seagulls are very aggressive, too! One stole a pancake right out of the frying pan while my husband was cooking.
And...The wind! Whoa! Tent camping is almost impossible. Nearly everyone we saw who tried it left the next morning after crawling out of a collapsed tent.
Some of the beach campers ( drunks likely) set up a HUGE bond fire. Sparks were flying everywhere since the wind was about 30 mph. It is a miracle that they didn’t burn down the whole island. All the other campers were calling 911 but it took 1 1/2 hours for the authorities to get there to control the drunks and put out the fire.
“just the ocean and the sand dunes-”
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Sounds delightful. I wish Cape Cod was still like that.
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