beach camping in texas - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

08-10-2006, 01:55 PM

i am heading to corpus area on aug 21 to camp from austin.wondering the best beach camping area. we have dogs a would like it to be somewhat quiet.any ideas?

Shannon · 08-10-2006, 06:34 PM

Our search functionality is your friend. There are many, many posts here on good beaches to camp on in Texas:
http://www.wildtexas.com/talk/search.php?searchid=6379

#1 would be Padre Island National Seashore, especially if you have a 4x4 capable vehicle since that will let you get further from the throng of humanity.

MissionCamper · 08-12-2006, 11:09 AM

Corpus area? I'll 2nd Padre Island NS. No hookups, but no crowds either. Only time it's really busy is during Spring Break...but those are "day use" crowds which disappear toward evening.

08-22-2006, 10:39 PM

My favorite above all is Port A. Keep the dogs on a leash during the day(crowds). At night its easier to let the dogs loose. I like Port A cuz the beaches are kept clean and the cops arent jerks, plus you're close to great resturants. To get further away from crowds do a search on 4x4 beach, PINS, etc.
Port A is a pain during spring break as is the other beaches here. Plan around that, you should enjoy it. When we take our dogs, we usually head to malaki beach or at Port A about 5 miles or so past the pylons.

campermom · 08-23-2006, 09:36 PM

Please be careful if you go to a 4x4 area. Be prepared for the worst, have drinking water for more days than you need, shovel, fix a flat, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. If you get stuck down there, help might not come for a few days ( especially during the week ). If you check out Alamo Area Anglers, there is a section as you first enter the site which gives a list of items to be prepared for off road beach camping/fishing.

We've gone twice and have got to the give the solitude factor a 10+. You could "Fish Naked" if you wanted to. Remember to pack out ALL your trash and cans. We've gone on weekends so there was some beach traffic. The first time was uneventful. The second, a hurricane was near florida and our tide came up so high it buried the beach. I posted a report about it on AAA site last October. It was extreme 4x4 driving. 1 hour to drive 10 miles in the dark, with very little beach left. We saw travel trailers which were abandoned to the surf. It was sad. Beach camping is primitive. Just like if you were heading into the desert or the mountains, know what to expect and be prepared.

08-23-2006, 09:52 PM

Dittos to campermoms suggestions. My father and I was down at Pins fishing in my jeep when Katrina was in the gulf last yr, the high tide was unreal. We were lucky in packing up a leaving at about 1 am( the tide was coming real fast), ended up skirting the dunes to make it to pavement.

boze_man · 09-03-2006, 10:55 AM

regarding PINS...

anyone have any experience/knowledge pulling a rugged pop-up with a good 4x4 on PINS?? how far could you get down island??

Cajun Camper · 09-12-2006, 11:16 AM

Does anyone know actual travel time from Dallas to around Padre?

Thanks!
Jamie

ploddinTod · 09-12-2006, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cajun Camper

Does anyone know actual travel time from Dallas to around Padre?

Thanks!
Jamie

Use the calculator show on the home page of this site. Corpus Christi is the closest major town to north Padre.

Cajun Camper · 09-12-2006, 02:35 PM

Thanks. I usually use the mileage from something like Google maps and plug it my usual average of 65mph to get a good ballpark. That works great for interstates, but backroad stop and go can slow you down.

I'll have a look. Thanks again!

Cajun Camper · 09-13-2006, 09:41 AM

I like that calculator. It posted my average speed as 63.7 mph, very close to what I usually measure using my GPS on long hauls. Some sites like Google Maps put an average speed of 45 mph at times, and on 400 mile trips I take regularly in 6 hours, they estimate 9.5 hours. That's inaccurate.

Thanks!