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State Overviews Texas Regional Overviews Big Bend Country Panhandle Plains Hill Country Prairies and Lakes Piney Woods Gulf Coast South Texas Plains Topical Overviews Biking Birding Boating Camping Fishing Golfing Hiking National Parks Off-Road Driving Scenic Drives Additional Info Festivals and Events Texas Almanac 
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Gulf Coast - Texas Overview
The Gulf Coast is slid up right up against the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico itself. These subtropical coastlands are popular spots for coastal fishing and birding. The beaches are not the grand white sand of Florida, but are very pointedly natural. There may not be lakes, but the ocean is wider. And there may not be mountains, but the bayous near Houston, for example, may be a welcome change of pace for the hiker and biker. The coast is also a nice place to take a very long scenic drive or shorter ones along the many island parks near the beach. At that, camping within sight of the ocean . . . or practically within wading distance . . . is a very different way to sleep under the stars.
Like the trails at the western end of the Great Plains, Gulf trails can wind through mesquite and sand, but that sand is often coastal sand. And those trails often wind through, not mesquite, not gently rolling hills, but bayou swampland and dense, piney forest. The trails around Houston tend to be pretty mellow, difficulty-wise, but bikers are still advised not to jump the alligators. Bikers starving to catch air would be better advised to visit the popular Anthills. Another route with less air and more tough and nasty is near Galveston, the rooty and exhausting Jack Brooks County Park.
Boaters may not find a plethora of lakes here, but it is the coast, and shoreline cruising is more the object anyway. The surf in some areas can be intense, but there's plenty of open water to explore. Windy Corpus Christi in particular is excellent for any boating (or surfing) that involves sails.
Galveston has to have beachfront camping and so it does. Some of the campgrounds are charmingly unusual, such as the one in Galveston State Park, where picnic tables are kept covered by a roof that borders on the art deco. Corpus Christi is home to a truly royal RV Park, the Colonia del Rey, or the "Colony of the Kings." This is considered one of the best RV parks in America and with wireless Internet and a hot tub, it's just short of a hotel. Beach campers may prefer Mustang Island State Park.
The coast is not known for its fishing lakes and there's, again, little to distinguish these lakes from those in previous regions of Texas. But the coast has something that no other region has; a coast. The common species, and the species that the rest of Texas does not share, are too many to list, but include the flounder, the drum, the pompano, the tarpon, and the sheepshead. Fishing docks and boat ramps are scattered liberally over the coast, whether you're fishing from the Central Coast, South Padre Island, or Corpus Christi.
If there aren't quite as many courses along the coast as you might expect, coastal golfing tends to be quality. Houston is another golfing hub, with dozens of courses. It has one of two of Texas's Tour 18 courses (the other being in Dallas) and hosts the well known and very popular Tournament Players Course at the Woodlands. Corpus Christi has fewer golf courses, but they are very pleasant, and the two courses run by the city (Lozano Golf Center and Oso Beach Municipal Golf Course) are supposed to be especially good.
Some Texas hikes are lined with mesquite, others with trees. Other thread through canyons. Some, such as on the gulf, thread through swamp, thicket, wildflower, and alligator. If the trails are rarely anywhere near difficult, Houston bayou hiking is enjoyable for sheer novelty. Brazos Bend Park is the best known of these. Big Thicket National Preserve, near Beaumont is diverse bayou land and a little bit of everything besides. You'll find alligators nestled up against armadillos (if maybe not literally). With over 45 miles of trails, it's hardly stingy with hikers, either. And coastal hikes, such as those near Galveston and Corpus Christi, combine walk with beach experience and there are plenty of them.
There are plenty of nice areas, especially around Corpus Christi and Galveston, to drive close to the beach. But the beach isn't all. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and areas close to Fulton, TX in general, are wooded instead of treeless sand. The largest oak in Texas watches over St. Charles Bay. It's gorgeous and a little different. |
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