Padre Island National Seashore map
27.00° N · 97.40° W · Kleberg & Nueces counties · 70 miles of beach
This is the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island left in the world: about 70 miles of sand between the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre, with a single paved road that gives up after a few miles and leaves the rest to four-wheel drive.
The island runs north–south with the Gulf on the east side and the shallow Laguna Madre on the west. The paved road enters at the northern end from Corpus Christi.
Where it is and how to get there
From Corpus Christi, take SH-358 — South Padre Island Drive — east across the JFK Causeway over the Laguna Madre to North Padre Island, then turn south on Park Road 22. The park entrance is roughly 10 miles beyond the causeway and about 25 miles from downtown Corpus Christi in total. Malaquite Visitor Center is a few miles further on, at the end of the paved section.
From Kingsville and the US-77 corridor the approach is north through Corpus Christi; there is no bridge to the island from the mainland south of the causeway. From Victoria allow about 110 miles by US-77 and SH-358. Note that despite the shared name, the resort town of South Padre Island is not reachable from here by road: the Mansfield Channel cuts the island in two near mile 60, and the drive around by the mainland takes about three hours.
How the island is arranged
Everything on Padre Island is organised by distance south from the paved end, and the beach is signposted by mile marker. The sand gets softer and the traffic thinner the further you go. Two-wheel drive is fine for the first stretch; south of about the 5-mile marker the park treats the beach as a four-wheel-drive route, and recovery is your own problem.
| Section | Position | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Bird Island Basin | Laguna Madre side, north of the entrance station | Shallow flats on the bay side; the main windsurfing and kayak launch, and a boat ramp into the lagoon |
| Malaquite Visitor Center and beach | End of Park Road 22 | Exhibits, showers, the only developed facilities; vehicles are kept off this stretch of sand |
| North Beach | Just north of Malaquite | Short drivable beach with packed sand, the easiest camping for a normal car |
| South Beach, miles 0–5 | South of the visitor centre | Beach driving usually possible in two-wheel drive; primitive camping anywhere above the tide line |
| South Beach, miles 5–60 | Down to the Mansfield Channel | Four-wheel drive only, soft sand and no services; the far end is a full day's outing and the most isolated shoreline in Texas |
| Laguna Madre shore | West side, no road | Hypersaline lagoon only a few feet deep, separated from the Gulf by the dunes; reached by boat or by walking across the flats |
| Dune ridge and grasslands | Centre of the island | Foredunes, then a wide grassy interior with wind tidal flats; off-road driving away from the beach is not allowed |
Turtles, tides and what washes up
The seashore is the main nesting ground in the United States for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle, and the park runs public hatchling releases at the beach on summer mornings when a nest is ready. Currents in the western Gulf also make this island one of the biggest catchers of marine debris in the country; the same currents deposit shells and driftwood in windrows after a storm. Because the island is low and unprotected, the beach road can be closed by high tides, and the park's own conditions report is the only reliable guide to how far south a vehicle can get on a given day.
Nearby
Mustang Island and Port Aransas lie immediately north across Packery Channel, with the state park and the ferry to Aransas County. Corpus Christi supplies the airport, hotels and the nearest fuel. South of the park, the island continues uninhabited through Kenedy and Willacy counties behind the King and Kenedy ranches.