-Regions:
North Padre Island
Part of the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world

A great deal has been said and written about the amazing barrier islands located just off the Texas coast. Timeless and pristine; an unspoiled wilderness and a vacationer's beach paradise - these are but a few of the decriptions offered up by visitors who have ventured down the Texas coastal road-less-traveled.
North Padre Island is one part of this barrier sand reef that hugs the Texas coast. Before a ship channel was dredged at Port Mansfield, Padre Island stretched from the tip of Texas to just south of Corpus Christi, and except for a few natural cuts, manmade channels and a few major inland bays, Padre island could actually be called the primary  barrier island that reaches all the way from Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas, to the Louisiana border, over 350 miles of pristine and natural wilderness, encompassing the other named barrier islands of texas: Mustang Island, Galveston Island, St. Joesph's Island - and others.
Today, North Padre's northern reaches start near Corpus Christi (at the Village of North Padre Island) and stretch south to Big Shell, near Port Mansfield, an 80 mile strech of shifting sand dunes, the longest unbroken barrier island in the United States. Padre Island National Seashore is the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world.

It represents one of the largest roadless areas in Texas and offers habitat to 17 threatened and endangered species, including five of the world’s seven sea turtles. The dunes offer protection to the island and to the mainland from high winds and tides and heavy storms. Behind the dunes lies a vast train of wetland habitat for hundreds of species of birds and other animals.

Most of the island is protected territory and part of the Padre Island National Seashore. The National Seashore is one of the most visited recreation areas in Texas, drawing 800,000 visitors a year on average. Visitorse come to Padre to fish, enjoy nature, and to take advantage of the pristine beach. The National Seashore, encompassing 130,434 acres, is the longest remaining undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world.

For information about South Padre Island, connect here.