At the Beach Xmas 2001

That's pretty sweet...Where's a good place to mess around down there? I go down every once in awhile, and since I'll be moving back, my friends want me to take it down there. I just wasn't sure if there are any good places to play...

Hey Jared,

If you are looking for some good sand challenges, Padre and South Padre Islands definitely can be challenging.
I've been to Padre Island at least 3 times and it has always been different everytime I go.

Padre Island is about 60 miles long one way. Make sure you have enough gas if you try to make it to the bottom, because you have to go back the way you came to get out. Last time I was there with the stock tires you see in the picture I was getting 9mpg driving in the sand. My gas tank holds just over 20 gallons and when I go to the bottom of Padre Island and back I'm usually worrying if I have enough gas to make it out. I keep the truck in 4x2 mode as much as possible to conserve on gas mileage. Padre Island is accessible from Corpus Christi.

South Padre Island has only about 30 miles of driving one way. Becareful of the tides here. There are a couple of places that won't be passable at high tide. So if you drove to the northern point of South Padre Island, you could get stuck there if the tide came in while you are messing around. Just don't be in a hurry. LOL South Padre Island is accessible through South Padre Island City. Pretty close to Mexico.

Closer to Houston is Matagorda Island. I've only been there once. And that was a couple of years ago. We didn't traverse the whole thing, but looked like it had challenges. I have recently talked to houston.tx4x4.org members. They have a run to Matagorda planned for this coming weekend I believe.

Cya,
John