Padre Island National Seashore
Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) is a national seashore located on Padre Island off the coast of South Texas. In contrast to South Padre Island, known for its beaches and vacationing college students, PINS is located on the north end of Padre Island and consists of a long beach where nature is preserved.
Padre Island National Seashore
Sand dunes and wildflower at beach (Nov 2022)
Interior island grassland (Oct 2022)
Interior island dunes (Nov 2022)
Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning father in Spanish, it was named after Father José Nicolás Ballí (c.1770-1829), who owned the island and served as a missionary priest and collector of finances for all the churches in the Rio Grande Valley. He also founded the first mission in present-day Cameron County.
Padre Island sand dunes
Padre Island sand dunes at sunset
Kemp's ridley sea turtle