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Mid-Coast Nature & Historical Sites

Mid-Coast Nature & Historical Sites

Aransas | Calhoun | Goliad | Jackson | Matagorda | Refugio | San Patricio | Victoria | Nearby

Aransas County

Nature Centers:

  • Aransas County Public Library—Rockport: Children’s discovery pollinator garden
  • Aransas National Wildlife Refuge—Austwell: Whooping Cranes, Observation Tower, alligators, birding, hiking, picnic grounds
  • Aransas Pathways—Aransas County: Birding, Paddling, Hiking, Native pollinator gardens. Volunteer opportunities for the gardens. Of note:
  • Aransas/San Patricio AgriLife Extension Center—Rockport: Coastal Oaks Garden, monthly Lunch & Learns
  • Bay Area Education Center—Rockport: Free. Explore exhibits and Science on a Sphere® and engage in hands-on activities and crafts while enjoying coffee and conversation.
  • Bent Oaks Rookery Park—Rockport: Almost nine-acre property includes large windswept oaks and an active, state- and federally protected rookery used by Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Black-Crowned Night Herons.
  • Big Tree–Goose Island State Park—Lamar: the centuries-old tree was crowned State Champion Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in 1966; dethroned by a Big Thicket tree in 2003, but still one of the largest live oak trees in Texas and the nation. View endangered whooping cranes in this area November through March.
  • Goose Island State Park—Lamar: Guided nature walks, birding tours, fishing, camping, picnicking, paddling, geocaching
  • Lighthouse Lakes Paddling Trail—Aransas Bay: birding, fishing, paddling; the very first Texas paddling trail is actually a series of four loops ranging from 1.25 to 6.8 miles. The trails meander through an extensive black-mangrove estuary, into sloughs and back lakes near the historic 1857 Lydia Ann Lighthouse on North Harbor Island.
  • Rockport Parks—Rockport: 14 well-maintained parks to visit–hiking, biking, birding, native gardens, sports. Tule Creek, Compass Rose, Memorial Park, and others.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Aransas Pass Lighthouse – Lydia Ann Channel: Birding, Paddling, Fishing.  Was commissioned in 1855 to mark the natural pass between San Jose and Mustang Island. Access by Boat and Paddle only.  Privately owned/used by the HEB grocer family
  • Fulton Mansion—Rockport: Built in 1877, one of the earliest Second-Empire-style buildings constructed in Texas and one of the most important of the style in the Southwest United States still in existence.
  • History Center of Aransas County—Rockport: Celebrates Aransas County heritage with exhibits, programs and artifacts
  • Rockport Beach—Rockport: Explore the shores; bird-viewing palapa overlooks Little Bay’s rookery islands, federal/state-protected Black Skimmers start arriving around March each year for nesting.
  • Texas Maritime Museum—Rockport: Hopes to educate and excite the public about maritime history and its importance to the development and current livelihood of our state.
  • Birding, Whooping Crane, & Dolphin Tours—Fulton & Rockport: Boat tours for a fee
  • Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce—More information about local nature and historical places
  • Wings Rescue Center—Rockport: Volunteers always needed. State- and federal-permitted bird rescue/rehabilitation center serving Aransas and surrounding counties. It is the only facility in south Texas that takes in abandoned eggs and baby birds.

Calhoun County
Nature Centers:

  • Boggy Nature Park—Port O’Connor: Open year-round, providing access to Matagorda Bay and Boggy Lake/Creek for wildlife viewing, birding, kayaking, windsurfing, and fishing
  • Calhoun County Birding Trail – includes sites at Port Lavaca, Seadrift, and Port O’Connor
  • Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area (WMA)—Port Lavaca: biking, birding, hiking, fishing, wildlife-viewing, hunting. Encompasses three counties and 7400 acres.
  • Matagorda Island WMA—Bay City: biking, birding, fishing, hiking, wildlife-viewing, camping.  Encompasses 56,000+ acres of offshore barrier island and bayside marshes.
  • Port O’Connor Paddling Trail—Birding, wildlife, fishing. Six interconnecting trails navigating 40 miles of trail along the shores of Espiritu Santo and Matagorda Bays and through their boundary saltwater marsh.
  • Powderhorn WMA—Port O’Connor: birding, wildlife, hunting. 15,069 acres of salt and brackish wetlands provide an important resting site to migratory birds. Offers limited public access through bird-watching tours. Birding tours occur mostly in the spring and are allowed by appointment for larger groups, as well as scheduled open birding days.
  • Seadrift Paddling Trail—birding, paddling, wildlife. 20 miles of paddling trails accessed from four points offers river, lake, and even some expert-level, open-bay paddling.
  • Welder Flats WMA—Bay City: fishing, wildlife-viewing. 1480 acres of coastal wetlands in the San Antonio Bay area. Boat access only.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Calhoun County AgriLife Extension—Port Lavaca: Native pollinator garden
  • Calhoun County Museum—Port Lavaca: Their mission is the acquisition, documentation, preservation, study, and exhibition of artifacts relating to the history, natural history, and maritime history of Calhoun County.
  • Indianola, TX—Indianola: Largely a ghost town now, the area has a rich history as the main port of entry for many immigrants from Germany and Poland into the US in the mid-to-late 1800s. Historical markers; monuments. *Visit the Calhoun County Museum first to gain perspective of this unique heritage site.
  • Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce—More information about local nature and historical places

Goliad County

Nature Centers:

Museums and Attractions:

Jackson County

Nature Centers:

  • Lake Texana—Edna: Birding, fishing. 9727-acre freshwater water lake. Alligators present.
  • Brackenridge Recreation Complex, Lake Texana—Edna: birding, bike- and hike-trails, camping, paddling, native plants, education center programs, wildlife. 1017-acre complex owned and operated by the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Texana Museum—Edna: Learn about the Karankawa, native inhabitants of the Texas coast, and their role in the La Salle expedition.

Matagorda County

Nature Centers:

  • Mad Island Wildlife Management Area—Collegeport: birding, wildlife, hunting. 7,200 acres of wildlife- and bird-viewing. Receive a list of birds seen at the entrance.
  • Matagorda Bay Nature Park—Matagorda: 1,600-acre park where the original channel of the Texas Colorado River meets the Gulf of Mexico. Natural science center, public fishing piers, wildlife viewing platforms, a pavilion, playground, paddling trails.
  • Matagorda County Birding and Nature Center—Bay City: MBNC covers 34 beautiful acres on the Colorado River. Enjoy six botanical gardens and three major eco-systems.  Outdoor experiences for people with a passion for nature.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Matagorda Area Chamber of Commerce—More information about local nature and historical places
  • Matagorda County Museum—Bay City: Archaeologists discovered the La Belle shipwreck in 1995 and excavated it from the bottom of Matagorda Bay inside a giant cofferdam. On display in this museum are a diorama of part of the excavation and artifacts from the ship, including a bronze cannon and navigational instruments.
  • City by the Sea Museum—Palacios: Delves into the area’s shrimping, agriculture, medical history. La Petite Belle is a half-scale, seaworthy reproduction of Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle’s ship La Belle. It is currently located within walking distance from the museum at the South Bay Marina.

Refugio County

Nature Centers:

  • Lions/Shelly Park—Refugio: Birding. Short park trail is .75 miles long and runs along the Mission River.
  • King’s Memorial State Park—Refugio: Historical markers, monuments. Located at the old Plaza de la Constitución across from the Refugio County Courthouse. The park commemorates Captain Amon B. King and his men, who were killed in action in the battle of Refugio (March 14–16, 1836) or captured in the battle and killed afterward.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Refugio County Museum—Refugio: Built to suggest the log-cabin-style houses typical of the Texas pioneer days. The exhibits trace the history of the area, from the establishment of the Spanish Mission to the immigration of Irish settlers; and the impact of a large brick building with grass in front of a house ranching and oil after 1929.
    Texas Bayside Historical Society—Bayside: The shores of Copano Bay are rich in history as well as modern charm. The human presence around Copano Bay goes back thousands of years, evidenced by the numerous remains of camp sites and burial grounds of prehistoric peoples.

San Patricio County

Nature Centers:

  • Lake Corpus Christi State Park—Mathis: On water: swim (no lifeguards), paddle, fish, boat, and water ski. on land: camp, hike, bike, geocache, bird and wildlife-viewing. Ranger-led tours.
  • Museums and Attractions:
  • Sinton Historical Museum—Sinton: Historical artifacts relating to the early settlers of the Sinton, Texas area and their descendants for the purpose of educating the public and future generations of the local and area history and its part in the story of Texas.
  • Welder Wildlife Foundation Museum & Refuge—7 miles from Sinton on Hwy 77: Staff- or interpretive-volunteer-led tours visit our museum, which houses the Donald Bowman Bird Collection and Francis Lee Jaques Art Collection followed by a 10-mile driving tour of the Refuge through a variety of habitats to see many species of birds and wildlife. Private tours visit areas not normally seen by the public including our Natural History Specimen Collections and Library.

Victoria County

Nature Centers:

  • Athey Nature Sanctuary Birding Deck—Located at the historic Hiller House, it has bird feeding stations, interpretive maps, and direct access to the Athey and Riverside Park trail system.
  • Coleto Creek Reservoir Park—hiking trails (one with an interpretive guide), nature observation stations, pollinator demonstration garden, fishing, boating, picnicking, and camping.
  • Riverside Park—660-acre park along 4+ miles of the Guadalupe River with a trail system linked to the Nature Sanctuary Birding Deck and two areas for putting in canoes and kayaks as part of the Victoria Paddling Trail system as well as picnicking, and disc and standard golf courses.
  • The Texas Zoo—located at 110 Memorial Drive, Victoria, TX 77901 within Riverside Park, the zoo provides environmental education that focuses on stewardship and conservation. The zoo contains Texas wildlife and more, making a home for rescued animals that cannot be returned to the wild. Native-plant pollinator demonstration garden.
  • Victoria Educational Gardens—a comprehensive garden open in all seasons. It has a native plant/butterfly enclosure plus native-plant and xeriscape garden areas

Museums and Attractions:

  • Museum of the Coastal Bend—a mid-coast regional institution featuring the multi-cultural heritage of the area. The museum uses permanent and traveling exhibits, classes, and field work to educate both children and adults. Available programs include the John W. Stormont lecture series as well as kids’ camps and a public archeology lab where volunteers can help.
  • Ethel Lee Tracy Park—a city park with family picnic sites, inclusive playground and splash pad with a fishing lake.
  • Lone Tree Creek Hike and Bike Trail—2.1 miles of concrete path through the back of neighborhoods along the creek with opportunities for wildlife sightings. Dogs on leash are welcome.
  • Victoria Paddling Trails—this trail system travels along 25+ miles of the Guadalupe River with sections between pull-out points from 1½ miles to 13 miles apart. In dryer weather, this trail is a leisurely paddle with a few fast-moving shallow areas and sandbars.

Notable Sites in Nearby Counties

Nature Centers:

  • Amos Rehabilitation Keep—Port Aransas: Tours Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m., Periodic Turtle Releases
  • Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center—Port Aransas: A premier birding site, also has a native pollinator garden, 750-foot boardwalk over the freshwater wetlands and a 750-foot trail off the end of the boardwalk with a benches overlooking the saltmarsh.
  • Mustang Island Paddling Trail—Port Aransas: Birding, Paddling, Fishing. North Trail (8.5 miles), the Shamrock Loop Trail (5.24 miles) and the Ashum Trail (6.8 miles). All of the trails follow the western shoreline of Mustang Island in Corpus Christi Bay.
  • Mustang Island State Park—Mustang Island: Periodic Ranger- or interpretive-volunteer-guided talks
  • Port Aransas South Jetty—Port Aransas: Spy Sea Turtles feeding on algae on its granite rocks, Fishing, Birding. A natural channel that has existed for many hundreds of years. The current jetties were originally built between 1906 and 1911.
  • South Texas Botanical Gardens—Corpus Christi: gardens, south Texas brush-country nature trail, butterfly house. Saturday morning classes, Wednesday winter lectures, bird- and wildlife-viewing. Pet friendly.

Museums and Attractions:

  • Farley Boat Works—Port Aransas: Wooden Farley boats were produced expressly for Port Aransas tarpon fishing beginning in 1915 and ushered in 60 years of sport fishing to the area, most famously President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII.
  • Museum of Military History, Third Coast Squadron—Aransas Pass: Explores the history of Air Force and Army in the Coastal Bend.
  • Pharmacy and Medical Museum of Texas—Cuero: An educational museum focusing on the history of both the pharmaceutical and medical fields.
  • Polish Heritage Center—Panna Maria: Arriving to the US in the mid to late 1800s at the port in Indianola, TX, the Poles traveled for 90 days below the decks of wooden sail boats. This state-of-the-art museum encapsulates the Polish-American immigration story.
  • Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce—More information about local nature and historical places
  • Port Aransas Museum—Port Aransas: Delves into the history of the Jetties construction, involvement in WWII, hurricanes and its rich fishing history.
  • Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, Texas Central Coast—Hazel Bazemore County Park (Corpus Christi Bay Loop), the #1 hawk watching destination in the nation, Magic Ridge (Calhoun Loop), Formosa-Tejano Wetlands (Tres Palacios Loop), Rob and Bessie Welder Park and Wildlife Foundation (La Bahia Loop), and many other nature and birding sites in the region.
  • Hazel Bazemore Park HawkWatch International—Calallen: 9am-5pm daily during hawk migration season Aug 1-Nov 15 on the southern bank of the Nueces River about 17 miles west of Corpus Christi. The only HawkWatch in North America where you have a chance of seeing Swallow-tailed Kites, White-tailed Kites, Mississippi Kites, Zone-tailed Hawks, Short-tailed Hawks, White-tailed Hawks, and Harris’s Hawks in addition to Broad-wings and others. Birding and picnicking.
  • Taft Blackland Museum—Taft: Part of both the historic Chisolm Trail and Tropical Trail, delves into business of cattle operations. Operation was fully engaged in cattle raising, farming, and shipping—specifically shipping cattle by boat from company wharves—during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
  • Texas State Aquarium—Corpus Christi: World class aquarium. Its aim is to engage the public in marine life to promote environmental conservation and rehabilitation of the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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