I've been watching a lot of off-roading videos, some in the U.S., some international. One thing that looks pretty cool is off-roading and camping on a beach. My wife loves the beach, loves Galveston , wants to go off-roading in her new jeep. I figure this is the perfect weekend trip for like October/November, just me and her. The beach is kind of pussy off-roading, but whatever. Googling, the only thing I can find is South Padre, which is just too damn far -or- Mustang Island, which is only 5 miles of beach.

Shit, it's not worth taking the top off the jeep for 5 miles of coast that will probably be packed full. Is there anything else along the coast that's decent, some beach driving, some road driving, decent camping? Obviously it's not California where you can drive the coast road. Galveston island would have some cruising, restaurants, but I don't know enough about the area to know if there's beach driving.

She's worried about having a place to pee, so she's already killing my spontaneity, so it may turn into motel stays. I just want to have a mini-adventure weekend. Not really interested in hiking, walking, biking.

Cross ferry to Bolivar. work on sunburn picnic . return to hotel in galveston for a good nights sleep.

For October or November??? The beach will not be anywhere close to full then.  

Port A/Mustang Island you can drive and camp on the beach.  There are bathroom/shower facilities at one end at the county park and then at the other end at the state park if you camp there.  But not much for off roading.

There is a 20 mile stretch, from Sabine Pass, to Bolivar @ Hwy 124,open to drive and camp on.

Can drive on the beach at matagorda if you buy the $12 permit. Some restaurants there plus it shouldn't e too crowded that time of year. 

You can drive almost to sargent, which is about 25 miles.

The washed out section of 87 from 124 to Sea Rim can get a bit interesting at times. Pretty secluded back in there or use to be. It's been years since I made the drive. Back there 4x4 was required and a lift helped immensely. 

Port A is pretty nice.

PINS is 60 miles of beach you can drive and camp on.  October is great time to camp there, great weather and should be alot of fish in the surf.

For Galveston, I'd go all the way west to the end of the island to San Luis Pass.   You can drive & camp on the beach and fishing is decent.

There are some condos for rent, so if you wanted to have a homelike base camp for the women, they would have beds & showers.

Thanks. I've been to Port Arthur and Sabine Pass, and was out on Galveston Island a few years ago, but didn't spend enough time there to really figure out where anything was. Sounds like we could easily make a weekend driving around.

this

I beached camped once for a couple of days in Port Aransas .

Hated it between constant grit from ocean spray and sand getting in everything including all the books and crannies on my body, I said never again, unless ship wrecked.

Made I think 2 or 3 nights then rented a hotel for the rest of our stay.

This from someone who loves camping.

We still have sand in our Jeep.
That sand gets everywhere.

Pay attention to this OP.

Lol reminds me I flipped over the floor mat in the back seat of my truck the other day and still had sand from last August.  I swear I've vacuumed it twice since then

That. I haven't personally made the trip, but I hear it can get interesting quickly out there. Try to drive at low tide. Fall tides can get pretty high. I'll make to trip this fall sometime to try for some tarpon in the surf.

You know how you get all oily and gross at the beach?  Rub yourself down with baby powder and all is well again in the world.  With baby powder I can stay on the beach for days on end.  The stuff is magic.  If you are gonna go to PINS in October find out when Sharkathon is and come for that or avoid it, your call.

This times 100.

But be careful it's not pussy off roading like you think.

The sand can get deep in places, you need good tires.
Make sure you have a shovel and a tow strap.
Take two spares, extra gas, lot's of water.
You are on your own down there, plan accordingly.

In October the tide comes in in the afternoon/evening.
this forces you to drive higher up on the beach where the sand is deeper
and there are more obstacles to avoid.

Last year we were down there and I spent two hours in the dusk/dark,
in 4 low, trying not to get stuck on my way back up the beach after driving all
the way down to the Mansfield Channel.

My advice is to go down there for sure but only about 20 miles past the 4x4 only sign.

We went for spring break. It was great, but I wouldn't go alone. It's pretty damn lonely out there, if you get stuck or break down. That beach is also a flat tire waiting to happen, lol.

+1 on the sand getting everywhere.



You've gotta accept that it's just something you have to life with.  Then ignore it.

If anyone in your camp is incapable of doing so they'll be miserable.

Great place and wise words above.  My family has a place down in SPI.  We go north out on the beach to fish, play, camp, etc.  You have to watch the tides and plan for a lot.  I wouldn't venture too far without more than one vehicle.  Shovel and tow ropes are a must.    

Ive always thought it would be awesome to do a ATV trip with camping/fishing gear.  But I am fairly certain the state doesnt allow it.

That's sounds about like what we want. I have 50ft of strap and my wife ordered a 9500lb winch with a 100 ft cable on it. Worse case scenario, we bury our spare tire and winch ourselves out.

This is what you want right here.  Enter the beach from CR 457 in Sargent, then head east and pick your spot.  You'll need a good 4x4, and you'll need to know how to use it.

CMOS

I still have most of my Jeep stuff from my old jeep and back in the day, I took an official classroom type course. I need some good fuel cans and I need a better option for onboard air. I found some 2.5 gallon polish military jerry cans. I just need to decide what air compressor and whether or not I should install an air tank as well.

Last time I rode the ferry, they didn't let you take fuel across. Is that still the case?

I use the poly jerry cans from Tractor Supply.

I had on-board air with compressor, it had cool factor but was not practical. The tanks are usually small and empty in seconds. Then you wait forever to refill and over time the fittings leak or become loose from wheeling.

I dumped this and went with the ARB external compressor. Not mounted to a specific vehicle, and very fast to air up. I swapped in a WARN battery connector so no need to even open the hood.

If you want to get fancy there was a company called oasis air I think. Basically a winch motor on a air pump. All contained in a ammo box. It had jumper cords so you could just clip it to the battery. I saw one at a club event in CO. It was really fast compared to most of the pumps I have seen.

If you're going to go to the trouble of equipping a winch be sure to bring a sand-anchor as well.  Doesn't do you much good if you don't have anything to attach it to.

http://www.pullpal.com/aboutPP.html

I bought an Instant Air CO2 set-up. I couldn't be happier for the money.

Yep, McFaddin Beach.  I hear there are some spots with some clay in the sand and that it get pretty narrow in places.  I would be sure to check the weather to make sure that there isn't any storms coming in.

I'll probably go with a viair 300 or 400 series then and just mate it with a heavy duty Anderson power pole and route it out the front grill.

I haven't seen any cans at TSC or Atwood's that I thought were good for anything lately. They want nutty prices for those plastic specialty jeep cans that are tiny.

Anyone got a map ofnpins?

No real maps of pins, it just keeps going down.  4x4 marker at mile 2.5, Yarborough pass can get you to the bay side, but I can't recall the mile marker.  It's often deep dry sand that can be a challenge.  You can see it on google maps.  Driving conditions vary wildly from people stuck in the first 100 yard to me dragging a 30 foot travel trailer 16 miles down without needing to air down (and I could probably have gotten it all the way to the jetties if I'd wanted).  Even In ough driving conditions with some skill and aired down tires you can make it 30 plus miles down and back with plenty of time to play on a day trip.  You can go to the jetty's and back in a day trip, but it's a lot of time driving.  There is typically an area of deep dry sand to have to drive through between 10 and 20 miles, but everything can change with a storm and I haven't been out there this year.  Check surf fishing boards for more info.

CO2 is the best thing for refilling tires.  Buy/fill a tank at your local welding supply or home brew store and get a 150 psi fixed regulator from an off-road supply house.

Take a long handled shovel and some big door mats or somehing like that to help get grip if you need it.  Staying gentle on the throttle and smart with what you do is the most important thing to avoid getting stuck.  I've been down there dozens of times in stock vehicles with little kids and haven't gotten stuck, though I've seen a bunch of people stuck for no good reason.  Pay attention to the tides.  Check the tide charts and know when high and low tides are and how big the swing will be so you can have a good plan.  The safest thing is to plan to drive back out during the last few hours of the ebb so you can travel clean and safe on hard packed sand.

Try not to block the high or low road with your day camp and move with the tide as necessary.

There's a note on the NPS page that Yarborough Pass is closed to 4x traffic. Don't know how old it is, but that's what it says.

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So using C25 shielding gas would be bad?

This tank is out of date, but it's at least half full. I'm probably never going to use it again for welding.