Has anyone been to Surfside

[thumper]

My wife and I are planning to camp there this weekend.Has anyone ever been DS riding in this area? Looks like the Lower Brazos and some of the small lakes in the area might have something interesting.

[DaveC]

This is like sand n skeeters campin'? I have camped on the coast twice and that was one time two many. There is only one way down on the coast, spelled c-o-n-d-o, AC, hot running water, and the only skeeter is your wifes second cousin twice removed:rofl:

[thumper]

Actually we have a motorhome[ our rolling condo].

[Jack Giesecke]

Head for Quintana beach, back side of Freeport and over the swing bridge. There's a big camp ground at the jetties. They tore down the gun mound we used to ride on, had a round track on top, coastal artilliary from WW2. But, you can ride all the way down Bryan beach to the new river locks. There's a small lake behind the dunes down there we used to shoot ducks off of 40 years ago. There's riding somewhere around the salt dome storage near the new river locks. It's a designated federal oil reserve storage location. I know they ride there, but never been over there to ride. It's a local deal and I moved away from the area in '84.

Fishing off the jetties, too, if you take your fishing equipment.

[thumper]

Thanks for the info. We made the trip but went in the oppisite direction.We camped on the beach a couple of miles east of Surfside and rode east crossing San Luis Pass. I played around on the marsh roads and got to brush up on my flat-tracking skills[hard packed and very fast].
I didn't go west in Freeport because it looked too industrialized.My wife really liked the beach there so we'll be going back. Are there any dirt roads along the Brazos? Can you ride to the Matagorda 4x4 area from Freeport?

[Jack Giesecke]

Thanks for the info. We made the trip but went in the oppisite direction.We camped on the beach a couple of miles east of Surfside and rode east crossing San Luis Pass. I played around on the marsh roads and got to brush up on my flat-tracking skills[hard packed and very fast].
I didn't go west in Freeport because it looked too industrialized.My wife really liked the beach there so we'll be going back. Are there any dirt roads along the Brazos? Can you ride to the Matagorda 4x4 area from Freeport?

The road along the levee is paved. You can't get up the Brazos from the beach due to the intracoastal, have to go back around the highway and down one of the side roads to the river. You can only go down the beach a couple of miles on the Quintana side and you run into the new river.

Another place that's VERY remote is Sargent. I haven't been down there since before Alicia wiped out a bunch of beach down there, so can't say what the beach area is like or if the swing bridge still operates. It was pretty cool, though, back when. You could ride all the way up to the mouth of the San Bernard, very remote, no people, no beach houses along that beach, no other way to get there than by boat or ORV of some kind. The other direction you would get into the marsh area. There were trails out there and I haven't been any farther than a couple of miles down to some of the pot holes and dune trails. Like I say, not sure how much beach is left down there. They built it up after the hurricane cause it was threatening the canal.

Matagorda beach is accessible from Hwy 60. Take FM521 down to Wadsworth and hang a left. Not sure where this riding area is you speak of. I've been all up and down that coast duck hunting, but not really dirt riding much of it. I had a house on the San Bernard river south of Brazoria and used to spend some time in the Sargent area. You want away from the plants and industrial stuff, that's the place to go! I THINK the bridge is still operating. If you can't get over there, you can always back track to Matagorda beach. Lots of beach down there you can ride.

Where I'm at now, Port Lavaca, our gulf beaches are only accessible by boat. Talk about remote! It's beautiful out around the Pass Cavallo area, though, Matagorda island and what we call "Sunday beach" down here. You almost have to have a boat to enjoy the area down here. I need to get mine legal again. Sticker ran out on it. The only place we can drive to the gulf beach down here is Matagorda to the north and Aransas to the south. Everything in between is pretty much wilderness, but for an outdoor kinda guy with a boat, that's a good thing! The only thing as remote is south of Bird Island ramp down Padre Island to the "land cut" area south of Baffin Bay. Now THERE is some wilderness! The fishing and duck hunting is fantastic down there and not bad around here.

[texasyankee]

I went to Sargent a couple weeks ago for the first time in 15 years. That area has exploded and land values, according to a client with a home there, are climbing fast. The bridge is operating and you can drive to the beach. To the bridge's northeast is a subdivision that is between the gulf and the intercoastal waterway. There is lots of new construction. To the southwest of the bridge is a county park that, I think, allows camping. There is still not much in the way of services like a gas station, grocery store or restaurant.

[thumper]

Thanks again for more info,Jack.From what you said, I think we'll check out Sargent next time. We've been to Matagorda and I've ridden almost all the way down the peninsula [that's what I was calling the 4x4 area]. I see now that it's the intercoastal that divides that area to form the peninsula.

I grew up in Port Aransas and had been to Mansfield many times by boat and to the first cut by 4x4. As a kid in Port Aransas about the only thing to do besides fish or hunt was to ride dirt bikes. In the '70's it seemed like almost every kid had one. We would ride at Charlies Pasture [which is still there] or haul our bikes on skiffs over to Saint Joes [I'm sure thats gotta be against the law by now]

Anyways, I have another thought. You being an avid duckhunter;might know something about the Old and Lost River areas or Anahuac. I'm going check those out as possible camping/ offroading trips.

[Cherioer]

This is like sand n skeeters campin'? I have camped on the coast twice and that was one time two many. There is only one way down on the coast, spelled c-o-n-d-o, AC, hot running water, and the only skeeter is your wifes second cousin twice removed:rofl:


Like Dave said SKEETERS everywhere. Worked down there for a while and there numerious tells of auto crashes caused by drive swatting the little beasts and not watching the road.

Should be pretty nice this time of year though.