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Riding on the beach?

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G

Grunn

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Forgive me for asking a rather noobish question but searching on here and google hasn't shed any light on this for me.

Where is it possible to ride on the beach near Houston? I know some Galveston beaches allow cars on there to park but I'm presuming they wouldn't be too happy about me learning to ride on sand in amongst all the day trippers.

Any tips on good beach rides for novices within a 2 hr ride of Houston?
 
Go to the far western end of Galveston Island. Several places to access the beach and people drive all over the place. It's outside the city limits.
 
CBAT said:
Go to the far western end of Galveston Island. Several places to access the beach and people drive all over the place. It's outside the city limits.
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your wrong. theres no beach in the state of tex you can ride on and be legal without insurance and inspec and reg. the far westend of galveston is within the city limits:rofl: go ahead and ride it all you want, but dont ***** when 5/0 bust you and gives you a ticket.:rofl:
 
CBAT said:
Go to the far western end of Galveston Island. Several places to access the beach and people drive all over the place. It's outside the city limits.
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Bruce, They have pretty much did away with all beach riding down here in Galveston, If you go to the end at San Luis Pass, you might be able to stretch out 2 miles from the bayshore along the pass to the beachfront, I was just there last week.


IMG_1926.jpg


My sugestion would be go over the pass and hop on right at the 1st acess and ride it down to Surfside, that should be 20 mile run, or, ride the ferry and get on at Boliver and go to High Island , thats probaby a 30 mile run, then if you want to go further, High Island to Sea Rim Park, I have heard that part of the beach and be pretty tough, deep loose sand, wash-outs, no beach at all and have to ride through marshes, cattle wire to deal with etc, it is doable though, just my .02 worth
 
iridered2003 said:
your wrong. theres no beach in the state of tex you can ride on and be legal without insurance and inspec and reg. the far westend of galveston is within the city limits:rofl: go ahead and ride it all you want, but dont ***** when 5/0 bust you and gives you a ticket.:rofl:
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OK, I didn't know the city went that far and I never said you didn't need a registered bike. :rolleyes: Of course you need tags and M endorsement on you license. Settle down folks. If cars can drive down there to fish you can ride your street legal bike.
 
Just ride the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar and you can ride on the beach (w/ a street legal bike) all the way to Sea Rim State Park. About 21 miles of that is remote.
 
CBAT said:
OK, I didn't know the city went that far and I never said you didn't need a registered bike. :rolleyes: Of course you need tags and M endorsement on you license. Settle down folks. If cars can drive down there to fish you can ride your street legal bike.
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its cool. i just wanted the OP to understand it has to be a street legal motorcycle. i heard they craked down on people on quads and dirtbikes at SLP for riding in the dunes and not being a legal streetbike.
 
The only parts of Galveston beaches I've ever been on are packed, smooth, and little different from riding across your front lawn. There may, of course, be wilder areas I'm not familiar with.

If you're looking for some more challenging sand, try North Padre Island. 60 miles of beach, 55 of it marked 4WD. Some of it's easy, then there are the patches - usually about 200 yards long - of churn up to 8" deep. Has to do with what's offshore. Fair warning, though. (1) Vehicles must be licensed, and (2) observe the 25mph speed limit at least until you're past the 10-mile mark. They actually do run radar up to that point. I barely talked my way out of a ticket last year while chasing and photographing pelicans in my Jeep.
 
Ride the ferry across to Bolivar and after 3 or 4 miles on the pavement, cut into the beach. The first 10 or 12 miles of beach are generally hard packed and used by all sorts of vehicles; cars, trucks, mc, 4x4, golf carts, beach buggies, etc. But the beach does change, first time I rode it was 6 to 8 inches of sand, next time after a storm, there was hardly any sand.

Stay on the beach after the main pavement turns towards High Island. It gets more difficult and less traveled. You can go as far as Sea Rim Park, but if you are just learning this may be more than you will want to do for a first ride.

Some things to consider, in Texas the beach is considered a road so you will need all the things you need for street riding. Interestingly I think you also need an OHV sticker. Supposedly the speed limit is 15 mph (yeah right). Always ride behind folks sitting on the beach because they may have fishing lines out. Watch out for wire, for some reason a lot of that washes up on the beach.

I have only been stopped once, they wanted my license, looked at my registration, insurance and asked if I had been driving off of the beach (that's a no-no). Finally he said slow down and let me go. He didn't ask about my OHV.

Overall, everytime I have ridden the Bolivar beach it has been different.

Probably a lot more than you wanted to know ... right?
 
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for a good adventure, go ride Holly Beach across the border in Lousiana at low tide. Not a whole lot of it, but it's a blast.
 
As Shelfer mentioned, North Padre has some 60 miles of beach to ride down until you hit a Jetty that splits the island.

I've been down pretty far in a truck and it does get to some real soft sugar like sand.

I'm planning to do a ride down to the jetty, just looking for someone to ride with incase I get my 950 stuck in the stuff.

I don't think you need an OHV sticker, but you will need a $12 Padre Seashore sticker that you can get at a local Stripes store.

Let me know if you want to come down and try it out... I live about a mile from the beach on the island.

This picture is up by Bob Hall where the sand is packed, but covered by 3 feet deep sugar sand in waves. Makes for fun whoops.

1231cd99.jpg
 
Wish I could go with you & play support vehicle with my Jeep. I've been down to just past the 20 mile marker, to an area marked on park maps as Big Shell Beach. You'll know why when you get there. Sand is VERY soft there & it takes some careful spinning & churning to make it through the worst spots. I'm told by others that this is the worst part of the beach, and that from about 25 miles on, it's fairly well packed & easy driving.

Take the beach cops VERY seriously up until the 10 mile marker. Beyond that, I don't think anybody will bother you. First I've ever heard of an OHV sticker - that certainly isn't posted on signs, or written in the handout material as you enter the park.
 
Owtcast, Silver and I rode from High Island to Sabine Pass last weekend.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52017

Then, it was super dry, deep loose sand and much debris. But we made the trip pretty fast, faster than I've ever done before and I done this route 4 times this year. We were stopped once by Park Police, they inspected our registrations/inspections, never asked to see our DLs.

Its fun to ride, but to make the 27 miles or so over multiple challenging terrains (Sand, debris, mud, possible quicksand, killer skeeters) it takes some skill. And remember, you'd be out there alone for a while if something happened. Take a bud.
 
Alex4218 said:
Owtcast, Silver and I rode from High Island to Sabine Pass last weekend.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52017

Then, it was super dry, deep loose sand and much debris. But we made the trip pretty fast, faster than I've ever done before and I done this route 4 times this year. We were stopped once by Park Police, they inspected our registrations/inspections, never asked to see our DLs.

Its fun to ride, but to make the 27 miles or so over multiple challenging terrains (Sand, debris, mud, possible quicksand, killer skeeters) it takes some skill. And remember, you'd be out there alone for a while if something happened. Take a bud.
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so the ride from 124/87 to sb pass is only 30 miles or less? you coming to galveston this weekend on the bike? if so, we can hit the streets with the bigboys for a bit. let me know,IRR
 
iridered2003 said:
so the ride from 124/87 to sb pass is only 30 miles or less? you coming to galveston this weekend on the bike? if so, we can hit the streets with the bigboys for a bit. let me know,IRR
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Maybe Sunday from 10am-noon. I've got to run to San Antonio on Saturday. I'll let you know by Saturday evening if I'm gonna come down.
 
A.Vern said:
As Shelfer mentioned, North Padre has some 60 miles of beach to ride down until you hit a Jetty that splits the island.

I've been down pretty far in a truck and it does get to some real soft sugar like sand.

I'm planning to do a ride down to the jetty, just looking for someone to ride with incase I get my 950 stuck in the stuff.

I don't think you need an OHV sticker, but you will need a $12 Padre Seashore sticker that you can get at a local Stripes store.

Let me know if you want to come down and try it out... I live about a mile from the beach on the island.

This picture is up by Bob Hall where the sand is packed, but covered by 3 feet deep sugar sand in waves. Makes for fun whoops.

1231cd99.jpg
Click to expand...

Can you camp on North Padre?
 
Andrew T said:
Yes.
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I'm pretty new to around here, but from what I've heard... anglers and surfers alike make the 60 mile 4x4 trek down to the jetty that is near Port Mansfield and camp out. When the conditions are right the surf and fishing can be some of the best around (not usually at the same time).

jleblanc_mansfieldjetties.jpg

n:ANd9GcRPyNOCNQDQVJd6ZOgmPvgHocTWNYb6ZOXhaAP5D-u3w75hjVw&t=1&usg=__bldrNHPpKTZ0qQWht4dEj7f8Lhc=.jpg


I've started commuting to Kingsville from Padre, so I'm going to spoon some Pirelli Scoropins on but I would like to do a ride to the jetty while I've still got some knobs on the bike.

Anyone up for an all sand ride followed by a beer at Padre Burger company in the next few weeks?

Untitled-3.jpg


A 450 lb dirt bike and 120 miles of sand... what could go wrong? :) I'll post this in the upcoming rides and see if there are any takers.

stuck_in_sand.jpg
 
"...go over the pass and hop on right at the 1st acess and ride it down to Surfside..."

Hello all. Could someone please confirm that my son and I can ride the beach from Surfside through to Galveston and then perhaps across to Boliver on the Ferry. We will be riding capable dirt bikes that are street legal (KTM450EXC and TW200).

Is there anything else I should know about that stretch of beach?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 
Running that route will probly be half pavement and half sand , Galveston would like to close all the beach to MV's if they could getaway with it . The Quintana beach is probly the most isolated close beach to here , And all the beaches are much better to ride in winter time . Much less traffic and people . Time your ride for low tide and its a breeze . SEYA
 
Cagiva 549 said:
Running that route will probly be half pavement and half sand , Galveston would like to close all the beach to MV's if they could getaway with it . The Quintana beach is probly the most isolated close beach to here , And all the beaches are much better to ride in winter time . Much less traffic and people . Time your ride for low tide and its a breeze . SEYA
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Wow, thanks for the great information. How about going south of Surfside. Can you do much there? I see you would have to road it around some inlets and rivers.
 
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