Padre Island National Seashore covers almost 66 miles of 113-mile Padre Island, a barrier island that parallels the Texas coast between Port Isabel and Corpus Christi. Causeways at both cities link the island with the mainland, but there is no though road on the island; a paved road extends for only 6 miles within the national seashore. The sand-duned strip of land is from .13 miles to 3 miles wide. To the east lies the Gulf and to the west Laguna Madre, including a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway.
In 1519, when the first Spanish fleet sailed along the shore, the island was peopled by the Karankawa Indians. Padre Island became infamous as a graveyard for ships blown onto the island during storms. In about 1800, Padre Nicholas Balli, for whom the island was named, used it for his ranching operation. Picniking, camping and driving are allowed on the seashore, except for a 5-mile stretch reserved for pedestrian traffic.
