Padre Island National Seashore Back Island from The Big Dune

Padre Island National Seashore, mile 25 beyond the end of pavement on the four-wheel drive only wilderness beach at The Big Dune. This is one of the widest areas of the island at about 2 miles. You can see the Laguna Madre in the distance. In the middle ground there is a bit of water where there should be dry land. The King Tide was in. The back island flats had spilled water into this low area of the island. This tidal flooding is now happening about 50 times per year on Padre Island. Normal is zero or almost times per year during non storm conditions. The Big Dune sticks up twice as high as the rest of the dunes for a dozen miles along the middle of the National Seashore and is a popular place for camping.