Flickr/Texas Parks and Wildlife
Near the sizable town of Port O'Connor, this pristine beauty on Matagorda Island is accessible only by boat. Popular with sand dollar hunters and fishermen, this part of a barrier island has been a hand-me-down secret among locals on the Texas coast for years. The recently refurbished Matagorda Lighthouse from 1852 still stands nearby, and this untouched landscape is home to 19 endangered migratory birds, alligators in the inland marshes, and more.
Flickr/msciba
Sandwiched between the unofficially nude High Island beach and the beautiful alligator-laden wetlands of Sea Rim State Park near the Texas-Louisiana border is a beautiful stretch of underappreciated Texas coast. McFaddin Beach is a long sandy stretch that hugs the water in the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, where Highway 87 has been reclaimed by the land. Chunks of asphalt sit in the sand near the tidal zone, which is a popular unofficial archaeological site. If you're lucky, you might happen upon a fossil bone or ancient projectile point (kind of like an arrowhead) as you wander along the derelict interstate.
