Sea Rim State Park

Sea Rim sits at the far southeast corner of Texas with nearly two miles of Gulf shoreline and some 4,000 acres of marsh behind it, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. The way into the marsh is the Gambusia Nature Trail, a boardwalk, or by kayak or canoe on paddling trails that run from an easy 1.79 miles to an advanced 9.59. Alligators live here and mosquitoes never leave, so plan for both. The park lends wheelchairs and fishing gear, and fishing from the surf or the marsh edge needs no license inside a state park.

People have used this coast for a long time. The park's history places the Atakapa-Ishak, whom it calls the Atakapa, in Texas about 2,000 years ago, bringing pottery, and says most were gone by the 1820s. From the 1870s to the 1950s the land was a cattle ranch. Texas bought it in 1972 and the park opened in 1977.

Storms have shaped what you see. Hurricane Rita ravaged the park in 2005, and Ike arrived in September 2008, two weeks before a planned reopening. The park came back on a limited basis in 2010, with visitors bringing their own water, and in June 2014 staff unveiled a camping loop, a cabin, an elevated dune boardwalk and a walk-in day-use area. The park is open daily 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the busy season runs April through July.