Since we were making the trip to Lake Jackson to visit the Sea Center of Texas (see yesterday's post for more details), I did a little research around the area to see what else is there. I was happy to find Bryan Beach State Park (we did not find it) and Quintana Beach (jackpot). NOTE: websites of interest for this area are listed at the end of this post.
Quintana Beach is a 15 minute drive from the Sea Center of Texas. We didn't find the official County Park, but we did find a clean, park on the beach, stretch of sand and surf. We followed TX 288 from Lake Jackson until it dead ended into Hwy 36 and then you will find signs that will direct you through Freeport, over an intracoastal waterway on Fm 1495 and onto CR 723. We turned left and followed a long and straight road with high berms on either side. The first drive we came to said "no Beach Access," but the next one we found said "Welcome to Quintana Beach." Reviewing the Yahoo map, I think we turned too early. If we had gone until the road dead ended, we would have found the County Park. Even though we were not at the official park, we had a good time.
About the beach, this beach you drive directly onto the beach and pick a spot to park. There were no restrooms or other facilities, but they did have some trash cans. There were a number of birds, but the birds had no interest in us and did not bother us. The sand was perfect for building sand castles. The water was shallow for a long way out. One of the 10 year olds wanted to walk out until it reached waist deep on him. We made it to upper thigh high on him before we decided we were getting too far from shore and turned around. Being so shallow, the 5 year old loved it. There was a constant lapping of little waves which made splashing around a lot of fun.
Take a picnic lunch and plenty of other snacks and drinks. Once you cross the intracoastal bridge, there are no shops or restaurants.
We went on a Thursday afternoon and we were almost the only people there. To our left, about 100 feet away was another family, but to the right you could barely make out the shape of the next car, it was so far away. We could see what appeared to be a nice fishing pier, but we didn't check it out. Driving in sand with my minivan was not something I wanted to test. I did see one or two other cars drive down there, and they did not appear to have any troubles.
Anyway, a good trip, we had a lot of fun.
Websites of Interest:
- Quintana, Texas - http://www.quintana-tx.org/#Brazoria%20County,%20Texas
- Quintana Beach County Park - http://www.brazoria-county.com/parks/Quintana/index.asp
- Freeport, Texas - http://www.freeport.tx.us/
- Bryan Beach State Park - I couldn't find a website for this park, but if you Google Bryan Beach State Park, you will find reviews of it on various sites. Reviews talk about fishing, birding and hunting. We didn't drive to this beach, but best I can tell is it is an undeveloped nature reserve.
Trip Stats:
- Who: Mama, two 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
- What: Quintana Beach, http://www.quintana-tx.org/#Brazoria%20County,%20Texas
- When: Thursday, afternoon
- Where: along the coast in Freeport, TX (15 minutes from Lake Jackson)
- Why: Outdoor play
- Cost: Free
- Travel Times from Cy-Fair/Northwest Houston: 1 hour and 15 minutes to Lake Jackson another 15 minutes to Quintana Beach. We drove back during prime time Houston traffic (4 pm) and it took us 2 hours to get from Quintana Beach back to Cy-Fair. We did utilize the 290 HOV.
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