Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 877-892-4737;
www.whoopingcranetours.com
; 202 N Fulton Beach Rd, Fulton Harbor; 3½hr tours $50;
7:30am & 1pm)
Estuaries tour leaves from Fulton. Also rents kayaks (from $60 per day).
Wharf Cat
( 361-729-4855, 800-782-2473;
www.texaswhoopers.com
; tours adult/child from $50/25; 10am mid-Dec-Mar)
Tours leave from Rockport Harbor (Wednesday to Sunday) and Port Aransas's Fisher-
man's Wharf (Tuesday).
BIRD-WATCHING
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Goose Island State Park
The main part of
Goose Island State Park
( 361-729-2858;
www.tpwd.state.tx.us
; adult/child $5/free;
8am-10pm)
, where admission is charged, is right on Aransas Bay (although there's no swim-
ming). The namesake marshy island is a mere 140 acres, linked to another 174 acres on
the mainland. The busiest times at the park are during the summer and in whooping crane
season (November to March). It's worth booking
campsites
in advance. Walk-in sites away
from RVs are $10 while sites with utilities are $22. A word of caution: the phrase 'bring
insect repellent' appears more frequently in this park's official brochure than in any other.
Kayaking along the calm inlets is popular here.
The oldest tree on the coast is an oak more than 1000 years old near the main part of the
park. Stuck with the prosaic moniker of
Big Tree
(the trunk is more than 35ft in diameter),
this grand specimen is in an idyllic spot amid a sea of wildflowers, near the sea, and sur-
rounded by panels with poetry. It is near 12th St and outside the gated park area. Both lie
at the end of a sweet little drive from TX 35 and the village of
Lamar
, with the drive
passing under an entire thicket of live oaks that shade the road.
The park is 12 miles north of Rockport, off E Main St, which runs east from TX 35, just
north of the bridge over Copano Bay. Big Tree is 1.5 miles north of the park along the wa-
ter.
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Rockport & Fulton
POP 10,200
