Slipstream - July 2020

Driving Down Padre Island National Seashore - In a Porsche
by Carey Spreen
You may not be aware that the Texas General Land Office
(GLO) passed the Texas Open Beaches Act in 1959, which states
“The public . . . shall have the free and unrestricted right of ingress
and egress to and from the state-owned beaches.” In many cases,
this includes vehicular access, which the GLO considers a primary
means of access to many Texas beaches.
One outstanding example of this right to drive on the beach
is the Padre Island National Seashore (which I will hereafter
refer to as PINS), the entrance to which is located about 30 miles
southeast of downtown Corpus Christi. PINS extends south from
this point about 60 miles, where it ends at the southernmost tip of
Padre Island (not to be confused with South Padre Island, which
is only about 500 feet to the south across the Mansfield Channel,
but not accessible from PINS). All 60 miles are drivable beach,
and a great way to spend a day (or more) on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Of course, since this is the Porsche Club, Sue and I decided to
drive our 2008 Cayenne (the base model with the 3.6-liter VR6)
to this unusual destination, although any four-door all-wheeldrive
Porsche is easily capable of the journey.
Being enthusiasts of so-called “blue” highways (secondary
roads that used to be identified on paper maps with blue lines),
we avoided I-35 and I-37 once we passed Waco, following smaller
state and US highways down to Palacios, TX, then picking up
State Highway 35 (not I-35) south and following it through Port
Lavaca and Aransas Pass to Corpus Christi. There we stayed in a
hotel not far from the Intracoastal Waterway, the body of water
that separates Padre Island from the mainland.
Upon leaving the paved park road and entering the beach,
I stopped, put the Cayenne in neutral, and flipped the lever to
low range. That’s one unique feature of the first-generation
Cayennes (2003 to 2010) – they only have a 6-speed Tiptronic S
(not counting the 1.8% of base models and GTSs that were sold
with 6-speed manuals), but they have dual range, a locking center
differential, and an optional locking rear differential. By the way,
redline in sixth gear in low range is about 60 mph, so don’t try it
on the highway!
In the accompanying photos, you may notice that the Cayenne
sports high-profile off-road tires. Before we struck out on this
journey, we weren’t sure how deep the sand was going to be, so
we opted to drive down on our off-road tires on 17-inch wheels,
instead of 40-series street tires on 20-inch wheels (what, doesn’t
everybody have two sets of wheels for their Porsches?). But as
it turns out, the street tires would have worked just fine. The
majority of vehicles on the beach were Jeeps and fourwheel-drive
pickup trucks, but we also saw Ford Focuses
and Buick Regals happily cruising up and down the wet
packed sand on their all-season tires.
Anyway, the first few miles of beach had lots of
traffic (most of which was traveling above the posted
15-mph speed limit), but past the 5-mile marker, the
crowds thinned out, and by mile marker 16, there were
no beachgoers for as far as the eye could see in either
direction. We pulled in toward the dunes out of traffic,
put up the shelter, and enjoyed the day.
Later that afternoon, we were ready to head back to
the hotel, so after packing up, we faced north and drove
back up the beach. At mile 15 there was a turnoff that led
to an overnight camping area, so we detoured to see what
it looked like. There was about 200 feet of loose, dry sand between
the beach and a gravel road on the other side of the dunes. This
made the Cayenne’s AWD system work a little bit, but we never felt
like we were going to get stuck; to make sure, though, we kept up
our momentum until we were back on solid ground.
We passed a large overlanding group on the way out;
there were probably ten or twelve vehicles and lots of tents in
an enclave. It looked like they had spent the night and were
going to spend
another one
before they left.
That got me
thinking that a
group of fourdoor
Porsche
enthusiasts
might enjoy
a similar
excursion to
the Gulf Coast.
Any takers?
On Monday we took a different route back to D/FW, still
on blue roads, with the exception of State Highway 130, the
toll road from Seguin to Georgetown that boasts an 85-mph
speed limit in its southern half (it drops to 80 near Circuit of
the Americas). We couldn’t pass that up!
The point of this story is that your four-door Porsche is capable
of going places that you might not have considered. The next time
you have the opportunity, take your Cayenne, Macan, or even your
Panamera 4 off the beaten path. You might be surprised at how
well it’ll do! Just remember that the sand gets everywhere . . . .
16 July