Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge sponsor bicycle tours (Bike the Bahia) of the Bahia Grande Unit of the Refuge each month. They begin at an entrance on State Highway 48 near Port Isabel, Texas, and run northward on a caliche road to State Highway 100 near Laguna Vista, about 15 miles round-trip.
Bahia Grande is the largest wetlands restoration project in Texas. Construction of the Brownsville Ship Channel cut off tidal flow to the area a century ago. Over the past two decades, flow has been restored allowing the estuary to thrive. The Bahia Grande Unit encompasses about 25,000 acres. The Unit is generally closed to the public.
At State Highway 100, the group of Bike the Bahia cyclists stops briefly and then rides back southward to the starting point at State Highway 48. There are no facilities along the way. Near the turn-around point is the South Texas Ecotourism Center (STEC), which would be a better turn-around point as it offers a shaded area and restrooms.
On January 2, 2024, I set out from the starting point on State Highway 48 to find a trail to STEC where Bike the Bahia cyclists could take a break.
On the cool, cloudy Tuesday morning, just after sunrise, I rode my Surly bike northward from State Highway 48. A mile out I crossed Paso Corvinas, where the caliche road crosses a low wet area.
A half mile beyond Paso Corvinas, I got off-task and turned left, west, to explore a bit. I bounced along the dirt road and spooked a Great Horned Owl that flew from its perch and away from me. A half mile along, the road turned northwest near Bahia Grande. There a small herd of Nilgai Antelope abandoned grazing and loped into the brush. A bit further on, a few White-tailed Deer bounded away and disappeared. One buck remained and watched me before turning his white tail to me and leaping away.
Another half mile of increasingly rutted, overgrown road brought me to the bank of Bahia Grande and a canal that allows tidal flow between Vadia Ancha and Bahia Grande. Tricolored Herons, Great Egrets, and Roseate Spoonbills waded on the edge of the canal.
From there I struggled northeastward through ruts to the main caliche road at a bridge at the beginning of the canal on the west side of Vadia Ancha. A Great Blue Heron took flight at my approach. A group of White Pelicans bobbed in the water. A flock of Redhead Ducks took flight.
I continued northward along a canal that connects Vadia Ancha and Laguna Larga. Several Nilgai bounded across the canal and blended into the brush. I rode along the west bank of Laguna Larga and crossed a second bridge over a canal between Laguna Larga and Bahia Grande.
As I skirted the bank of Laguna Larga, I watched a White-tailed Hawk stretch its wings from its perch atop a yucca. A Reddish Egret danced in the water, wings outspread, as it fished. Meadow Larks flushed as I grinded past on the caliche. Just past the second bridge, I took another detour, this time to the south, to see a White-tailed Hawk perched on a platform on a hill.
I returned to the main road and about five miles along the road from State Highway 48, I took a dirt road along the northeastern side of Laguna Larga, the road I thought would take me to STEC.
I maneuvered up a grade on the road through mesquite and brush to an open area with the Laguna on my right. I stopped at a fence where Turkey Vultures perched atop posts. I followed the fence line to my left, northwest, which should have led to STEC. I bounced along the grassy, rutted trail. White-tailed Deer bounded away from me.
A quarter mile along the fence line I stopped. I saw STEC a half mile to the northwest. The trail turned southwest. A poor trail followed the fence line to STEC. Dirt clung to my legs. Mosquitoes bit. I panted, out of breath. The trail looked too challenging for my bike. I followed the least bad trail southwest a long mile and a half to the main caliche road.
There I continued northward to State Highway 100, but took another detour a mile south, across a levee to an island on Bahia Grande.
From there I returned to the main caliche road and took one last detour a mile west to Bahia Grande, then to State Highway 48, my starting point. I didn’t find a feasible route to STEC for Bike the Bahia, but I enjoyed the 25 miles I logged while trying.
