Explore area by kayak

S everal improvements to the Lighthouse Lakes kayak area northwest

of Port Aransas are

in the works for this fall.

The area, a site where enthusiasts can get up close and personal with birds and fish, is due for an expansion and some new facilities. Work will begin in October, and when it’s finished, the project will add a kiosk, picnic tables and areas where indigenous vegetation can be preserved. Such things as salt cedar and Brazilian pepper – trees that aren’t indigenous but that crowd out native vegetation – will be removed.

The Lighthouse Lakes Paddling Trails was the first Texas Paddling Trails established by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). They wind across shallow waters and flats northwest of Port Aransas. There are four trails along the South Bay side of Lydia Ann Channel.

These trails are accessible from TPWD’s Lighthouse Lake Trails Park along State Hwy. 361. Cutters Loop Trail is 5 miles long; the Electric Lake Loop is 1.25 miles in length; Redfish Loop is the longest at 6.8 miles, and the South Bay Loop is 6.7 miles.

Waterproof wade fishing maps and satellite photo maps to any of the trails, including GPS coordinates (on the photo maps), are available for sale at the South Jetty newspaper office, 141 W. Cotter Ave.

The trails have markers placed by TPWD to guide kayakers as they paddle them.

The trails are a series of intertwining trails that point the way for navigating the black mangrove estuary behind the Lydia Ann Lighthouse.

The Mustang Island Paddle Trail winds along the bay side of Mustang Island between Mustang Island State Park, past Shamrock Island and ends near the edge of the Port Aransas city limit.

There are also two trails along the Corpus Christi Bay side of Mustang Island that extend from Port Aransas to a point just short of Mustang Island State Park to the south.

Any of the trails offer rewarding shallow water fishing and spectacular birding.