Bolivar

Bolivar Peninsula

by Larry Gore

The Bolivar Lighthouse is an imposing 117-foot tall structure you will see long before the ferry docks. Built in 1872 and manned until 1937 this lighthouse provided a long and important service to the sailors of a bygone era. People don’t normally associate Texas with lighthouses but the Point Bolivar lighthouse is one of 8 in Texas that remain as silent monuments to a time when navigation was done the old-fashioned way with sextants and compasses – not with computers, satellites and handheld GPS devices.

On your right just beyond the Lighthouse is Fort Travis Seashore Park. Originally called Fort Green this was a confederate fortress during the Civil War. The confederates built the fortress by dismantling the original Bolivar lighthouse and using the material to build Fort Green. Renamed Fort Travis, the fort was used in both WWI and WWII to help protect the coastline.

Fort Travis Park is a good opportunity to get close to the ocean. This is where the Houston Ship Channel meets the Gulf of Mexico so, depending on the currents; you may find the water is not too enticing for swimming. Further up the peninsula the water and the beaches get much better and this area has rapidly grown in popularity (and value) in the last 10 years. Overall, the Bolivar Peninsula boasts some 32 miles of beaches.

Hwy 87 continues along the Bolivar Peninsula for another 21 miles. Seafood is bountiful on the coast and there are many little restaurants in this area that offer outstanding values and delicious food. Somewhere around 10 miles from the ferry you will be at Rollover Yacht Basin and the “cut” that allows bay waters to join the ocean. Businesses in this area have firm parking lots where your bike will be stable while you enjoy food and refreshment. Take a short walk along the beach and you might have good luck looking for shells. Several times in this area we have collected some very interesting ones.

Rollover is the narrowest point along the peninsula – only a few hundred feet wide. In the days of “rum running” the smugglers would bring the barrels to this area and then roll them across the narrow strip of land to boats waiting on the bayside to receive the contraband. Thus the name “rollover” because the barrels would roll over the land.

There was a time some 25 years ago when you could follow 87 all the way to Sabine Pass and into Louisiana. A storm in the early 80’s washed out huge sections of the road and the Texas Department of Transportation, after spending years battling Mother Nature, finally gave up and decided to not reopen the road. A good 4-wheel drive will still allow you to visit the remote beaches in this area to relax, sun, camp, swim or fish.