Matagorda County Tours

Our Mtagorda Count tours center on the area that is midway between Corpus Christi and Galveston on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The Colorado River runs through it. The Karankawa and later the Tonkawa Indians were the first settlers. Alvarez de Pineda mapped the coastline in 1519, but Cabeza de Vaca was the first European in the area, sometime after 1528. The name Matagorda comes from the thick canebrakes that grew on the shores. "Mata" is Spanish for shrub and "gorda" means thick. The French under Rene de la Salle landed at Matagorda Bay in 1685. Since 1995, the discovery and excavation of La Salle's ship La Belle has brought attention to the area. Anglos began moving into the area with Stephen F. Austin’s original colonists in 1822. It has been an agricultural center, had a series of train depots, been the home of ranches, producer of oil and sulfur, had a military base, and was a resort. It is a sleepy fishing area, center for nuclear energy, and now, a place for you to visit. In 2010, the population was 36,702 with approximately half of the people living in Bay City.

We offer two different tours of Matagorda County. Tour A is 7 hours and starts at 9:00 AM. Tour B is 8 hours and starts at 8:00 AM. Each tour ends at 4:00 PM. Much of the driving is on rural roads.

Matagorda County Tour A – Bay City – 7 Hours

9:00 – 10:30 AM Drive 81 miles/130 kilometers to the Matagorda County Town Square.
10:30 – 12:00 PM Shopping at the stores on the Matagorda County Town Square.
12:00 – 1:00 PM Lunch at K – 2 Steak House.
1:00 – 2:15 PM Tour the Matagorda County Museum and Children's Museum from 1918.
2:15 – 4:00 PM Drive back to Houston.

Matagorda County Tour B – Matagorda, Palaciol, and Blessing – 8 Hours

This tour is available on Monday through Friday, as the museum is only open weekdays per week.

9:00 – 10:30 AM Drive 109.6 miles/176.4 kilometers through Sargent to Matagorda. See the Intercoastal Waterway and the East and West Matagorda bays.
10:00 – 10:15 AM Visit the Information Center.
10:15 – 11:15 AM Drive 34 miles/55 kilometers to Palacios including going past the South Texas Nuclear Project.
11:15 – 12:15 PM Tour the City by the Sea Museum in a restored 1910 building on the National Register of Historic Places
12:15 – 12:45 PM Shopping in Palacios.
12:45– 1:05 PM Drive 12.5 miles/20.1 kilometers to Blessing, Texas.
1:05 – 2:00 PM Lunch at the historic Blessing Hotel Coffee Shop from 1906 and tour through the hotel.
2:00 – 4:00 PM Drive 103 miles/166 kilometers through El Campo and Wharton to Houston.