2019 Map of Potrero Cortado

About this map

Padre Island National Seashore and the complex salt flats of the Laguna Madre define this coastal reach in Kenedy County. The landscape is characterized by a series of potreros—elevated lands or pastures within the marshy flats—including Potrero Cortado, Potrero Grande, and Potrero Farias. These features represent stable ground amidst a shifting environment of shallow water and wetlands, long utilized for cattle grazing in this sparsely populated stretch of South Texas. The inland waterway is marked by the Land Cut, a significant navigational feature that bypasses the natural shallows of the laguna. To the east, the barrier of Padre Island separates the quiet waters of The Hole and Middle Ground from the open Gulf of Mexico, illustrating the delicate geomorphology of the Texas coastline before it meets the sea.