The Western Gulf Coastal Plains ecoregion is a geographical area almost entirely along the Gulf Coast of the United States, primarily encompassing the coastal plain of Texas, extending into parts of Louisiana and reaching into northeastern Mexico, characterized by relatively flat topography and predominantly grassland vegetation as its natural potential vegetation. The Western Gulf Coastal Plains is often considered a part of the larger "Gulf Coastal Plains" ecoregion.

The Gulf Coast has been referred to as America′s Third Coast, and Texas has 367 miles of this third coast. Here in Texas, their are warm waters, seaside restaurants, great camping and small beach towns unlike any you will encounter on the the other two coasts, (the Eastern and Western Seaboards). Yes, the simplicity of Texas beaches far surpass all others for any getting away for some self time.

However, of late, this beauty and wonder that belong to these warm water beaches has become the destination location to an every growing number of people. And we all know what happens to a beautiful spot that becomes overused. Still, despite the crowds, there are still places to find a spot to enjoy the creation.

One of my favorite locations is Padre Island national seashore.

Too, the Gulf Coast of Texas is replete with inland bays, great for all those activities people do on or near water, including beaches. Again, I have been know to stop at Magnolia Beach a time or two.

The total area of this ecoregion is just under 30,000 square miles. The specific areas include a number of barrier islands, and the resacas or natural levees of the Laguna Madre. Too, this coast is vulnerable to tropical storms that can seriously damage ecoregion habitats.

This coastal plain in Louisiana is often called the Cajun Prairi; in Texaa, is is know a the Coastal Prairie; and in Mexico, it is known as the Tamaulipan pastizal.

Less than 1% of the ecoregion remains in pristine condition, almost entirely in Texas, while most of the coast has been converted to farmland, including rice paddies, grazing land, or urban areas including Houston, Texas. Estuaries and other coastal wetlands are better preserved than the prairie and indeed the protected areas of the coast are mainly sanctuaries for waterbirds.

From Southwest Louisiana west to the Upper Texas coast, the climate is wet humid subtropical, featuring significal annual precipitation. The climate becomes more arid farther south along the Texas coast into northeastern Mexico, though precipitation totals still remain high enough for the humid subtropical classification.

Unlike the Southern Inland Plains ecoregion which has already been engulfed within Dry side of the climate divide, the Western Gulf Coastal Plains ecoregion still receives from 27 to 30 inches of rain per year, which is more than enough to make a difference from the adjacent ecoregion, the Southern Inland Plains. In fact, there are more overcast days along the coast that makes it just more humid that in those inland areas.

The natural habitat of the area is a mix of tallgrass prairie similar to those found in inland Texas, with Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) the primary tallgrass species that are typical of the coastal prairie, with several other shorter grasses and many herbaceous and woody species.

In the wetter climate covering the zone from Southwest Louisiana west through the upper Texas coast, these bottomlands contain many species typical in forests elsewhere across the Southern United States, such as the southern live oak, bald cypress, magnolia, loblolly pine, post oak, and southern hackberry. Farther south, from the lower one third of the Texas coast and through the Tamaulipan stretch, the drier climate supports shrubby areas of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), huisache (Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana), lime prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara), and Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana).

This coast is rich in wildlife, and 700 species of birds, animals and reptiles have been counted here, although many are now threatened or endangered.

This coast is a critical habitat for the Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri), over one million of which inhabited the prairie in Texas and Louisiana in the 19th century, but extreme reduction of their habitat put them on the U.S. endangered species list in 1967.

Another endangered bird of the coast is the whooping crane (Grus americana). Many species of wading birds, shorebirds, and other waterbirds are abundant. Birds in the Mexican part of the region include Morelet’s seedeater (Sporophila morelleti), red-billed pigeon (Columba flavirostris), brown jay (Cyanocorax morio), Neotropic cormorant, white-winged dove (Leptotila verrequxi) and Audubon's oriole (Icterus graduacauda).

Mammals of the area include bobcats, collared peccary, white-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, with ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), Gulf Coast jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli), southern yellow bat (Lasiurus ega), and Mexican spiny pocket mouse (Liomys irroratus) more abundant in Mexico.

Rancho Nuevo beach in Tamaulipas and along the Texas coast are the only nesting sites in the world for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) while other herpetofauna of the southern part of the ecoregion include Río Grande chirping frog (Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides) and Mexican white-lipped frog (Leptodactylus fragilis).