Matagorda Bay Nature Park, managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), sits on 1,600 acres of ecologically sensitive land at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico. MESA worked with the LCRA and Lake|Flato, the building architect, to develop a recreation plan and environmental program interpreting the property’s three distinct ecological systems: blackland prairie, wetland, dunes and beaches. A final road alignment preserved a historic cattle drive path and used the landscape to unify recreational development and existing communities.