The sections of Tigertail Beach Park upland from the Gulf's high-water mark are critical to the health of the beach itself because of the native plants that grow here — sea oats and other grasses and sedges, wildflowers like dune sunflower, camphorweed and hairypod cowpea, and shrubs like nickerbean and beachberry help hold the dunes together through their extensive root systems. They are the beach's first line of defense. These areas are marked off limits to human feet in order to protect them, as they are at Tigertail. They're also incorporated within the Big Marco Pass Critical Wildlife Area.
