The best kind of workout is one that’s filled with beautiful distractions.
Hop aboard a canoe, kayak or stand-up paddleboard (SUP) for a workout that freshens your mind while also elevating your heart rate, strengthening your muscles and helping you learn and perfect a new skill—all against a peaceful backdrop.
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Get started with this engaging form of exercise through Baton Rouge’s park system, BREC, which rents kayaks and canoes and hosts paddling events through its popular Outdoor Adventure division. Sign up for a Kayaking 101 class and learn the basics of the sport on a shallow lake or pond around town. As you advance your skills, join a Paddle Away class, a guided adventure exploring a local bayou or river. And when you really feel comfortable, move to the Expedition Paddle level, in which a guide takes you to faster moving currents outside East Baton Rouge Parish. Vessels are provided, or you can bring your own.
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Over the last few years, BREC has made progress developing a “Blueway Map” for the parish, a system of connected waterways accessible to paddlers. BREC’s newly renovated boathouse at Greenwood Community Park, which is open seasonally, features kayak, canoe and SUP rentals. Milford Wampold Memorial Park has a boat launch that allows paddlers with their own vessels to explore the LSU Lakes. Similarly, Highland Road Community Park has a boat launch that gives access to Bayou Fountain.
And we can look forward to the future. New boat launches are underway at Manchac Park, and in the forthcoming Airline Highway Community Park. The master plan for the LSU and City Park Lakes also calls for major improvements to the health of this water system along with recreational kayak, canoe and SUP rentals.
This article was originally published in the March 2022 issue of 225 magazine.