Houston Canoe Club was invited to take part in the opening ceremony for the freshwater lakes at John Paul Landing Park. Ellen and I were joined by club members Murphy Low and Sheila Hansel to take a spin around the lake.
HCP4 Superintendent of Outdoor Recreation Ashley DeLeon and Nature Center Manager Bayard Nicklow were the masters-of-ceremonies from the lake shore:
Felicia Ziegler of Texas Water Safari fame led us on our tour of the lake in her aluminum canoe. Heck, even with two kiddos in the boat (who did wield paddles) Ellen and I couldn’t keep up with her but it was fun being on the water. Here is Felicia getting ready to give her spiel
The Greens Bayou folks had a nice exhibit and also gave a nice talk. I wish I’d been better prepared to talk about how nice it is to have access to a user friendly paddling facility. Behind Felicia and Bayard you can see the natural beach launch area. Nice firm footing to wade out and get in your boat. I think this would be an ideal location for paddling instruction; tables, covered pavilions, nice paved parking lots quite close by. The water itself was very clean and for a change of pace in our area, sweet smelling.
Here we are setting off on our loop of the lake:
There’s not much shade as you can see, and the paddling area is limited as wildlife areas are being developed. Signage by the bridges clearly mark the off limit areas.
Here’s a map showing where we parked and our approximate route around the lake:
A much larger Earth Day Fest was ongoing by the event center. For more information about the park:
https://cp4.harriscountytx.gov/Explore/Parks/Precinct-4-Parks/john-paul-landing-parks