Thursday, January 21, 2016
by Pat Wattam
As the new year started, one of my goals was to put in 10,000 steps a day. It's harder than I thought. We sit at our desks all day, or drive clients around in our cars, but not a lot of walking is going on. Looks like on average I walk 4000-5000 steps a day. When I add 45 minutes on my treadmill that goes up to 8000 steps, if I walk for an hour, it goes up to over 9000 steps. Except for walking around our neighborhood, I didn't think there were that many places to easily find to go walking in Baton Rouge. Well, I was wrong! Depending on where you live in the city, there are several places to walk that are enjoyable.
First is the Burden Estate off Essen Lane. There are free trails to walk or for $15/year membership, you can walk in the Windrush Gardens - which is really nice. Of course, if you go through the museum and the outbuildings, then you can really get lost walking the paths through the woods, around little lakes, etc. This is a hidden jewel during the week. Very few people out then and you pretty much have it all to your self.
Second favorite place to walk - or more enjoyable, ride your bicycle - is to go around LSU lakes. You can walk for miles and there are lots of people there to join you. I have a friend who likes to take his daughter and walk there and has figured out a 2 mile route.
Our BREC parks also have some nice places to walk. You will see lots of people walking in Forest Park off Harrels Ferry - it winds around by the tennis courts and is a nice walk. The other one I like is Highland Road park - plenty of grounds to walk across - or ride your horse!!
But when I have enough time I really like to head north to Port Hudson - a Civil War site with lots of trails and some actual terrain so that you get good exercise. I think I could go way over 10,000 steps if I had time to go there. Maybe if I got there once a week it would just be fun!
If you can think of some more fun places to walk, add them here!
