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Baytown Nature Center

When:
Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 9:30 AM until 3:30 PM
Where:
Baytown Nature Center
https://baytown.org/535/Baytown-Nature-Center
 6213 Bayway Drive
Baytown, TX  77520

281-420-7101
Additional Info:
Event Contact(s):
Carl Kuhnen
713-444-3315 (cell) (p)
Category:
HASK Paddle Trip
Registration is temporarily unavailable
Payment In Full In Advance Only
This is an ACA sanctioned event. All participants in ACA-insured activities must wear properly-fitting U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejackets (Personal Flotation Devices, or PFDs) at all times during on-water activities. Non-HASK participants must sign a waiver. See all rules at the bottom of this page.
Cancellation Policy:
Notify the Event Contact to cancel your registration.
Capacity:
0
Available Slots:
Filled
Attendees pay for their own charges

We will put in at the Baytown Nature Center on Burnet Bay and more or less circumnavigate Burnet, Crystal, and Scott Bays. These are small (one mile wide) connected bays of the northern Galveston Bay complex, nestled between the shoreline of the city of Baytown and spoil islands bordering the Houston Ship Channel. We will have great views of the San Jacinto Monument and the Ship Channel. We will not enter the Houston Ship Channel. The small size of the bays should limit any wind chop to manageable levels.

Bring lunch and we'll find a spot for it.

Directions -- From downtown Houston, take I - 10 East to Decker Drive in Baytown. Exit there and take Texas 330 Spur south to Bayway Drive. Turn right into Baytown Nature Center. Stop and pay your fee ($4 or $1 if you're willing to admit that you're 65 or older.) Drive northwestward on the entrance road towards the peninsula shown on the satellite photo. the launch area is a small sandy west-facing beach with good parking nearby. When you find me, you're at the put-in. Do not expect to see the large yellow Launch Area marker. It is made of a special material that can only be seen from space.

Lat - lon of the Baytown Nature Center entrance is   29° 45.293'N  95° 2.137'W
Lat - lon of the Launch Area is 29° 45.366'N,    95° 2.963'W

The yellow line is our intended paddle route. The red line is the Houston Ship Channel.


Baytown Nature Center is a 500-acre peninsula surrounded by Burnet, Crystal, and Scott Bays. It consists of hardwood uplands, high quality tidal marsh, and freshwater wetlands. This unique site is listed on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, providing habitat for 317 species of resident and neo-tropical migrant birds. The American Bird Conservancy designated BNC as a nationally important bird area.

There are some good walking trails also that are the streets of the old subdivision, and an observation hill..

Read the interesting history of the peninsula below. From the 1930s to the 1980s, it was the site of Brownwood, one of Baytown's most desirable subdivisions and home to many Exxon and other refinery executives and managers. Land subsidence due to natural compaction and withdrawal of ground water, plus periodic coastal storms, gradually made it uninhabitable and FEMA and the city eventually forced residents to sell their properties and move. Eventually, a marsh restoration project was completed and the Nature Center was established.

https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Brownwood.pdf
  

Hazards -- We will launch from a gentle slope/beach that may be mucky and slippery. These shallow bays may have oysters and barnacles, so good closed-toe footwear is required. Some small boat traffic may be present in our bays. We will be mostly separated from the very large boat Otherwise, we have the usual Texas afternoon delights, including mosquitos, fire ants, bears, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, sun, heat and humidity, etc. Bring plenty (two quarts) of water and good sun protection.

 
Trip Leader  Carl Kuhnen
 Trip Assistants
 Trip Rating*  2
 Ready to Launch at  10:00 AM
 Duration (hours  5
 Paddling Miles 8 - 10
 Emergency Initiator
 Emergency Phone #s  911, USCG 713-678-9057,
Harris County Constable 281-463-6666
 Latest Expected Return  5 PM
 Auto Description/Lic # Red Subaru Outback TSR 7650
 Distance from Houston 25 miles

 

* Trip ratings are only a guide.  Actual conditions will vary with wind and other weather. 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________ID Waver - Please download the HASK COVID  Waiver, sign it and bring to the put-in.



This is an ACA sanctioned event. All participants in ACA-insured activities must wear properly-fitting U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejackets (Personal Flotation Devices, or PFDs) at all times during on-water activities. Non-HASK participants must sign a waiver. See all rules at the bottom of this page.



Waivers - Please complete our easy to use online waiver if you are a HASK member who has not signed a waiver within the last 12 months or a non- HASK participant. Read the waiver carefully.  You give up substantial rights when you sign it.

  • Add Smartwaiver with email address “noreply@smartwaiver.com” to your address book to ensure emails do not go to junk/spam.
  • Select a link below to complete the online waiver. 

   ACA-HASK Adult Waiver ACA-HASK Minor Waiver

  • Respond to the “Confirm your E-Signature” email from ACA / HASK to confirm your email address.  Wavier is now complete and valid.
  • You will receive a confirmation email. Please download and print a copy of the waiver and bring it to the trip put-in. 

 

Guests – You are welcome to join us for a couple of paddle trips.  There will be a $10 ACA event membership fee for non-ACA members. Hopefully you will then join HASK and continue paddling with us.