Kayaks and paddleboards: where to put in

Three bays, two bayous, and a marsh you can paddle into. Flat water, big sky, herons. Here's where to launch and what to know.

The launches. - Bayland Park, Business 146. The main ramps, and the easiest kayak launch in town — a shoreline you can walk a boat into, parking, and the bay right there. Paddle west toward the bridge on a calm morning; turn back when the wind comes up, because it will. - Roseland Park, Cedar Bayou. The bayou launch: slow, brown, shaded in places, catfish under you and an alligator sunning somewhere. Upstream is quieter; downstream opens to the bay. - Goose Creek Park, 3 Price Street. The other bayou, from the park with the fishing pier. Short paddles, a beginner's water, a kid's first time. - The Nature Center. Paddling into the marsh channels on the peninsula is the best paddle in Harris County when it's allowed — the rules and the launch point are on the park's page, and they change with the bird seasons. Ask at the Wetlands Center. - Thompson's Fish Camp. The east bay from the fish camp's ramp; a fee, a bait shop, and the restaurant when you're done. The trails page has every launch with coordinates from the water-access pass.

The rules. A life jacket for everyone, worn, not stowed — the bays are shallow but the boat traffic isn't polite and the wind can turn a paddle into a swim. A whistle. A dry bag with the phone. Sunscreen doubled. Off the water by the time the afternoon storm builds, which in summer means launch at seven and be out by eleven. No motor means no registration in Texas for a kayak; a trolling motor means paperwork.

What you'll see. Herons and egrets everywhere, spoonbills in the shallows in fall and winter, pelicans working the bay, the occasional dolphin in the channel edge, alligators on the bayou banks (leave them alone; they'll leave you alone), and the bridge from water level, which is the way it was meant to be seen.

Renting. Thin. There's no kayak rental in Baytown as of this writing; the closest are on the Clear Lake side. If you open one at Bayland, you'll be on this page the same week.

En español. Kayak y paddleboard en Baytown: lance en el parque Bayland (la bahía), Roseland (Cedar Bayou, sombra, caimanes), Goose Creek Park (para principiantes), el Centro de Naturaleza cuando está permitido, y Thompson's (bahía este, con cuota). Chaleco salvavidas puesto, silbato, teléfono en bolsa seca; fuera del agua antes de la tormenta de la tarde. No hay renta de kayaks en Baytown todavía.