Gabe’s Top 5 places to Cool Off this Summer

Hellur! It's your boy Gabe and you are about to get informed on 5 locations to beat the heat this summer

Now I have been swimming in many places in the surrounding area. Some places you would want to swim and others you wouldn't even want your worst enemy to swim in, but I know where the choice places are.

1) My personal favorite is a place called Earl G. Williamson Park in Oil City, Louisiana. It has all kinds of recreational activities. Baseball Park, swing sets, tennis courts, and of course, a large beach area to swim in. Now this is Caddo Lake and I'm sure you've heard the horror stories, but the lake bottom in the swimming area is clean and it's one of the few places that I've never encountered the dreaded copper headed water rattler(snakes). It's about 15 miles north of Shreveport going up Highway 1 and it will not disappoint.

2) I don't have a general location for this next one, but I can tell you that it's a good time. The Red River, Shreveport's whole reason for being. Of course the River is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Go with someone who knows the area and go at a time when the river is low. I hang out on sand bars and fish and swim. You can launch boats at the Stoner Launch (yeah...Stoner....haha) in Shreveport or at the Bossier launch directly across in Bossier City. It's the closest thing that we'll ever have to a beach and it costs nothing.

3) Next up we have Cypress Lake and Black Bayou Reservoir. It has an awesome beach area and some of the cleanest water in the Arklatex. The crowds are kind of big but it's still an awesome place. There's also docks to put your boat in and the lake is a great area to ski. For you fisherman, the northern end of the lake has a fair share of blue and channel cats, bass, sac du lait, and bream so head on up there and start tearing them up.

4) We cannot forget Shreveport's all time recreational lake, Cross Lake. It's basically designed to be skied in and has a lot of room and no obstacles like trees for you to do so. Since it serves as some of the surrounding area's drinking water source, the water is clean and safe to swim in and there are plenty of parks to hang out at. There are several marinas and even a yacht club. Cross Lake is the only lake that practices sailboating. There are 2 parks to cool off at, Richard Fleming Park and Ford Park.

5) And last but not least, if lakes and snakes aren't your thing and you prefer the land a great deal, then I have the solution for you. There is a place located in downtown Shreveport right beside the Barnwell Art Center that is basically a giant fountain. Kids can play and splash in the water as it comes shooting out of the ground and you can take all of the dangers of swimming out of the equation. It's located on the river front, directly across from Sci-Port.