Summertime is hot, and cooling off by the pool is one way to relax. However, there are natural resources in Auburn that combine fitness, fun and water.
Amanda White, park naturalist at Chewacla State Park, said water sports are popular at Chewacla, especially swimming, peddle boats and canoes.
"The swim beach area that we have is normally completely packed during the summer," White said. "There's always people jumping off the diving board or floating around. There's normally people on the banks fishing. We normally have at least a couple kayakers out there, and we normally, every weekend have someone down there renting boats."
White said Chewacla has peddle boats and canoes for rent for $7 per hour, and people often bring their own kayaks or paddleboards.
White said the Auburn Outdoor Adventure club rents kayaks and paddleboards for people who down own them.
The Recreation and Wellness Center is looking into paddleboard group fitness classes, according to White, but that is "down the road."
White teaches a class called Fitness on Board, where people do exercises such as push ups and sit ups on a paddleboard.
"It throws off your center of balance a little bit so you have to use more core muscles to actually get into it," White said.
Brady Heilig, assistant manager at Mountain High Outfitters, said paddleboarding is popular at the Auburn location. He said this is partially because they don't have kayaks at the Auburn location, and Mountain High is one of only a few stores in the area that carry paddleboards.
Heilig said Mountain High puts on free paddleboarding demos once or twice per month at Chewacla. The only fee is the entrance fee to the park, and people sign a waiver to paddleboard for 30 minutes to one hour, according to Heilig.
"We have a lot of first-timers come out," Heilig said. "It provides something to do for people who are already out there. They come over and we end up getting them on a board, whether they've done it before or not."
Heilig said Mountain High has a good base of people who have rented more than once. He said the rental program is rent-to-own, and they will deduct how much a person has paid in rental fees from the cost of a board if they decide to buy one.
White said contacting the Auburn Outdoor club is a good way to become involved. She said the staff go over safety procedures with everyone going out on the water and can answer any questions.
Heilig said people should try sports such as paddleboarding.
"You won't know that it isn't as hard as you think it is until you get on one," Heilig said. "It's probably one of the easiest things I've done, and I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it actually is."
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