Hammond is situated on the eastern side of the state of Louisiana, USA. It is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish and the principal city of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area.
One of Hammond’s motto is “if you skate you are family”. The city has a relatively big tradition in skateboarding almost at every corner. You will come across many skate parks or independent skate boarders, who just want to roll on the streets. Hammond Dreamland Skatepark or as it is informally referred SmallSide is the only concrete skatepark in the Louisiana state.
Although Louisiana has a big number of public skateparks that came into bloom, they are prefabricated metal parks in their majority, with the only exceptions of the Dreamland Skatepark and the Shreveport Skate Plaza. The park was built in two stages. In phase one, 10000 ft²/929 m² were designed and build before the Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and in phase two, roughly an additional 5000 ft²/464.5 m² were added several months after the Hurricanes.
At this concrete park, visitors and spectators are always welcome. If you decide to embrace the skateboarding culture, keep in mind that although the sessions are fun and laid back, they might often get intense. Every type of skater can enjoy him/herself, as the park offers many different options. Ledges, rail including the rainbow rail, quarter pipes, euro gaps, hips, banks, a manual pad, hubbas, various transitional oddities, concrete flyboxes and a breathtaking full pipe.
The amazing bowl features a 6 to 5 ft/1.8 to 1.5 m spine, many tight and loose pockets, a 11.5 ft/3.5 m over-vert clamshell, a birdbath, a roll in and different heights from the clamshell to corner pockets as low as 4.5 – 5 ft/1.3 – 1.5 m. All the lips in the bowl are lined with steel coping. While skating on the concrete, you will find out that it is very smooth, making reverts very possible. If you ride on hard wheels, use your experience to avoid risk of slipping out of high speed carves.
In this park, you skate at your own risk, as there are no pad rules or park monitors. On the down side, it is not allowed to skate at night, so if an officer catches you skating, please leave politely. Come, meet the extremely approachable locals and have a blast!!
