Start the new year in a Pa. state park with a First Day Hike

• Julia Zenkevich/WESA
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  Julia Zenkevich is a general assignment reporter for 90.5 WESA. She first joined the station as a production assistant on The Confluence, and more recently served as a fill-in producer for The Confluence and Morning Edition. She’s a life-long Pittsburgher, and attended the University of Pittsburgh. She can be reached at jzenkevich@wesa.fm.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will host dozens of guided hikes in state parks and forests on Jan. 1 to help ring in the new year.

The hikes are part of the national First Day Hikes program, which encourages people to start the new year by getting outside. First Day Hikes were first organized by the National Association of State Park Directors and have been held in all 50 states, including Pennsylvania, since 2012.

“Even though most people think of the outdoors as somewhere you go in the spring and summer and maybe late fall, winter is a great time to get outside as well and do outdoor recreation,” said DCNR press secretary Wesley Robinson, adding that winter camping, cross country skiing, and other outdoor activities are available in state parks in the winter.

“We don’t just shut down because the weather is cold outside. There’s plenty of stuff going on at state parks across Pennsylvania.”

Staff, educators and volunteers in 34 state parks and three state forests will lead nearly 60 guided hikes, including a sunset walk in Laurel Hill state park and pet-friendly hikes in Cook Forest and Sinnemahoning state parks.