First Day Hikes have long history
December 26, 2018
Vinnie Roberts
New Year’s Day 2018 is fast approaching on the horizon. While New Year’s tradition for most involve black-eyed peas and watching the ball drop, as many as 55,000 people each year have a far more exhilarating way of celebrating.
Since 1992, all 50 states have adopted a First Day Hike program, a day that lets families take guided tours of hiking trails all across the U.S. while being led by knowledgeable park staff.
The program began in 1992 at Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.
According to Parks.ca.gov, the official website of the California Parks Department, Patrick Flynn, then the supervisor of the Blue Hills Reservation, came up with the idea for First Day Hikes as a way to get more people in to state parks during the winter.
Flynn, drawing on his experience as a seasonal interpreter for Ohio State parks in the 1970s, hit on the idea that guided tours with free soup would get people in to the parks during what was traditionally, a season in which tourism in the park was at a low point.
His assertion proved correct when, on the inaugural First Day Hike, the event drew 380 people. Finding the idea appealing, the event would be adopted by Massachusetts’ Breakheart State reservation, located in Saugus, Massachusetts, that same year.
The idea was then adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and spread throughout other state parks in Massachusetts in 2008.
In 2011, Priscilla Geigis, Director of State Parks and Recreation for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, proposed the idea to representatives from other Northeastern states who, so enthralled with proposal, they challenged Park Directors from all 50 states to adopt the program.
That same year, the First Day Hike program became a part of State Parks all across the U.S. The program from that point on would be known as America’s State Parks First Day Hikes. On January 1, 2012, 400 First Day Hikes were held all across the country.
Since then, First Day Hikes have only grown in popularity. In 2016, the National Park Service itself even became a sponsor of the event.
In January 2016, Flynn, at that point having some into private practice after 20 years of service with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, received the President's Award by the National Association of State Park Directors for his creation of First Day Hikes. Sadly, Flynn would pass away in the spring of that year. However, Flynn's legacy not only lives on, it's grown in scope.
As of 2018, the event has even taken it's first steps into the international stage, with all parks in Ontario, Canada, joining the First Day Program.
In or around Barry County, both Roaring River State Park and Big Sugar Creek State Park are part of the First Day program.
This year, Roaring River will be offering a guided First Day Hike from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. They will be hiking along Devil's Kitchen Trail. The hike will meet at the trailhead before departure.
Big Sugar Creek will be offering a First Day Hike along the Ozark Chinquapin Trail from 9 a.m. to noon. The hike will meet at the head of the trail before departure.
For more information, contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources office in Cassville at (417) 847-2539.
Vinnie Roberts
New Year’s Day 2018 is fast approaching on the horizon. While New Year’s tradition for most involve black-eyed peas and watching the ball drop, as many as 55,000 people each year have a far more exhilarating way of celebrating.
Since 1992, all 50 states have adopted a First Day Hike program, a day that lets families take guided tours of hiking trails all across the U.S. while being led by knowledgeable park staff.
The program began in 1992 at Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.
According to Parks.ca.gov, the official website of the California Parks Department, Patrick Flynn, then the supervisor of the Blue Hills Reservation, came up with the idea for First Day Hikes as a way to get more people in to state parks during the winter.
Flynn, drawing on his experience as a seasonal interpreter for Ohio State parks in the 1970s, hit on the idea that guided tours with free soup would get people in to the parks during what was traditionally, a season in which tourism in the park was at a low point.
His assertion proved correct when, on the inaugural First Day Hike, the event drew 380 people. Finding the idea appealing, the event would be adopted by Massachusetts’ Breakheart State reservation, located in Saugus, Massachusetts, that same year.
The idea was then adopted by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and spread throughout other state parks in Massachusetts in 2008.
In 2011, Priscilla Geigis, Director of State Parks and Recreation for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, proposed the idea to representatives from other Northeastern states who, so enthralled with proposal, they challenged Park Directors from all 50 states to adopt the program.
That same year, the First Day Hike program became a part of State Parks all across the U.S. The program from that point on would be known as America’s State Parks First Day Hikes. On January 1, 2012, 400 First Day Hikes were held all across the country.
Since then, First Day Hikes have only grown in popularity. In 2016, the National Park Service itself even became a sponsor of the event.
In January 2016, Flynn, at that point having some into private practice after 20 years of service with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, received the President's Award by the National Association of State Park Directors for his creation of First Day Hikes. Sadly, Flynn would pass away in the spring of that year. However, Flynn's legacy not only lives on, it's grown in scope.
As of 2018, the event has even taken it's first steps into the international stage, with all parks in Ontario, Canada, joining the First Day Program.
In or around Barry County, both Roaring River State Park and Big Sugar Creek State Park are part of the First Day program.
This year, Roaring River will be offering a guided First Day Hike from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. They will be hiking along Devil's Kitchen Trail. The hike will meet at the trailhead before departure.
Big Sugar Creek will be offering a First Day Hike along the Ozark Chinquapin Trail from 9 a.m. to noon. The hike will meet at the head of the trail before departure.
For more information, contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources office in Cassville at (417) 847-2539.