{"id":38058,"date":"2022-12-22T08:30:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T13:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=38058"},"modified":"2022-12-21T20:00:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T01:00:53","slug":"maryland-first-day-hikes-to-welcome-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/12\/22\/maryland-first-day-hikes-to-welcome-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland First Day Hikes to Welcome 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ranger-led and Self-guided Hikes Available Across Maryland<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51800434722_23f13a77ac.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of two people next to a First Day Hike sign on a trail\" width=\"360\" height=\"270\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">First Day Hike at Patapsco Valley State Park, 2022. Maryland DNR photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland Department of Natural Resources<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (DNR) invites all Marylanders to take a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/Pages\/firstdayhikes.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First Day Hike<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2014Maryland\u2019s annual tradition for a fun, healthy way to welcome the New Year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland State Parks will be offering First Weekend hike opportunities across the state from December 31, 2022 &#8211; January 2, 2023. First Day Hikes are part of a nationwide initiative led by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateparks.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">America\u2019s State Parks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that encourages all 50 states to offer outdoor hiking opportunities to kick off the year.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With nearly 40 ranger-led hikes and more than 25 self-guided hike options through the weekend, there is a wide variety of outdoor adventures and experiences for every level of hiker and walker throughout Maryland. These hikes provide unique access to Maryland\u2019s cultural, historic, and natural resources and treasures, along with opportunities for education and stewardship. Many hikes are pet-friendly. Stickers for the 2023 First Day Hikes will be available at select locations while supplies last.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to scheduled hikes, all Maryland\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Publiclands\/Pages\/parkmap.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">state parks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/forests\/Pages\/mdforests.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">state forests<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Wildlife\/Pages\/publiclands\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">wildlife management areas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will be open to all for trekking hundreds of miles of trails. Hikers should check the DNR website for information about public lands near them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After taking part in a First Day Hike or visiting a state park, hikers are asked to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/hmoF84c7zqFmVMW69\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">complete an online survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to track their hikes and how many miles they covered.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Note to Editors, Reporters, and Producers:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Media is always welcome to cover a First Day Hike on our public lands; if possible contact the park office where you wish to attend in advance. Please be advised that onsite park staff may have limited availability for interviews or other assistance. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ranger-led and Self-guided Hikes Available Across Maryland The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites all Marylanders to take a First Day Hike \u2014Maryland\u2019s annual tradition for a fun, healthy way to welcome the New Year.\u00a0\u00a0 Maryland State Parks will be offering First Weekend hike opportunities across the state from December 31, 2022 &#8211; January<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/12\/22\/maryland-first-day-hikes-to-welcome-2023\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,4998,12],"tags":[2914,4981,4082,3368],"class_list":["post-38058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-hiking","category-parks","tag-first-day-hikes","tag-maryland-state-parks","tag-state-forest","tag-trails"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38058"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38066,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058\/revisions\/38066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}