A simple plan to get more people enjoying the outdoors on New Year’s Day has become a nationwide movement after a hike at a Massachusetts park more than three decades ago.
Just 380 people participated in the initial First Day Hike in 1992 at the nearly 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation just south of Boston. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in First Day Hikes at hundreds of parks in all 50 states.
Steve Olanoff, 77, took part in that inaugural event at Blue Hills back in 1992 and is now a volunteer who helps shepherd hikers along the park’s trails each year. Some states have added their own twists. At Ink Lake State Park in Burnet County, Texas, northwest of Austin, participants can go for a first day run, bike ride, or paddle in a canoe or kayak.