If you have found yourself scrolling through social media on New Year’s Day over the past few years, you may have seen posts by friends and family showing them out on a hiking trail. The idea of a First Day Hike has exploded in popularity recently. It originated out of the State Park Systems and eventually spread across the country. The idea is to start the year off right by getting out in nature and getting some steps in.
Maryland State Parks has a really great program where they offer some Ranger-led hikes, and they also have plenty of other self-guided hikes to suggest. Some locations even have stickers you can get to show that you participated.
You can hike anywhere and it does not need to be a state park. A few years ago we did the Severn Run Trail which was great. It is free and nearby and offers some pretty views of the bay. You can either park on Indian Landing Road on the shoulder (Near Arlington Echo Educational Center) and access the trail there or you can access it in the small parking lot at 8737 Veterans Hwy in Millersville, which is the road that runs parallel to 97.
It will feel like you are pulling in someone’s driveway but the small parking lot is on the left and the trailhead is right there. This hike is roughly 2.5 miles out and back. When you wind up at the portion overlooking the Severn River, you are also looking at the peninsula where the owner of the Ravens lives, so it is certainly scenic.
Try this hike out or find your own adventure for the first day of the new year!
Teen NYE Parties…What to Do When You Don’t Know the Host