Four Maine Parks to Feature Guided Hiking Tours on New Year’s Day

On Jan. 1, the Maine Park Services will offer guided tours through four state parks. Here is what you need to know.

Last year, more than 230 people joined rangers on a hike through state parks. This year the department hopes that even more people will come out.

"This is a great way to start the New Year by getting out and enjoying some of the best of what Maine has to offer," Will Harris, Director of the Parks and Public Lands Division of the ACF Department.. "We hope it will encourage folks to continue to visit our parks all year long."

The ‘First Day’ hike program is a national campaign where parks from around the U.S. offer activities to their communities. Last year 400 tours were offered, and this year organizers expect 600.

In Maine, the four First Day Hikes range from less than half a mile to 1.5 miles. Parks and Public Lands staffers will lead the outings and interpret the features of the surrounding natural habitat. All four trails are rated as easy or moderate hikes. Admission to the parks is free for participants and there is no charge for the guided hikes.

‘A healthy lifestyle for 2013 could perhaps start with a brisk outdoor hike in one of Maine's outstanding state parks,’ Harris said.

The four Maine parks featured:

1. Sebago Lake State Park (Naples) - The 1.5 mile hike begins at 10:30 a.m., starting at park headquarters at 11 Park Access Road. The degree of difficulty is rated moderate. An adult must accompany children, and dogs must be leashed. This hike will offer views of the Songo River, and guides will discuss the mixed woodland habitat and the geologic history of the park.
2. Popham Beach State Park (Phippsburg) - This one-mile hike, rated as easy, begins at 9:30 a.m. and lasts about an hour. Adults must accompany children, but all ages are welcome. Hikers will explore the beach during the first low tide of the New Year. Hike leaders have created a "beach bingo" game so participants can "rove between our series of beach stations and learn about the creatures of the intertidal zone." Hikers at this popular park also will learn about the ever-changing beach and dunes and the natural dynamics that form, destroy and remake them.
3. Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park (Freeport) - This is the shortest of Maine's First Days hikes, just one-third of a mile. Participants will meet at the picnic shelter by the second parking lot. The event runs from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and all ages are welcome, but dogs are not suitable for this guided walk. This hike provides views of Casco Bay along the way and discussion about how the plants and animals in the park survive the winter.
4. Aroostook State Park (Presque Isle) - This easy to moderate 1.5-mile hike begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 11:30 a.m. Hikers will meet at the main parking lot. Dogs are allowed but must be on a leash at all times and are allowed on snowshoe trails but not on ski trails. Event organizers advise bringing snowshoes and cross country skis is there is enough snow to use them. The hike is planned as a woods tour through a typical northern Maine forest, with opportunities to see many types of birds and animal tracks.