State environmental officials have announced this year's slate of 'First Day Hikes' across Connecticut.
More than a dozen state parks and forests in Connecticut are joining the nationwide initiative, which promotes connecting to the outdoors.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and its partners say that the most up to date information can be found on their calendar of events, and list these locations as sites for First Day Hikes:
- American Legion & Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted
- Auerfarm State Park Scenic Reserve, Bloomfield
- Chatfield Hollow State Park, Killingworth
- Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill
- Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, Groton
- Gillette Caste State Park, East Haddam
- Goodwin State Forest, Hampton
- Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison
- Machimoodus State Park, Moodus
- Mansfield Hollow State Park, Mansfield
- Pachaug State Forest, Griswold
- Scantic River State Park, East Windsor
- Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area, Burlington (2 hikes – one led by Friends of Sessions Woods and one self-guided Sky’s the Limit hike and exploration of the education center)
- Sherwood Island State Park, Westport
- Sleeping Giant State Park, Hamden
- Southford Falls State Park, Southbury
- West Rock Ridge State Park, New Haven
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Some hikes are in-person group events, while others are self-guided offerings.
DEEP says most of the excursions are one to two miles, but can be longer depending on the location.
Officials say the First Day Hikes initiative began in Massachusetts more than two decades ago.
