Brachiopod Trail marker at Whitefish Dunes State Park, December 26, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — State park leaders are extending a chance for people to start off the new year on the right foot.
Dozens of First-Day Hikes are scheduled at properties across Wisconsin, including Whitefish Dunes State Park in Door County.
“I think our incentive was, we all make good intentions, on our new year resolutions, every year, to become more active, and lose weight. To get outside. And what better way to do it, is the very first day of the year, even in a cold January morning, than get out and take a hike?” asked John Swanson, Friends of Whitefish Dunes State Park Board President.
John Swanson said this year’s First Day Hike will feature a mile and a half guided trek along the Brachiopod Trail. The route gets its name from the clam-like fossil remains found throughout Door County.
“There’s a lot of interpretive signs that the friends helped finance and put in that are fun to see. There’s some tactile things that kids can touch on,” said Swanson.
Swanson said there are about nine miles of trails at Whitefish Dunes State Park, and people are able to explore on their own as well. That includes the sandy shoreline along Lake Michigan.
“It’s very pretty depending on where the waves are coming from. Sometimes there’s some rollers coming in. Sometimes you’ll see some ice formations out on the beach,” added Swanson.
Swanson said the hike is scheduled to wrap up at the picnic shelter with cider and hot chocolate, a warm fire, and maybe some memories created along the way.
“There is this Japanese physician described what he called forest bathing. With the idea is that when you come out, and you smell the cedar trees around you, when you hear the wind through the trees, and the waves rolling on their side, how when you’re anxious, or upset, or depressed, how it all just gets all those feelings to relax, and go away. And you can just become refreshed, and renewed from being outside,” he said.
The hikes are free to attend, but a Wisconsin State Park admission sticker is needed to enter the grounds.
Daily and seasonal passes are available at Whitefish Dunes State Park.
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