First Day Hikes is a program of free, guided hikes offered by the fifty state park systems of the U.S. each year on New Year's Day. The program began in 1992 in Massachusetts, and then went nationwide in 2012. The purpose of the hikes in Oregon through the State Parks system is to encourage people to connect with nature, and to start out the new year on the right foot.
On January 1, 2025, 25-30 people met at the Experience Center at Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John Day River to take part in the annual trek on the Pinnacles Trail. As Cottonwood Canyon opened to the public in 2013, the initial First Day Hike was January 1, 2014.
Cottonwood's resident State Park Ranger, Asa Miller, lead the hike and answered questions about the park on the three-mile walk. Each year the group has been fortunate enough to see bighorn sheep along the cliffs, with eyes always peeled for the sheep, mule deer, and red-tailed hawks.
Walkers included former Condon residents, John and Gloria Bennett of Portland, and their dog, Tony, and Ian Grabenhorst and his wife Cheri of Yakima. Ian remarked that the first year they took part in the walk, probably in 2018, it was so cold they doubted they would return. But recent years have held milder temperatures, and while this year's weather was chilly, there was no wind, so walkers enjoyed the walk.
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