The Hiking Club

A friend of mine who lives in Minnesota recently shared with me that she is part of a State Parks Hiking Club. I thought it was a group she had joined, but it is actually an initiative of the Minnesota State Parks system to encourage people to visit all 67 State Parks and hike a trail at each one that is representative of each park.

The idea excited me and I wondered if NH State Parks had anything similar, so I googled it. And I found some books online that you could record your state parks adventures in but no official program. It was a little disappointing, because I'm the sort of person that needs a goal or mission to get motivated to get out of the house. This may be surprising since I'm a outdoor educator, but it's true.

So I decided to make up my own goal of visiting all 93 State Parks, Historic Sites, Waysides, and Natural Areas in NH. I bought one of the adventure journals for NH State Parks to record my experiences in and started scheduling day trips to the nearest parks and long weekend camping trips to the further afield parks.

My first "Park Day" was last month. I traveled to the Sculptured Rocks Natural Area, took a hike up Little and Big Sugarloaf Mountains at Wellington State Park, and checked out the Gardner Memorial Wayside. Learn more about the sculptured rocks in another blog post. I was also able to visit Odiorne Point State Park in Rye for the NHEE Conference last week, though I've been there many times before.

As I explore NH's natural and cultural heritage over the next year, I'll be sure to share some of the interesting facts I learn and observations I make along the way. 4 down, 89 to go! 

I encourage you to create some adventure goals too. Visit your town forest, explore the woods behind your house, and start your own list of fun places to discover. Get Outside for 5 this month (April), attend Discover Wild NH Day, or set-up a visit to Saint Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, NH.