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Put your best foot forward with these New Year’s Day hikes

Get a guided view to some of the most special places on the Central Coast on New Year's Day with the Oregon State Parks’ First Day Hikes. All hikes will be guided by a park ranger or volunteer who will share stories about each park’s history, geology, wildlife and plants.

Hikes are free and day-use parking fees will be waived, although some parks require registration to participate.

For more information, including questions about accessibility or to request reasonable accommodations to participate in a hike, go to stateparks.oregon.gov.

Nehalem Bay

Join Ranger Nathan Emmett — rain, sun or winter storm — for a two-mile round trip walk through the forest, along the bay and airport runway and through the campground. You’ll experience some nice bay views, natural history and hopefully a little wildlife. The hike is through easy terrain on a paved trail with very little elevation gain. Park staff will arrive at 9:45 am and the hike will begin at 10:05 am after a five-minute briefing. There might even be post-hike cocoa available if everyone arrives on time.

Sitka Sedge

If you’ve yet to experience this new-ish nature area, join a park ranger to enjoy the views of the Sandlake Estuary, and the mixed upland dune environment leading up to the ocean shore. Rangers will be able to help with questions about history, plants and wildlife along the way.

The hike begins at noon in the Sitka Sedge day use parking lot.

Depoe Bay to Boiler Bay Whale Watch

The Whale Watch Hike is a three-mile round trip from the Depoe Bay Whale Watching Center to Boiler Bay State Park and back, with two stops to try to spot migrating whales.

The stroll is on a mostly paved sidewalk along Highway 101 with little to no elevation gain. At Boiler Bay, some of the viewing areas are off the asphalt on the grass. No dogs are allowed.

The hike starts at 10 am on the north side of the building at 119 S Hwy. 101 in Depoe Bay.

South Beach Old Jetty Trail

Join South Beach State Park rangers on a two-mile hike on the South Beach Old Jetty Trail, a roughly one-mile hike each direction, returning either on the beach or the paved New Jetty trail, depending on the weather or ability.

Well-behaved and leashed dogs are allowed, but strollers cannot be accommodated.

The hike begins at 10 am at the day use information board.

Yachats Peace Hike

On New Year’s Day, the Yachats Trails Committee will host the 13th Annual Peace Hike.

This annual tradition honors the memory of a blind Native American (Coos) woman named Amanda who, in 1864, was forcibly taken away from her daughter and marched 80 miles with other captives all barefoot through the rocky terrain to the Alsea Sub-agency prison camp in what is now Yachats.

This year’s event will also honor the memory of Chief Donald “Doc” Slyter of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, who died in November and had been instrumental in establishing the Peace Hike.

The event will begin at 9:30 am with drumming behind the Yachats Commons at 441 Hwy. 101 N. At 10 am the bonfire will be lit and Tribal members will tell the story of Amanda.

The main hike will take walkers to the Amanda Gathering Area, just over two miles south from the commons, but several alternative routes are available, allowing people to choose a hike that fits their ability level.

Whichever route they take, participants will be asked to take a cedar sprig on the trail they have chosen, and to place that sprig in the fire when they return, adding their prayers or visions for the new year.

For full details, go to www.yachatsoregon.org/354/Peace-Hike.