The Georgia State Park System hosted "First Day Hikes" at almost all of its parks this year. The kids and I decided to start the year off right by hitting the trails at one of these events. We chose to hike at Skidaway Island State Park because we wanted to try a new place (and because these coastal trails would probably be miserable in the summer).
The kids did great with all of their hikes last year, so we picked the longest trail in the park- the 3 mile Big Ferry Trail. Olivia and Owen took turns being the "leader". The leader's job is to make sure that we stay on the correct trail.
Our hike took us through coastal forest and marsh lands. There were a lot of people out hiking, so we never felt alone on the trail.
Toward the end of the trail we came upon an observation platform out on the marsh. We absolutely had to check that out.
Before leaving the park we stopped by the Interpretive Center. There were several live animals (mostly snakes and turtles) inside the center as well as a skeleton of the "Skidaway Sloth" which roamed these parts long ago. There was also a bird watching room inside the Interpretive Center. This room had a huge window that you could look out and watch birds come to the feeders that were outside. The room also came equipped with binoculars, bird ID guides, and loads of stuffed birds- pretty much everything you needed to identify the birds outside at the feeders. I about had to physically drag the kids out of the bird room. They really got into trying to ID those birds at the feeders.
We had a really nice experience with our First Day Hike, and will probably do it again in the future.
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