One year ago, I went on a New Year’s Day hike at Lands End. It was cloudy, and to be honest, I didn’t really want to leave my cozy house.
But I met up with a group of friends, and as soon as I got my feet moving, I was happy to be there.
It was an opportunity to start the year off socially, but also reflectively. And along the way, I found myself ruminating on the past year and gaining new clarity about my goals for 2025. For the first time in a while, I set a clear New Year’s resolution.
Now, I swear by this method of walking reflection.
In fact, the idea is rooted in science. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director for the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, said going outside can open us up to awe — “when you’re in the presence of something vast and extraordinary, that defies your routine expectations about who you are and where you are and what’s going on around you.”
“Nature is one of the easiest ways to elicit awe in anyone’s life,” she said.
The feeling of awe, Simon-Thomas said, creates a greater sense of belonging, connection with others and alignment with core values. Embarking on a hike with others — when the rhythm of your steps matches theirs — can strengthen that sense of closeness.
Want to try this out? One chance to do so at the start of 2026 is through the California State Parks’ First Day Hikes, a statewide effort to ring in the new year with guided hikes at parks across California on Jan. 1, including several in the Bay Area.
Ryan Forbes, a state park interpreter, said every guided hike is different. The one coming up at Mount Tamalpais State Park, for example, will focus on local geology and forest wildlife. Others may emphasize history or mindfulness to help you reflect on the year ahead.
While state parks run guided hikes year-round, Forbes said the Jan. 1 treks are focused on “starting the new year off in a healthy way outdoors.”
Read on to hear from experts on what makes a good resolution and to find a New Year’s Day hike near you.
Jump straight to:
What makes a good goal?
When it comes to learning and growing, it’s all about the reward cycle, said Gaia Molinaro, a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley who researches neuroscience, specifically how goals affect how we learn things.
“Primary” rewards include food and water and there are also “secondary” rewards, such as money. But humans, she explained, can work toward other types of rewards “even when our objectives go against our evolutionary constraints.”
“Think about people doing a marathon,” Molinaro said. “They’re not getting any more food or water. In fact, the opposite, they’re losing a lot of energy and even muscle in extreme cases. But the fact that they set a goal makes them value something even above and beyond those primary rewards.”
Setting those types of goals is not only possible, she said, it’s actually the most difficult step.
“Once we set our goal, then most of the job is done,” Molinaro said. “The hardest part is to basically reconfigure our brain to be oriented towards that goal. In the case of running a marathon, you want to pick things that are challenging enough that you’re not guaranteed to succeed, but also still feasible.”
You’re more likely to achieve your goal if you have a plan, she said — and if the path to achieving it is something you enjoy.
That’s the basis for a study conducted by Ayelet Fishbach, a social psychologist and behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Fishbach’s study looked at New Year’s resolutions, specifically: How likely it is that someone will achieve their goal? Following 2,000 people from New Year’s Day 2024 through November, she found that intrinsic motivation — not the importance of the goal — was the biggest driver.
That means that people who were driven by doing their goal — such as those who genuinely enjoy running — were more likely to achieve it than those who primarily want to become a person who runs a marathon.
“Do you want to be the person that achieved it, or do you want to be the person that’s doing it?” Fishbach said. “Do you want to be on the other side, or do you want to engage?”
If you’re struggling with a difficult goal, she said, try to make the process as fun or desirable as possible. For example, if you’re trying to become more physically active, pick a type of exercise or activity that you actually enjoy doing.
“The best resolutions are those where you’re already taking a peek in December to see how you are going to do it,” she said.
The biggest surprise of her research was that the perceived importance of the goal didn’t matter at all.
Instead, here are the tips she offered for good goal-setting:
Most of all, Fishbach said, be sympathetic to your future self — and “be excited, it’s a new year.”
“It’s an opportunity to try out something new,” she added. “Be open-minded, willing to experiment, and you’ll figure it out.”
A full list of First Day Hikes, all of which are held on Jan. 1, is available on the California State Parks’ website. Don’t forget to check the route’s difficulty, whether or not you need to register and the plan in case of rain.
Time: 9 a.m.
Parking: No fee
Distance: 7 miles, 4 hours
Location: Rock Spring Parking Lot at the intersection of Pantoll Road and Ridgecrest Boulevard
Registration: No registration required
Mount Diablo State Park
Time: 10 a.m.
Parking: $6 per vehicle, exact cash required
Distance: 4 miles, 4 hours
Location: Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center
Registration: Email onesuperhiker@aol.com
Montara State Beach
Time: 10 a.m.
Parking: Free
Distance: 2 miles, 2 hours
Location: North side of Gray Whale Cove State Beach parking lot
Registration: Walkups welcome, or register ahead of time
China Camp State Park
Time: 6:15 a.m.
Parking: $5 cash or card
Distance: 4 miles, 3 hours
Location: China Camp Point Parking Lot
Registration: Register here
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Time: 10 a.m.
Parking: $10
Distance: 5 miles, 4 hours
Location: Visitor Center
Registration: Not required
Burleigh H. Murray Ranch
Time: 10 a.m.
Parking: No fee
Distance: 2.5 miles, 2 hours
Location: Burleigh H. Murray Ranch parking lot
Registration: Register here, walkups welcome
Angel Island State Park
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Parking: Purchase parking and ferry tickets here.
Distance: 2.5 miles, 3 hours
Location: Ayala Cove
Registration: Not required
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