At least 4,358 hikers took part in First Day Hikes on Jan. 1 at 49 Iowa state parks, the highest attendance recorded since the annual event began in 2012, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced. That’s a dramatic increase from the First Day Hikes in 2019, which logged 1,400 statewide hikers. Of the parks in 2020, Walnut Woods State Park in West Des Moines had the highest attendance with 410 hikers. First Day Hikes are led by the National Association of State Park Directors to increase visitation to state parks in the U.S.; 2020 marks the centennial of the Iowa state park system, the DNR noted.