The start of the New Year was celebrated with a hike Wednesday at the Resaca De La Palma State Park in Brownsville.

Jan. 1 marked First Day Hikes, a nationwide program that encourages hiking on New Year’s Day, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

Resaca De La Palma was among the Texas state parks participating in the program.

“It’s just to get the New Year started off right,” Weslaco resident Rick Ortega said, adding that it was his first time visiting the park.

“It makes me want to go out there and visit more Texas parks, see more of the stuff that is slowly going away, see more nature,” Ortega said.

Ortega said this won't be his last hike. He said he hopes to continue to meet new friends along the way, such as Brownsville resident Debbie Cox.

“I love nature, and I want to get moving and I need to get moving,” Cox said. “I've been pretty sedentary lately."

The First Day Hikes event drew crowds from across the Rio Grande Valley to Resaca De La Palma.

A park ranger took the group on a two-mile hike through the park. Hikers got to learn about the park’s natural and cultural history

“It was lovely,” Harlingen resident Kay Polt said. “We saw cardinals, we saw raccoons, we saw a dancing leaf... it was so cool."

Polt said she likes to go out on hikes on holidays and enjoys the scenery it brings.

For others, such as Brownsville resident Michael Jones, the park is a prime location to run and take in nature's landscape

“I've done a lot of running and training here, it's a happy place for me,” Jones said. “I like to get out into the trails… it's a good way to start your day, it's a good way to start your year.”

Jones said Resaca De La Palma is his go-to spot when it comes to running.