New year, fresh air

All the Texas parks hosting 'first day hikes' on New Year’s Day 2026

This beats the stair-stepper at the gym any day.

Photo courtesy of San Marcos CVB

Here's a way to start your health-focused new year's resolutions that won't make you want to hit the snooze button on January 1: Plan a "first day hike."

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, First Day Hikes is a nationwide program to encourage hiking on New Year's Day. State parks near Dallas and throughout Texas are offering the chance for people of all ages and fitness levels to stretch their legs and explore the great outdoors on the first day of 2026.

"First day hikes vary from short, leisurely nature walks on forested trails; boardwalk strolls through wetlands or to the beach; or climbs into the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert," the agency says on its website. "Some first day hikes aren't hikes at all: We also lead bike rides, paddling tours, and maybe even horseback rides. Choose the event that's right for you."

State parks offer both guided and self-guided hikes on January 1. If you choose a self-guided hike, look for tables or stop at headquarters for hike information and maps, they advise. "After your hike, stop back by to report on your hike and collect a memento of your visit," they say.

Note that most state parks charge an entry fee or day use fee. For those who plan to visit several times throughout the year, a Texas State Parks Pass could help save money.

Here are all the Texas state parks offering first-day hikes on January 1, 2026, clustered by region. All are self-guided walking hikes that do not require registration, unless otherwise indicated. Find out more details about each one here.

North Texas

Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Johnson Branch & Isle du Bois. Guided and unguided hikes.)
Eisenhower State Park
Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway (Guided hike)
Fort Richardson State Park & Historic Site
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park (Registration required)
Lake Whitney State Park (Guided mindful walk)
Bonham State Park (Guided hike)
Lake Arrowhead State Park
Purtis Creek State Park
Possum Kingdom State Park

East Texas & Piney Woods

Tyler State Park (Guided tour)
Daingerfield State Park
Lake Tawakoni State Park
Martin Creek Lake State Park (Birding hike)
Atlanta State Park (Guided hike)
Mission Tejas State Park
Caddo Lake State Park
Cooper State Park (South Sulphur & Doctors Creek. Hike or bike.)
Martin Dies, Jr. State Park (Guided and unguided hikes)
Village Creek State Park

Hill Country & Central Texas

Honey Creek State Natural Area (Registration required.)
Blanco State Park
Guadalupe River State Park
Palmetto State Park (Self-guided hike and sunrise bird hike)
Lockhart State Park
Pedernales Falls State Park (Guided hike)
Government Canyon State Natural Area
Lake Somerville State Park
Lost Maples State Natural Area
Inks Lake State Park (Guided hike)
Old Tunnel State Park (Guided hike)Hill Country State Natural Area (Gu
Hill Country State Natural Area (Gu ided hike)
Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site (First Day Bird Walk)
Dinosaur Valley State Park (Guided hike)
Meridian State Park (Story Book Stroll)
Colorado Bend State Park (Guided hike)
Lake Brownwood State Park
Bastrop State Park (Ranger-guided birding)
Buescher State Park

Gulf Coast & Coastal Bend

Galveston Island State Park (Sunrise beach walk with a ranger.)
Mustang Island State Park (Ranger-guided walk at sunrise.)
Goose Island State Park (Bird hikes)
Sea Rim State Park (First Day Paddle)
Brazos Bend State Park (Guided hike)
Sheldon Lake State Park & Environmental Learning Center (Guided hike and dog walk)
Huntsville State Park (Chinquapin Challenge)
Lake Livingston State Park (Guided hike)
Stephen F. Austin State Park

South Texas & Rio Grande Valley

Falcon State Park (Guided hike)
Choke Canyon State Park
Lake Corpus Christi State Park
Goliad State Park & Historic Site (Guided hikes)
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Resaca de la Palma State Park
Lake Casa Blanca International State Park

West Texas & Panhandle

Palo Duro Canyon State Park (Guided and unguided hikes.)
Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway
Copper Breaks State Park
Abilene State Park
San Angelo State Park
Big Spring State Park (Guided hike)
Davis Mountains State Park
Franklin Mountains State Park
Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site
Big Bend Ranch State Park (including Chinati Mountains)
Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site (Guided and unguided)

state parks new year's day new years exercise hiking

Airline News

American Airlines to take things up a notch at DFW Airport

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

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Fort Worth-based American Airlines is making changes at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), its largest hub and hometown airport, including departure times spread throughout the day.

DFW has an outsized impact on the rest of the airline’s operation and on the journeys of the nearly 700,000 customers the airline serves every day across its global network. More customers and more bags travel and connect through DFW every day than any other airport in American's network. What's good for DFW is good for everyone.

More banks
For more than a decade, American’s schedule at DFW has been concentrated across nine banks, or large clusters of flights across the operating day. As all airline bank structures do, this times large groups of flights together, coordinating arrivals and departures, and ultimately, coordinating quick and seamless connections.

Beginning in April — and visible in the airline’s schedules starting December 27 — American’s DFW operation is evolving to a 13-bank structure, providing more certainty to the airline’s average 100,000 peak daily customers traveling on the more than 930 average peak DFW daily departing flights.

With this structural schedule change, customers will find more departure options in highly desired time windows and fewer early morning departures to DFW.

American is also making an investment in block time for flights to and from DFW. (Block time is the total scheduled time between pushback from the departure gate to arrival at the destination gate.) The goal is more on-time departures, which lead to more on-time arrivals and fewer delays.

Connections
They're also working on improving connection times, making it easier to connect through DFW. The new structure should reduce the concentration of very short connection times.

Customers on the go such as business travelers can still book tight connections when time matters — but the schedule enhancements will now provide more options for a stress-free experience with more time between flights. Reflowing their schedule means fewer air traffic delays and more on-time departures and arrivals.

By spreading out its DFW flight schedule across the day, the airline is also spreading out customer volume, including everything from local customers arriving in parking garages, checking in at lobbies, and clearing security, to connecting customers making their way through American’s terminals to their next flights.

Terminals
Other improvements include modernizing American’s facilities and airport terminals, including Terminal A and C Pier extensions adding nine incremental gates.

They're also adding Terminal F to be completed in 2030, with 31 new gates that can accommodate increased widebody capacity, state-of-the-art baggage technology, dedicated premium lounges, Flagship check-in, and a new U.S. Customs facility.

New programs in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection include TSA PreCheck Touchless ID — allowing customers at DFW (and 16 other locations across American’s U.S. network) to use facial recognition technology for more secure and efficient identity verification.

airport

New year, fresh air

All the Texas parks hosting 'first day hikes' on New Year’s Day 2026

Airline News

American Airlines to take things up a notch at DFW Airport

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