Hamilton County Park District offers an enticing alternative to Saturday morning cartoons through the month of January. For 27 years it has been putting together these winter hike series, comprised of five hikes - each in a different park - every year.

Penny Borgman, a naturalist with the Hamilton County Park District, has been organizing and running the winter hike series since the program's inception. The benefits of the hikes for participants are various, she says.

"You have the opportunity to meet some people, so it turns into a social event, a good way to get out of the house during the winter," Borgman says. "We hope it motivates people to get to different parks. Each of our parks has something different to offer."

The hikes span five consecutive Saturdays, and there are a good amount of participants who do all five, Borgman says. In doing so, this group of adventurers gets "25 winter miles under their belts," she says.

The first hike for this year's program is on January 7 at Winton Woods and will cost $5 per participant per hike, as usual, and will include a hot drink and seasonal soup at the end of the hike. The series has been lucky to maintain the support of the community, she says.

"Obviously, the first year it wasn't as big, but it's been a very appealing program to our community all along," Borgman says. "It's been well-attended all along. We limit the registration just because we can only accomodate so many people to give them a good experience."

Although the program is consistently pretty popular - there are generally more than 200 participants at each hike, with a registration cap of 275 - people who want to join the hike should take weather considerations into account, Borgman says.

"Other than dressing for the weather, sometimes a walking stick can be useful if the trail surface is rough that day, snowy or wet. Our trail surfaces are very nice. They're kept in very good condition. Of course, you never know what winter's going to bring," Borgman says.

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