Park rangers at Battle Ground Lake State Park are inviting area residents to sign up for First Day Hikes taking place at the park on New Year’s Day.
First Day Hikes will be offered at over 30 state parks on New Year's Day. Locally, Battle Ground Lake State Park boasts serene nature, history, geology, camping and exercise opportunities through many trail systems just a handful of minutes outside the urbanization of Battle Ground proper.
On Jan. 1, 2026, park rangers will lead two hikes, one an interpretive walk around the upper loop at 9 a.m. led by Park Ranger Ryan Reynolds. The second hike will have interpretive opportunities but is better served as a chance to get outside and breathe the freshest air of 2026 with a get-healthy hike around the upper loop with Park Ranger Breanna Friend.
Both hikes will be on the roughly 1-mile upper loop trail, which is an easy to moderate trail with no ADA accessibility as some narrow conditions and tree roots exist along the path. The hike will include views of the lake, with many opportunities to enjoy the little things along the way, too.
Friend’s journey to becoming a Battle Ground State Park Ranger first started with volunteering roles with AmeriCorps groups and seasonal work with national parks and national fish and wildlife locations. She worked in all fields, from maintaining trails to interpretation and more.
The journey took Friend six or seven years to obtain a permanent position with the state parks, she said.
“I’ve been with State Parks since April of 2024,” she said. “I’ve been a permanent park ranger since April 1 of 2025. So we’ll be rounding out the one year mark next year.”
Since working at Battle Ground Lake State Park, Friend has found peace and enjoyment with the moss-covered environment and all it has to offer under the towering canopy of cedar, pine and fir trees.
“I’ve really grown to love the calmness and the serenity that’s out here,” Friend said. “Like, there are cities nearby, but it still feels like we’re so far out. It feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere in a park. I’ve really come to enjoy the serenity and the wildlife out here, as well.”
With a job as a park ranger, Friend hikes quite a bit.
“We do have to hike,” she said of the job. “There’s different reasons for hiking throughout. One big one is giving the interpretive programs, hiking around with visitors, but another one is more preventive hiking. We do a lot hiking around to make sure that the trails are safe for everybody. We will do some trail work along the way when hiking around.”
Another aspect to spending time on the trail is just having a presence, Friend said. From interacting with people enjoying the park to helping them learn what gear they should utilize, informing them on the severity of the hike they’re on, or just plain old fun with educating kids on the nature around them and providing a sticker at the end. Friend added that kids’ faces light up every time she hands out a sticker or simply interacts with them.
Friend is also helping an intern learn the simple enjoyments of being a park ranger. Faith Snow, an intern through the Washington State Parks Department of Defense Skillbridge internship program, was only two and a half weeks into her internship at Battle Ground Lake State Park last week, and has quickly grown to love getting to know the park and its trails. Snow, originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, has lived in Washington for roughly a couple of years. She has nearly a full six months still ahead with her internship to experience the state park throughout the seasons.
The New Year’s Day hikes will be held rain or shine, so Friend strongly suggests the proper gear, especially water-proof hiking boots or hiking shoes for the trail.
“We will have things here if need be,” Friend said. “We have trash bags (for) people if they didn’t bring any rain gear. We can make our own ponchos and all that as well. But rain or shine, we’ll be here.”
Friend said they will bring out a propane fire pit to keep warm at the interpretive shelter where kids activities and the start and finish of the hikes will take place. They will also have snacks and water provided, but Friend does recommend folks come prepared with their own, as well.
“People are allowed to join for both hikes, one or the other,” she said. “We’re allowing dogs to come along as long as they are on a 6-foot leash and under control. Kids are allowed to join. We have an age range of about 3 years old for walking the trail. But folks can come out if they have them on their back. That’s fine.”
Friend also recommends exploring the park beyond just a hike, which isn’t too difficult of an activity as she simply recommends the exploration of finding a place to sit and just look around, enjoy what is in view, and the wildlife will start to become more noticeable as time passes by.
“This park is really great for that, being so close to town, being so small in size and pretty accessible for the park,” she added. “There’s a spot for anybody to come and just sit down and enjoy that.”
The two First Day Hikes will have a limit of about 30 individuals, Friend said. To register for either hike, Friend said to email your name and phone number to battle.ground@parks.wa.gov.
