Episode Guest
Julie Martin, Director of Visitor Engagement and Programs
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Missy Rentz: Winter is a great time to visit our parks and public lands. This year I’m launching a series of mini episodes featuring activities taking place in parks around the country. I hope you enjoy these episodes and enjoy some time in the parks.
[00:00:21] Missy Rentz: we have a special holiday episode of the Parks podcast. Julie Martin is here with me. Julie’s the Director of Visitor Engagement and Programs at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Julie, it’s so great to meet you.
[00:00:34] Julie Martin: Great to meet you too, Missy. I’m so excited to be here today.
[00:00:37] Missy Rentz: So this holiday season, I’m throwing out gear that I recommend, and now there’s a lot of programs happening. Parks are a great place to go during the holiday season and wintertime. And for the 17th year, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is hosting Gratitude after Gravy, which the name is beautiful. What is this program?
[00:00:59] Julie Martin: Thank you. So we did a little refresh of our Go Green program. We, decided to change the name a little bit this year to Gratitude After Gravy. We like to do that after several years of a program just to give it a little refresh. And we all love that name, too. So Gratitude After Gravy is a program where we’re, where we are inviting, visitors to come and explore and enjoy their state parks, burn off some of those, holiday calories and really is.
Escape from some of the crazy shopping, that may be going on Black Friday. And really giving gratitude to the outdoors and being able to spend time with, their families and friends. And we are trying to give an opportunity for people to, to have some space to do that.
[00:01:44] Missy Rentz: And where will these events take place?
[00:01:47] Julie Martin: Yeah, so we’re offering, these events statewide. We have eight locations that we’re promoting from, the Berkshires to Boston. So they’re gonna be in parks in Amherst, Andover, east Boston, Falmouth, Lanesborough. Sterling Taunton and Turners Falls, Massachusetts. We tried to hit areas in all parts of the state, and we also have several self-guided opportunities as well.
If one of these parks are not near you, you can go on our website and find our list of self-guided opportunities, or we’re just encouraging people to get outside, at a local park as well. It’s just great for, the mind and spirit to enjoy the outdoors.
[00:02:29] Missy Rentz: Yeah, and I think a lot of people, when they think of parks, they think of spring, summer, and fall. But winter time and particularly the holiday season is a great time to be in a park and explore the wonders of the outdoors.
[00:02:42] Julie Martin: It really is Missy. We found just particularly after COVID and with some of the climate change, we are really busy 365 days a year. And we have lots of people that come out and enjoy the winter. Winter programs. Winter hiking is particularly great because, there is less crowds on the trails.
And you can enjoy, winter landscapes. You can still enjoy, waterfalls and streams and ponds, and wildlife. Wintertime is a great time to be able to check for wildlife tracks as well as birds. It’s a beautiful season to enjoy all of those things in our parks.
[00:03:21] Missy Rentz: So if you’re a newbie and you decide, I’m gonna go participate in gratitude after gravy, what do I need to do to get ready for it? What do I wear? What do I take with me? How do I come prepared to enjoy?
[00:03:33] Julie Martin: So in Massachusetts we are expecting it to get a little cooler at the end of the week, so we do want people to come prepared. So we recommend address in layers. Make sure you have a warm jacket. A hat, mittens, or gloves and sturdy footwear is key. So either a good hiking boot or a sturdy sneaker, will work great out on the terrain in Massachusetts, state parks.
And of course you wanna bring your water. And we are, every visitor that comes on a hike is gonna get a new, a water bottle sticker featuring our new logo. So we’re really excited about that. So people will be able to add that to their collection.
[00:04:09] Missy Rentz: And what activities can people expect when they come out for gratitude after gravy?
[00:04:13] Julie Martin: The most important thing is that you will be greeted by DCR staff. So you’ll have experienced staff that will help lead people along these hikes. You may hear some educational or historical content along the way on these hikes. And like I mentioned, hopefully you’ll be able to check out some wildlife.
It’s great time to see ducks and birds and, you may see some, muddy deer tracks, along the way. And really just enjoy the, the time away from the hustle and bustle and, enjoy some solitude, enjoy comradery with community and your family and friends. It’s a great, a great opportunity for people.
I hope people come out and enjoy these hikes.
[00:04:58] Missy Rentz: And is it for kids, grandparents, dogs like things for all levels?
[00:05:03] Julie Martin: Yeah, check out each of the hike details and listings. Some of the hikes do not recommend bringing dogs for various reasons. But we try to have a variety of different experience. So also some of the hikes may be shorter in distance and some hikes are a little bit longer. So we do have the hike, length ranges from one mile.
To four miles. So we do wanna make sure people are prepared, for a longer hike. So you just have to know what your ability is. And like I mentioned, we do have staff that will be making sure people are safe and have those, those tips, before they start their journey.
[00:05:41] Missy Rentz: Massachusetts is known for putting together incredible winter park programming. You all are the founders of. First day hikes and first day hikes. For those who aren’t aware, it’s an, it’s where you encourage people to go hike on the first day of the year, and that started in Massachusetts and is now taking place in parks all over the country. I know you all are planning to announce plans in the next couple of weeks, and I hope you’ll come back and share those with us ’cause I would love to talk to you more about that program as well.
[00:06:10] Julie Martin: I’d love to, Missy. We’re very proud of first day hikes and we’re, in Massachusetts we start revolutions and we’ve been celebrating our 250th anniversary of the nation. We are very. Excited to celebrate, our revolution. So we’re gonna be inviting people to join the first day hike Revolution on January 1st, and we’ll be unveiling our locations within the next week or two.
People should be on the lookout on our website, mass.gov/dcr for, those, hike listings.
[00:06:41] Missy Rentz: So we’ll be ready for that on January 1st, but
[00:06:44] Julie Martin: Yep.
[00:06:45] Missy Rentz: weekend, gratitude after Gravy. Where can people find out more information?
[00:06:50] Julie Martin: Right on our website, mass.gov/dcr, there’s a big icon that people can just click and get all of the information in details. And also just wanna mention a couple of other things happening this weekend. Our Boston area skating rinks are gonna be open for, public skating. So if families wanna check that out, they’ll be, all of the times are also on our website and also on Friday.
Our 2026, parking passes are going to be available for sale. They are $60 for, for, a year pass starting January 1st to December 31st.
[00:07:26] Missy Rentz: What about, annual park passes? I, that’s one of, I’ve released this gear guide and one of my favorite things to give to people is a park pass. Does Massachusetts have a annual park
[00:07:36] Julie Martin: Yes, that’s what I was referencing. It’s the annual car fast. Yep. $60. It’s gonna be available on the yodel app, Y-O-D-E-L. And you can purchase it right on, on there. It’s a great gift. A. Giving the gift of adventure and an experienced gift is popular these days. So we hope people will take advantage of that.
It might be something, different and unique to give, your friends, coworkers, colleagues, and so forth.
[00:08:00] Missy Rentz: It’s a great gift. We’ll put all the links that you mentioned also on the Parks podcast website. Julie, thank you so much for joining us. Have a. Wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope gratitude after gravy is a smashing success.
[00:08:12] Julie Martin: Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to let folks know about this great program. Thanks, Missy. Happy Thanksgiving.
[00:08:18] Missy Rentz: Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for listening everybody, and we’ll see you in the parks.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please be sure to like and share on your favorite podcast platform. Music for the parks podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. For more information, please follow us on Instagram at , the parks podcast. Or visit our website@theparkspodcast.com.