Are you excited about spring but don't know how to express it? Do you yearn to climb mountains yet find yourself passed out on the couch every weekend? Do you feel stuck visiting the same trails over and over again?

Then you need Connecticut Trails Day, an annual celebration of the outdoors organized by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. On June 4 and 5, outdoor enthusiasts of all types will be hitting the trails and waters of locally preserved lands, coves and creeks as well as some of the state's 139 state parks and forests.

Local land trusts, among others, are sponsoring the dozens of guided hikes, educational walks and paddles happening this weekend. There are hikes suitable for families and dogs on leash, trails for more experienced hikers, kayak and canoe excursions and even scavenger hunts on land such as the recently completed Beebe Trail in Lyme.

Visit www.ctwoodlands.org/CT-TrailsDay2011 for more details on each hike, including where to meet, how to pre-register and who to call with more questions.

Connecticut Trails Day events, June 4-5

East Haddam

• 1 p.m. Saturday: Devil's Hopyard State Park

• 10 a.m. Sunday: Sheepskin Hollow Preserve

East Lyme

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve

Groton/Mystic

• 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Bluff Point to Haley Farm

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Sheep Farm and Fort Hill Brook

• 10 a.m. Saturday: The Merritt Family Forest

Lyme

• 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Nehantic State Forest/Nayantaquit Trail

• 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Beebe Trail (with scavenger hunt)

• 9:30 a.m. Sunday: Selden Creek on a kayak

Ledyard/Preston

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Poquetanuck Cove on a kayak or canoe

Mystic

• 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center/

Stone Bridges Trail

North Stonington

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Private lands of Brad and Mimi Borden

Old Lyme

• 12:30 p.m. Saturday: Lohmann-Buck-Twining Preserve

Old Saybrook

• 10 a.m. Saturday: Great Cedars Conservation Area

Salem/Lyme

• 9:30 a.m. Saturday: Gungy Road Upland Forest Trails

Voluntown

• 9 a.m. Saturday: Pachaug State Forest/Nehantic Trail

Essex

• 9:45 a.m. Saturday: North Cove on a kayak or canoe

• 4 p.m. Sunday: Cross Lots Preserve (with educational games

and scavenger hunts)

More hiking info

For more information on many of the featured hikes in southeastern Connecticut, visit The Day's Connecticut Hiking Guide at www.theday.com/hiking.

The Day's online hiking guide provides details, photos and printable hiking maps for more than 50 local trails. Find it at www.theday.com/hiking. Join the Connecticut Hiking Guide Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cthiking to get updated each time a new trail is added.