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I had a bad freshman year, finishing with a 3.3 GPA (mostly humanities and social sciences). Since then, I've kept up a respectable 3.6 GPA. In applying to post-graduate schools, does it matter if your grades are on an upward trend, or does that below-average first year count just as much as my other years?

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A lot of times, graduate programs look at how well you did compared to the rest of your class. For instance, I go to Rensselaer Polytechnic, and I keep up a respectable 3.4 GPA. Now, for me --a kid who got 4.3 [95 = 4.0] all through highschool-- a 3.4 seems really low. However, a 3.4 in the Aerospace program --and indeed my graduating class-- is Dean's list and top 20%.

Also, graduate programs are focused studies in the field that you've chosen. A 3.3 gpa during the first years of basic, non-related, crap doesn't really matter to them as much as your 3.6+ in actual field related studies.
[for instance, from my experience, A graduate program could care less if I got a 4.0 or 3.0 in differential equations; They are much more likely to look at my gpa in classes like "Space-flight dynamics" and "air-craft capstone design", which actually pertain to the field I will be studying/practicing.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov