Whether you’re a beginner hiker or a veteran of the trails, everyone craves community in their life, and hiking groups and hiking challenges are an awesome way to find hiking buddies. Plus, they can help you amp up your hiking goals and intentions throughout the year.

Whatever your hiking goals – from simply hiking more or attempting bigger objectives, joining a hiking challenge or hiking group is a great way to discover fun goals, stay motivated, and develop some awesome friendships along the way.

When I talk to my students about hiking, one of their biggest desires is to find a group of people to go out hiking and backpacking with them. Particularly if you are new to hiking and backpacking, sometimes it feels intimidating to hit the trails on your own. So I created this guide to provide you access to some of my favorite resources for finding a community of hikers and backpackers that you can get started and grow with, no matter where you are.

In this post, you will find a list of some of my favorite hiking challenges and groups that can help you meet like-minded hikers and find a hiking community to encourage you to get outside more. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you have a favorite of your own, please let me know in the comments!

Let’s get to it and find your trail family!

hiking challenges

I love a good challenge, and there are a bunch of really awesome hiking challenges out there. These challenges will not only inspire you to get outside more and push yourself physically, but also provide you access to an awesome community of hikers and hiking groups focusing on the same challenges.

Here are a few of my favorite hiking challenges!

1. the 52 hike challenge

Find out more about the 52 Hike Challenge here!

The goal of the 52 Hike Challenge is to get you outside moving every week for an entire year. During each of the 52 weeks in the year you will be challenged to hike at least once. The difficulty and length is entirely up to you, but the point is to get out and to get moving!

The resources on their website allow you to track your journey as you complete each weekly hike and earn completion badges as you go. This challenge is great for beginners and advanced hikers alike since you can tailor the challenge according to your skill level.

Are you ready for a year of weekly hikes? This may be the motivation you need. The 52 Hike Challenge is all about empowering people to take the journey to discover the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits of hiking once a week for an entire year.

2. 52-Week solo adventure challenge

Find out more about the She Dreams of Alpine 52-Week Solo Adventure Challenge here!

Is feeling confident going solo on your bucket list? Here at She Dreams of Alpine, we’re going to help you HONE your solo-adventure muscles with a 52-week challenge. Print out this workbook and then pick a challenge each week of this year-from mini adventures to bigger ones.

While these solo challenges are not all hiking-related, the workbook includes an entire section of outdoor adventures like hiking solo and practicing navigation.

Get started going solo with the 52-Week Solo Adventure Challenge here!

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3. The Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge

Find out more about the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge here!

This one is one of my personal favorites, because it was one of my entries into the hiking world here in Southern California when I first moved out here back in 2012. The challenge is well known across Southern California hikers as a great set of training peaks for California 14ers. The Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge happens every year to inspire people to set hiking goals and support a good cause at the same time!

This challenge started in Southern California, but now there are challenges in Colorado, Oregon, Northern California, New England, Arizona, the Pacific Northwest, Utah, and Las Vegas, in addition to SoCal.

To participate, you take on the challenge specific to your area and hike the six peaks in the challenge. For example, the Colorado Six-Pack requires you to hike Bergen Peak, Rocky Mountain, Birthday Peak, Horseshoe Mountain, Mount Sherman, and Grays Peak. The peaks increase in difficulty with Bergen Peak standing at 9,708 feet in elevation and the last two mountains reaching over 14,000 feet!

There are three different membership options for the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. The Starter level costs $35 dollars and gets you access to the challenger hike log and virtual peak badges. It also gets you into the finishers party and connects you with other people in your area who are taking on the challenge. The higher levels of membership include extra benefits like sticker packs, patches, and t-shirts.

Your registration dollars go to help two outdoors focused charities: Big City Mountaineers and The Heroes Project. Big City Mountaineers is focused on getting underserved youth outside and providing mentoring in the outdoors. The Heroes Project empowers wounded veterans through outdoor adventure and training.

Looking for some additional training peaks? Check out these resources!

4. We Hike to Heal

Find out more about We Hike to Heal here!

We Hike to Heal is a month-long women's empowerment and wellness campaign that organizes group hikes worldwide on the last Saturday of March. The organization’s mission is “to encourage women all over the world to tap into the healing and empowering influences within themselves and the Great Outdoors.”

You can join the movement for free in the link above. You can find free group hikes that will be happening everywhere (in other words, near you!) on the last Saturday of March, and join a hike to support the healing powers of the outdoors.

5. the 365 mile challenge

Find out more about the 365 Mile Challenge here!

This challenge is great because it is so simple. The goal is to get outside every day of the year and walk a mile. This challenge is all about making time every single day to get outdoors and move for your wellbeing.

This challenge focuses on small efforts that, over time, have big results and help create healthy habits to benefit your mind, body, and soul. This challenge has an online community to support each other in completing the goal of moving a mile every day. All you have to do is register, get the app, join the Facebook group, and start moving. If you complete the challenge, you get a patch to commemorate your achievement.

hiking groups & communities

A great place to start when you’re looking for a good hiking group in your area is to check out Facebook groups. Try searches in Facebook like, “Hiking Groups California” or “Hiking Groups Seattle” or wherever you happen to live, and I almost guarantee you’ll be able to find something on there to help you connect with a local hiking community.

I’ve connected with so many awesome women and groups thanks to the many hiking Facebook groups out there. These groups are also great places to get suggestions for local area hikes. Sometimes when I’m going to a new area and am looking for hiking recommendations, I’ll write a post in one of the local groups to ask for people’s favorite hikes in the area.

If you’re not a big fan of Facebook, another great place to check (which might be obvious) is searching on Google by typing in searches like, “Hiking Groups Near Me”, or “Hiking Clubs Near Me.” Google will use your location to give you the best relevant search results.

You can also try checking out the options on Meetup.com. You can often find great local hiking groups on that website, particularly if you live in a big city or a place with lots of outdoor access and trails.

And here are 8 awesome groups you can get connected with if you are looking for hiking companions or an awesome hiking community. The groups below are, admittedly, biased toward women’s groups (hey, I’m a woman so I tend to know the in-and-outs of womanly hiking things like great women hiking groups!), but several of them are open to anyone.

1. Women Who Hike

Find out more about Women Who Hike here!

The mission of Women Who Hike is to empower and connect women who hike on and off the trail. Women Who Hike was started in 2015 as a social media movement and has become a large community focused on getting outside on the trail. The group is focused on the positive benefits of hiking and recognizing that the trail is a place of strength and solace.

To join Women Who Hike, you can become a member on the website and find one of the many group hikes the organization puts on across the United States. There are local and regional Facebook groups to allow women to connect and share information. The hosted group hikes are added to the events calendar which is accessible to all members.

2. BECOME AN OUTDOOR BACKPACKING BADASS

Find out more about the Become an Outdoor Backpacking Badass community here!

The Become an Outdoor Backpacking Badass program not only teaches you how to become a safe, confident, and self-sufficient outdoor backpacker, it also gives you access to our Backpacking Badass community. The private Facebook group includes over 1,000 badasses (and counting) and offers continual support, mentorship, & coaching along your journey.

In the Backpacking Badass community, you can connect with other students and alumni of the program in your area to plan trips and hit the trail. Plus, you can ask any questions you might have about outdoor adventures – gear opinions, trail recommendations, training ideas – and get great advice from the group.

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3. Hike Clerb

Find out more about Hike Clerb here!

Hike Clerb is “a decolonial BIWOC-led outdoor collective and 501c3 reimagining an equitable and inclusive outdoors.” The collective was founded in 2017 by Evelynn Escobar, a cultural organizer in Los Angeles, who had noticed both the healing she experienced in outdoor spaces and the lack of diversity she found there.

The stated mission of Hike Clerb is to “equip Black, Indigenous, and other racialized women, TGNC people with the tools, resources, education, and experiences they need to collectively heal in nature.” Hike Clerb hosts free and low-cost hikes and outdoor experiences, primarily in Los Angeles and New York. You can RSVP for future Hike Clerb events here.

4. UNLIKELY HIKERS

Find out more about Unlikely Hikers here!

Unlikely Hikers is creating community for people who don’t feel like they belong on the trail. As stated on their website, “Unlikely Hikers is a diverse, anti-racist, body-liberating outdoor community featuring the underrepresented outdoorsperson.” They offer a welcoming space on Instagram and host hiking events nationwide.

The hiking events put on by Unlikely Hikers are designed to go at a slower pace and are generally around 3 miles with 300 feet of gain. This makes the hikes more accessible to more people – and allows hikers to be more social and get to know each other! Join the Unlikely Hikers newsletter to get first dibs on signing up for their hiking events, which tend to fill up fast.

5. OUTDOOR AFRO

Find out more about the Outdoor Afro community here!

Outdoor Afro is much more than just hiking – their mission is to “celebrate and inspire Black connections and leadership in nature.” Originally started as a blog by Rue Mapp in 2009, Outdoor Afro has grown to a network of 60,000 people who have participated with the group in 60 cities across the U.S.

Each year, Outdoor Afro selects and trains volunteer leaders who then host local outdoor events in their area “for participants to experience what Black joy and healing moments truly look and feel like in nature.” Beyond hiking, backpacking, and camping, these events include fishing, swimming, skiing, ice climbing, and much more. Find the Outdoor Afro network in your region to join a local group on Facebook or Meetup.

6. NATIVE WOMEN’S WILDERNESS

Find out more about Native Women’s Wilderness here!

Frustrated with a lack of women of color, and specifically Native women, represented in the outdoor industry, Jalyn Gough founded Native Women’s Wilderness “to bring Native women together to share our stories, support each other, and learn from one another as we endeavor to explore and celebrate the wilderness and our native lands.” Goals of the group include inspiring women to get outdoors, providing education of Ancestral lands and their People, and offering resources and community.

Connect with Native Women’s Wilderness through their Instagram community and share your outdoor adventures by tagging @NativeWomensWilderness.

7. LATINXHIKERS

Find out more about Latinxhikers here!

While Latinxhikers originally started as an online platform to share stories of outdoorsy Latinx women, the group soon expanded to host hiking events to connect and create community in person. Along with “highlighting the experiences of Latinx folks in the outdoors,” one of the goals of Latinxhikers is to “break down barriers by providing access to safe and welcoming spaces.”

Latinxhikers began with hiking events in the Southeast, and now hiking and social events take place across the country from Florida to California. Join an event by RSVPing on the Latinxhikers website.

8. FAT GIRLS HIKING

Find out more about Fat Girls Hiking here!

The Fat Girls Hiking community is a safe space that “wants to take the shame and stigma out of the word FAT and empower it.” The motto of the group is “Trails not Scales,” putting the focus on self-care in the outdoors.

With a slogan of “Go At Your Own Pace,” group hikes are actually led from behind to ensure that no one gets left behind. Fat Girls Hiking hosts group hikes, camping trips and self/community care retreats in various places across the country, including Minnesota, Montana, and more. To find Fat Girls Hiking events, check out their Eventbrite page.