LGBTQ Outdoor Groups to Join If You Want to Hike Without Feeling Like the Only One
Hiking with a group is one of the easiest ways to build confidence outdoors, learn new skills, and make friends along the way. But for LGBTQ folks, getting outside isn’t always as simple as lacing up your boots and hitting the trail.
From pop culture to outdoor media, the image of “who gets to be a hiker” is still stubbornly narrow. It’s cis white guys. When that’s the dominant narrative, the rest of us can struggle to see ourselves reflected in outdoor spaces, let alone feel like we belong there.
I’ve felt that disconnect firsthand. And it’s exactly why I created this post in the first place. I wanted LGBTQ people who love hiking, trekking, and exploring the outdoors to know they don’t have to do it alone. There are LGBTQ outdoor groups out there leading trips, building skills, and creating community on the trail.
Since I first created this post, two of the groups featured on the list are no longer running trips: Unlikely Hikers and Wild Diversity.
I updated the entire post to make sure that only actively operating outdoor group were included.
If you want a quick recommendation of where to go, The Venture Out Project leads day trips and overnight adventures throughout the US, including a family-friendly campout. For international outdoor trips that are queer-inclusive but not limited to LGBTQ+ people, I like Outdoors Together.
And if you know of LGBTQ outdoor groups that are actively leading trips, or you run one yourself, I’d love to hear from you. Sharing these resources is how we make the outdoors feel bigger, more welcoming, and more inclusive.
LGBTQ Outdoor Groups Build Skills and Create Community
Because marginalized groups including BIPOC and LGBTQ folks haven’t always felt welcomed outdoors, we can consciously or self-consciously limit our participation. We stick with day hikes while dreaming about longer backpacking trips. We favor popular trails over more remote ones out of concerns for our safety.
Concern for how LGBTQ-friendly a group trip will be can keep queer folks from signing up for group outdoor adventure trips. It can keep some people from even getting outside at all.
This is why it is so important to have LGBTQ outdoor groups out there. These groups don’t just inspire queer people to get outside for the first time, they build skills and grow outdoor community.
Some trips are exclusively for queer folks while others welcome allies or take an intersectional approach, like LGBTQIA plus BIPOC participants. Trips with LGBTQ outdoor groups range in length from day hikes to multi day backcountry trips.
1. The Venture Out Project
The Venture Out Project offers wilderness adventures exclusively for LGBTQIA people. If you identify as something under the LGBTQIA umbrella, then you’re welcome to join a trip.
Their 2026 queer adventure calendar has some amazing-sounding trips to choose from. I’m always tempted by their rafting trips, and I have to be honest – the forest bathing mushroom adventure sounds amazing, too!
Day trips are just what they sound like: short adventures for the queer community.
Right now, TVOP day trips include weeknight hikes in Massachusetts and Michigan, winter snowshoe trips, Nordic or cross country ski trips, and outdoor photography adventures, so you can get better at capturing your #optoutside moments!
Day trips are a great way to get a taste of these activities, connect with other trails-loving queer people near you, and see what you can expect with TVOP’s outdoor activities.
For 2026, The Venture Out Project’s overnight programs include:
- Backpacking – TVOP’s queer backpacking trips cover outdoor skills like navigation, map reading, camp set-up and gear prep. Everything is beginning friendly and suitable for experienced hikers. If you backpack on the regular, their advanced backpacker excursions which feature longer days of hiking, might be your jam.
- Canoe camping – Paddle sports lovers should consider the canoe camping trip, which is done in partnership with L.L. Bean.
- White water rafting – Float Desolation Canyon in Utah by inflatable kayak, SUP or raft on a multi-way white water adventure. Chill and float or tack on a few hikes for a different perspective on the smooth sandstone canyon. I’ve always wanted to try out one of these, so maybe one day I’ll see you there!
- Forest bathing – If a mindful weekend in the woods, wandering trails, looking for mushrooms, and appreciating the forest sounds like your thing, try one of TVOP’s forest bathing retreats!
- Winter sports weekends – Think ski, snowboard, snowshoe and cross country ski trips with apres-ski socializing time with other queer folks.
- Family campout trip – TVOP’s LGBTQ+ family camping experience is open to any family with an LGBTQ+ member – a perfect trip experience for rainbow families!
Most trips are open to anyone 18 and up. However, there is no guarantee that other participants will be in your age range. If you’re worried about being “the only one” in a certain age range, or with another identity, TVOP leaders are always happy to chat about trip expectations in advance.
TVOP does run affinity trips for queer women, trans and nonbinary people, plus-size adventurers, and people of color. If you have your heart set on an affinity adventure, keep you eye on their trips. Some tend to sell out fast!
The Venture Out Project also hosts The All of the Above Trail Fest (AOTA) in the Berkshires. AOTA has a fundraising trail run component, with prizes awarded for most amazing outfits, who’s having the most fun, and other nontraditional categories. Choose from a 21k race, 5k run/walk race, and a kids’ event.
The Venture Out Project was founded by Perry Cohen, who identifies as trans and queer.
Prior to founding The Venture Out Project, Cohen worked for Outward Bound, which runs experiential wilderness programs for youth and adults, and Camp Aranu’tiq, a sleep away camp for trans youth.
2. OUT There Adventures
OUT There Adventures runs LGBTQ+ youth outdoor adventures.
OUT There Adventures was founded by Elyse Rylander, who noticed the lack of LGBTQ outdoor groups focused on youth programming. The LGBTQ outdoor group’s goal is to empower queer young people by connecting them to the natural world.
Operating in the Pacific Northwest and California, this group partners with outdoors organizations Northwest Youth Corps and Outward Bound.
In the PNW, their core program is an LGBTQ+ youth conservation summer program that teaches queer young adults outdoor skills while helping them forge friendships.
In California, they’ve partnered with Outward Bound on an LGBTQ+ teen program, which is staffed by LGBTQ+ adults.
The program follows the Outward Bound model of teaching technical skills, fostering youth leadership, and self-discovery, and building community through service and outdoor adventure.
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3. LGBT+ Outdoors
LGBT+ Outdoors is a nonprofit organization with local chapters throughout the US.
Every chapter is led by a LGBTQ ambassador who helps plan adventures.
You can find your local chapter on their website, or sign up to be an ambassador if the queer outdoor group isn’t active where you live.
LGBT+ Outdoors also hosts the LGBTQ+ Outdoor Fest, a camping conference event where you can learn can learn fly fishing basics, upgrade your map and compass skills, tackle a high ropes course, and connect with other queer adventurers around the nightly bonfire.
Outdoorfest 2025 was held in the Catskills.
No word yet on where the 2026 Outdoorfest will take place. Once dates and location are confirmed, I’ll update the post!
In addition to Outdoorfest, LGBTQ Outdoors also runs a few queer outdoor trips throughout the year, including national parks trips. In the past, they’ve done trips like:
- Alaska wilderness adventures – hiking or packrafting adventure
- Glacier National Park hiking trip, with highlights like hikes to Virginia Falls and Rockwell Falls, plus a drive along the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road
- Great Smoky Mountains trip with hiking, horseback riding and optional whitewater rafting excursion on the Nantahala River
Their group trips sell out, so if an adventure calls to you, reserve your spot before it’s gone!
They’ve run the Alaska trip twice before. Fingers crossed they’ll do it again. My trip to Alaska remains one of my favorites, and the opportunity to experience Alaska in the company of other queer folks is incredible!
4. OutVentures
OutVentures offers LGBTQ outdoor adventures in the greater Seattle area. Members come from all over the Puget Sound region and larger Pacific Northwest region, so if you’re outdoorsy in the PNW, this is a great group to have on your radar!
Founder Ed Ferguson started OutVentures in 1994 to spend more time in nature, making this one of the older LGBTQ outdoor groups in existence.
Their program calendar lists upcoming events.
For 2026, they’ve got several day trips planned including a Mt. Rainier snowshoe trip, a hike in Dash Point State Park and a visit to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.
They’ve also done things like a visit to the Seattle unit of Klondike Gold Rush National Park to a day trip to the Skagit Valley tulip festival to a Memorial Day group camping trip.
In between events, they host potlucks so members can get to know one another.
5. Queer Scouts
Queer Scouts organizes monthly workshops and skill shares for LGBTQ+ adults, with locations in Seattle, Boston, and Western Massachusetts.
All Queer Scout events are drug and alcohol free and radically inclusive.
Each chapter is responsible for organizing their own events.
Events are member driven and tend to focus on outdoor skills and community. Think LGBTQ book clubs, nights out at the archery range, day hikes, native plant walks, and much more.
6. Outdoors Together
Outdoors Together began as an LGBT hiking collective based in British Columbia, Canada.
Founder Angie Isaza created the hiking group to build a platform and safe space for nature lovers to be authentic and share experiences with likeminded people.
If you want a global adventure in the company of queer people and allies, Outdoors Together is the outdoors group for you.
They run some local adventures in and around BC. These include winter camping, snowshoeing in Pemberton, BC and a ladies-only camping trip to Tofino Beach.
But they also started leading small group trips to bucket list outdoor destinations – the kind of places you want to see, but can be intimating to visit solo.
This year, they are leading small group trips to the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Medellín and the coast of Colombia, Patagonia. Group tours sell out and have a limited capacity, so don’t wait if you know something appeals.
Outdoors Together welcomes LGBTQIA people on all of their trips. But unlike the other groups profiled, their adventures are not queer-only. If you want the safe space that comes with only queer people, this isn’t the group for you.
But if you can chill with people that share a commitment to inclusivity, and some of whom may be queer, then you’ll find yourself in good company here!
7. NYC Queer Birders
NYC Queer Birders have been active since 2020. The club is birding focused and welcomes birders of all levels – binoculars not required to join a trip. Catch them in Central Park or further afield, with birding walks in Shirley Chisholm State Park, Greenwood Cemetery, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and other subway-accessible meeting places.
Not in NYC? Not a problem. Queer Birders clubs exist in a few other places, too.
Their website links to other queer birding meetups in cities like Philly, Chicago, and Montreal.
8. Chiltern Mountain Club
New England’s oldest LGBTQIA outdoors group, Chiltern Mountain Club, welcomes queer adventurers of all levels, from beginner to expert backpacker.
They’re active on Meetup so to see what they’re up to, yo’ll have to join (it’s free).
Expect fun things like paddle sports, hiking, backpacking, and winter skiing.
These LGBTQ outdoor groups bring queer people together for adventures of all kinds. If you’re looking for queer climbing clubs and the outdoor spaces that welcome queer people of color, check out our list of QTBIPOC-led outdoor groups. Sadly, the PNW based Wild Diversity is no longer in existence – but there are some amazing groups out there that have taken up the mantle of building skills and community for queer and trans people of color!
As always, if you know of any group that deserves a spot on this list, contact me and I’ll add it next time the post is updated!
Save this list of LGBTQ Outdoor groups for later!
