The beautiful hiking areas in and around Cincinnati transport hikers to alluring forest paths, beautiful lakes, marvelous waterfalls, and even superb views from mountain tops. This abundance of inspiring hiking trails attracts a large interest from hikers in the city. Some local hikers have gone on to create Cincinnati hiking clubs and organizations to help build a strong hiking community.
Here is a list of the top 8 Cincinnati hiking groups you should check out. Each of these hiking groups will provide a fun and unique experience. These groups will have a diverse perspective and membership base for you to experience hiking with. Use this list as a launching point to check out local Cincinnati hiking clubs and organizations.
- Tri-State Hiking Club – 13,120+ members
- Sierra Club Outings – Cincinnati, OH – 4,030+ members
- Adventurous Women of Cincinnati (AWC) – 2,510+ members
- Cincinnati Hiking Meetup Group – 1,610+ members
- Urbanhikers – 260+ members
- Ohio Valley Trailblazers – 210+ members
- Men over 50 Hiking and Socializing – 140+ members
- – members
Tri-State Hiking Club
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/hike-cincinnati/
Description: Tri-State Hiking Club is dedicated to creating a community of friends who enjoy hiking. This group is to meet other fun people who love the outdoors as much as you do. They like to hike around Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. This group has hosted over 3,500+ events in the past and typically organize multiple events throughout each week.
Sierra Club Outings – Cincinnati, OH
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/SierraOutings/
Description: Sierra Club Outings – Cincinnati, OH is open to anyone, not just Sierra Club members. They like to do events for hiking, biking, paddling, backpacking, camping, and service outing. All of their outings are lead by leaders who have been certified and meet local and national Sierra Club standards. This group has hosted over 900+ events in the past and typical has two or three events each month.
Adventurous Women of Cincinnati (AWC)
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/Adventurous-Women-of-Cincinnati/
Description: Adventurous Women of Cincinnati (AWC) is for women only of all levels of fitness and skill to partake in both indoor and outdoor activities. They do activities such as hiking, biking, bowling, kayaking, paddling boarding, billiards, and more. This group has hosted over 270+ events in the past and typically has one event each month.
Cincinnati Hiking Meetup Group
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-jibBhOVx/
Description: Cincinnati Hiking Meetup Group is a group for hikers who want to hike in and around Cincinnati within 1-2 hours in areas such as Red River Gorge, Clifty Falls, John Bryan, and more. They mostly do hiking events but occasionally do kayaking and urban walks. This group has hosted over 65+ events in the past and generally hosts multiple events each week.
Urbanhikers
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-iotesikz/
Description: Urbanhikers is a group to experience the urban environments alongside interesting people with diverse experiences and fresh perspectives. This group has hosted over 5 events and typically has one event each week.
Ohio Valley Trailblazers
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/Ohio-Valley-Trailblazers/
Description: Ohio Valley Trailblazers is a Cincinnati hiking club for those who like longer, more challenging day hikes. They will travel up to two hours and sometimes a little longer to find some of the most challenging and rewarding day hikes in the region. This group has hosted over 550+ events in the past and typically has one hiking event each month.
Men over 50 Hiking and Socializing
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-eBgALpfk/
Description: Men over 50 Hiking and Socializing is a group for men over 50 who are interested in hiking locally or even within a couple of states. This is a great group if you are looking for a Cincinnati Senior hiking group for men.Their hikes are typically mild to moderate in difficulty. This group has hosted over 10+ events and generally have one event each month.
Cincinnati Leisurely Hikers Group
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Link: https://www.meetup.com/cincinnati-leisurely-hikers-group/
Description: Cincinnati Leisurely Hikers Group is for those that love walking and hiking at a slower pace. This group is a no pressure, no speed race walking and hiking group. This group has hosted over 10+ events in the past and typically organize one hiking event each week.
Why should you join a Cincinnati hiking group?
Fitness
Joining a hiking group is a great way to meet other local hikers, but joining has some other added benefits. The first added benefit is you can build and maintain your hiking fitness. There are groups that have many events throughout the week so you can hike more often and more consistently. There are also groups that focus on faster-paced hiking and even more strenuous hikes. This can help you push your hiking limits with more challenging hikes, but with a great support system.
Trail Discovery
Another benefit of joining a Cincinnati hiking group is you will likely discover completely new trails. The group organizers will research and pick many hikes, so you will likely come across trails you have never heard of or are not commonly listed online. This is a great way to explore new areas and hike new hikes.
Build a Routine
The third benefit of joining a local hiking group is that you can build and maintain a hiking routine. You can join multiple groups so that you have the flexibility of which hiking events to attend. There are groups that host events during the weekdays and there are groups that host events on the weekends. This means you will be able to pick the hiking events that align with your schedule and help you with establishing a hiking routine.
3 things to consider when joining a Cincinnati hiking group
Meeting Location
The thought of joining a local hiking group can be very exciting, however, there are three things you should consider before you attend your first event. The first thing to consider is where the group meets up. You can find this out by looking at the group’s past events and seeing where they meet. Pick a group that meets a convenient meeting location so you aren’t driving into traffic. Some groups will pick local hikes, whereas some will pick many out-of-town meeting locations.
Expected Fitness-level
Another thing to consider is the expected fitness level of the group. There are groups that focus on more beginner-level hikes and there are groups that do more strenuous hikes for more advanced hikers. Look at the group’s description of the hike to determine what they expect. Use this as a chance to find a group that hikes at your preferred pace and fitness level so that you can enjoy your hike. It is never fun to hike with a group where you either feel like you are going too slow or too fast.
Group Size
The third thing you want to consider is the size of the group. The first thing you can look into is the membership size, but you can actually dig a bit deeper. You can see the group’s past events and the average number of people who actually attended the events. The group membership size can be deceiving as some groups have been around for more than a decade, but most of their members are inactive. If you want to find a smaller more intimate group then look at past attendance of their most recent events.
Summary
The beautiful hiking trails in and around Cincinnati take you to heart-stirring lakes, uplifting forest trails, gorgeous waterfalls, and spectacular sweeping views from towering mountain peaks. These fantastic views and trails are elevated when shared with other hikers you will meet from these hiking groups.
The list above is only just the beginning when it comes to Cincinnati hiking groups. There are definitely more than 8 groups you should consider joining. As you hike more trails and gain more hiking experience your interests will likely change over time. As your interests change you can check out other hiking groups that match your new interests. Enjoy all of your hiking adventures with these local Cincinnati hiking groups!