Hiking near Seattle can teleport you across various worlds. From hikes that take you along the pacific coast, along side raging rivers, on the side of the jagged ridges of the Cascades, and to the base of cascading waterfalls, there are nearly an endless supply of trails to choose from hiking near Seattle. With so much hiking to choose from also means this city has a lot of outdoor enthusiasts and wide array of hikers.
Seattle has many hiking groups to choose from, but here is a quick list of the 8 most active Seattle hiking groups:
- 20 & 30 Somethings Seattle – Happy hours to hikes – 33,882 members
- Seattle Outdoor Adventurers (SOA) – 24,374 members
- Pacific Northwest Hiking & Adventure Group – 19,328 members
- Northwest Nature Hikes, Fun Runs, Camps & Classes – 6,813 members
- Seattle Transit Hikers – 6,604 members
- PNW Backpackers – 6,085 members
- Adventures in Hiking – 3,865 members
- Sierra Club Outings, Western Washington – 2,884 members
20 & 30 Somethings Seattle – Happy hours to hikes
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/20s30sSeattle/
Description: The 20 & 30 Somethings Seattle – Happy hours to hikes group focuses on those who are new to Seattle that are between the ages of 20 and 30s to get together for hiking, happy hours, concerts, skiing, and many other outdoor activities. This group is incredibly active with more than 6,000 events in the past with multiple events each week.
Seattle Outdoor Adventurers (SOA)
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/SeattleOutdoorAdventurers/
Description: Seattle Outdoor Adventurers (SOA) has a goal to bring people together who love the great outdoors. They hav hiking trips in the mountains to the deserts, have backpacking and camping trips, biking adventures, snow activities, water activities, and much more. This group has a long history of events with more than 3,900 events in the past with many events throughout each month.
Pacific Northwest Hiking & Adventure Group
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Renton, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/hiking-233/
Description: Pacific Northwest Hiking & Adventure Group focuses on outdoor adventures ranging from hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, skiing, sledding, biking, and walking. They have had over 1,000 events in the past and generally have one or two events each month.
Northwest Nature Hikes, Fun Runs, Camps & Classes
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Renton, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/northwest-nature-hikes-seattle-area-cascades-and-olympics/
Description: Northwest Nature Hikes, Fun Runs, Camps & Classes focuses on encouraging naturalists, conservation, hiking, and outdoor education. They had over 390 events in the past with multiple events throughout the month.
Seattle Transit Hikers
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/Seattle-Transit-Hikers/
Description: Seattle Transit Hikers features hikes that take advantage of the awesome transit system to access trails. Most of their meetups start at transit stops that are easily accessible from most neighborhoods in Seattle. They had more than 350 events in the past with one event every week.
PNW Backpackers
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/pnw-backpackers/
Description: PNW Backpackers goal is simple to hike, backpack, and love the outdoors. This group is made to meet others with the same love of hiking, backpacking and the outdoors. They have had more than 1,000 events in the past with an event every single week.
Adventures in Hiking
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/adventuresinhiking/
Description: Adventures in Hiking is for people who enjoy hikes, camping, backpacking, biking, and all sorts of outdoor activities. They have had more than 2,200 events in the past with multiple events each week.
Sierra Club Outings, Western Washington
Cost to Join: Free
Location: Seattle, WA
Link: https://www.meetup.com/Sierra-Club-Outings-Western-Washington/
Description: Sierra Club Outings, Western Washington is for those that are interested in hiking, backpacking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, paddling, birding, and many other outdoor activities. This group has had over 360 events in the past and typically has one event each week. There also have workshops and all of their hikes are volunteer lead.
Why should you join a Seattle hiking group?
Joining a Seattle hiking group offers a wide-range of benefits. If you are new to the area or new to hiking you should seriously consider checking out the hiking groups Seattle has to offer.
Meet Like-minded Hikers
By joining a Seattle hiking group you can meet other people that are just as interested in hiking as you. Everyone likes to hike at their own pace and enjoy the trails differently, by joining these groups you can meet other hikers that are on the same wavelength as you. There are groups with hikers that prefer a much more relaxed and casual pace and there are also groups that prefer a higher tempo and more intense pace. You will likely be able to find other hikers that match your preferences for hiking in these groups!
Helping with trail indecision!
It is a gift and a curse to have such a large amount of hiking areas to choose from. With so many trails to pick it is easy to get analysis paralysis or be overwhelmed. These hiking groups can help you with that by planning the events for you, which narrows down your list of hikes to choose from considerably.
Discover new Hikes & Hiking Areas
Another great benefit of joining a Seattle hiking group is to discover new hiking areas and new hikes that you might have otherwise never heard of. You can learn from other experienced hikers and veterans of the area of the lesser known trails. These hiking groups will introduce you to short hikes and even epic all day hikes.
3 things to consider when joining a Seattle hiking group
Where do they meet up relative to Seattle?
The most important thing to consider before joining a hiking group is to figure out where they generally meet at. You don’t want to join a hiking group that consistently meets on the opposite side of the 5 or the 90 highway only to have to drive in traffic to meet up with them. You can figure out where the groups meet by looking at the calendars and viewing their past events.
Required Skill-level & Experience
The next thing you want to consider is what the required skill-level and experience is for the group you are joining. If the group is very organized then the hiking event should clarify what skill-level they expect, the total distance, and the trail difficulty. If they do not have that information listed then you can contact the event organizers to find out.
Frequency & Consistency of Events
Another important factor to consider is how frequently the group you are joining meets up. If you are looking to build a habit and hike consistently with the same group, then you should see how many events on average the hiking group has per month. Some groups are more sporadic while others might have multiple events a week.
Summary
Hiking near Seattle offers a tremendous amount of hiking to choose from. The scenery and trails take hikers up to snow-capped titans, past gorgeous flower fields, up close and personal with towering waterfalls, right next to serene glacial lakes, and so much more.
Joining Seattle hiking groups is a great way to share these outdoor experiences with others and meet many other hikers. While this list is just the top 8 most active groups, there are plenty of others to check out too! Enjoy your hikes in the surrounding Seattle areas!