Hiking club creator says Black people can have fun outside too

Hiking is only a white people thing, right?

“You’re going to see the benefit,” he said. “You’re going to get some peace of mind.”

Stephens unexpectedly became a hiker in 2018. It was just before Memorial Day weekend, and he asked his work supervisor for suggestions on what to do during the holiday. His supervisor put a bug in his ear for hiking.

“Black people don’t hike. We don’t go to the woods. That’s not really our thing,” Stephens told his boss.

Growing up, Stephens said hiking is something he saw only his white friends doing.

“It’s cool, but you won’t catch me out there,” he remembered.

After a bout of miscommunication and Stephens thinking his boss was going to meet him for a hike in northern Georgia, Stephens ended up tackling a trail alone.

Tracy Stephens, founder of BLK Hiking Club, wants to engage Black people with nature and help facilitate change in their relationships with outdoor activities. (Handout)

“It was just peaceful,” Stephens said on the podcast. “Around the city or even in the suburbs, it’s constantly noise: sirens or people. Out there, it was just the breeze.”

Clearly, his mindset about Black people hiking was forever changed.

In 2021, Stephens launched BLK Hiking Club. Each meetup pulls anywhere from 80-100 hikers.

The BLK Hiking Club, founded in 2021 by Tracy Stephens, is a group for Black men and women in Atlanta to enjoy hiking and other outdoor activities. (Courtesy of Tracy Stephens)

“You can’t say you don’t like something you’ve never tried. It’s easy to fall victim to that mindset,” he said. “I get it. We all know the trauma associated with our ancestors going into the woods. A lot went in and didn’t come out, unfortunately.

“For me, I just try to spin it and show them that positivity, like we’re going in.”