Upcoming Hiker Events

Posted by Loren Drummond at May 10, 2021 12:30 PM | Permalink

Filed under: Events

Hiking can often be a solitary experience, but when you're looking to engage with the outdoor community, there is no shortage of opportunities in Washington.

Connect with WTA

Our website, wta.org is a place for you to find information about local green spaces, updates on trails and moments of joy and inspiration. We hope you can connect with each other and to us on our social channels. Read past trip reports or share your own with the community.

WTA Events

Outdoor Leadership Training with WTA
Are you an educator or youth program facilitator? Do you dream about taking your students or group on an outing? Make it happen! WTA will help you plan it and lend your group outdoor gear. Learn more about eligibility and sign up for an Outdoor Leadership Training workshop.

Hiker Happy Hours with WTA
Join Washington Trails Association staff and folks who love the outdoors at a Hiker Happy Hour! These events will give you a chance to connect with fellow hikers, learn what’s next for trails in your area and how to get involved. Your tickets include a complimentary drink ticket, appetizers, and a one year membership to WTA! Follow the links below to learn more and register.
Portland | March 12th, 2026 | 5-7 p.m.
Spokane | March 26th, 2026 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Ellensburg | April 2nd, 2026 | 5-7 p.m.

Crescendo: A symphonic celebration of Washington Landscapes
April 24th, 2026 — 7:30 p.m.
Seattle
Join Washington Trails Association for our third annual event in collaboration with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. You’ll be transported to the wilderness as you view photos from WTA’s Northwest Exposure Photo Contest on the big screen while listening to sweeping melodies performed live by NWSO. Special guests The Musical Mountaineers will return to perform and present the world premiere of their newest short film. Follow the link for tickets and more information!

community events

Mountains to Sound Greenway Winter Volunteer Events
February - March 2026
Puget Sound Region
Check out opportunities to get involved with Mountains to Sound Greenway park cleanups, planting, and trailhead ambassador work throughout this winter. Follow the link for dates and further details.

Guided Snowshoe Hikes at Lake Easton
Fridays & Saturdays, December 2025 - March 2026
Lake Easton Sno-Park
Join Interpretive Ranger Lorena for guided snowshoe hikes every Friday and Saturday.
Join Interpretive Ranger Lorena for guided snowshoe hikes every Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m., starting Dec. 26, 2025, through March 14, 2026. These hikes last about two hours and cover roughly 1.5 miles of moderate terrain. Hikes are free, but visitors will need a one-day Sno-Park permit or a seasonal Sno-Park permit with a groomed trail sticker. Please follow the link to learn more.

Winter Wander at the Hatchery
February
Leavenworth
Join the Wenatchee River Institute for an outdoor adventure with one of our knowledgeable naturalists. Outdoor Experiences range from birding, to nature walks, paddling down the Wenatchee River, snowshoeing, and more! Follow the link for winter dates and details.

EXPLORE! Family Fair
March 21st, 2026
Seattle
The EXPLORE! Family Fair will feature a wide range of kids’ activities, family-friendly experiences, workshops, and dozens of exhibitors highlighting outdoors and urban adventures, community resources, and services that support kids and families. This event is hosted by Alison Mariella Désir of Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir and is dedicated to advancing the reclamation of outdoor spaces for underrepresented communities. Follow the link to learn more and RSVP for free entry.

Summit, Myths & Music
March 29, 2026 — 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Federal Way
Attend this performance by the Auburn Symphony Orchestra in honor of Mount Rainier National Park. With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary, Summit, Myths & Music honors the landscapes and myths that have defined the country’s spirit. The mystery of Mount Rainier unfolds in Stephen Lias’s It Stands Alone, a powerful multimedia tribute commissioned in partnership with the National Park Service to honor Mount Rainier National Park’s 125th anniversary. Follow the link to learn more and to purchase tickets.

Ongoing Activities

Monthly Bird Walks
Join Vancouver Audubon for casual birding walks on the first of each month. All are welcome! Please follow the link to learn more about each opportunity and how to join.

Volunteer in Adaptive Recreation with Outdoors for All
Join the Outdoors for All volunteer community and help make outdoor recreation accessible to all! Outdoors for All is on a mission to enrich the lives of individuals with intellectual and/or physical disabilities through outdoor activities, serving over 3,000 participants across King County through programs like kayaking, rock climbing, cycling, day camps, and group programs. Whether you're passionate about the outdoors or eager to support inclusive events, your time and energy makes a positive impact on communities at large. Follow the link to learn more or reach out to the Volunteer Coordinators with your questions at volunteer@outdoorsforall.org.

TrailBliss
TrailBliss offers mindful hikes designed to connect individuals with nature, engage their senses, and explore the great outdoors while also providing a physical challenge. These hikes focus on fostering a deeper connection with the natural world while promoting mindfulness and well-being. These hikes are designed to encourage participants to slow down, observe their surroundings, and appreciate the beauty of the natural world. Whether you're a seasoned hiker or new to the trails, these mindful hikes provide an opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and find peace and tranquility in the great outdoors. All hikes are offered free, and signup is required. Follow the link to check out upcoming hikes.

Washington State Parks Events
Washington State Parks has a robust events calendar, and puts on programs across the state. These programs are varied in everything from topic to length, and some are hikes! Visit this calendar to find something that suits your needs and interests.

Wilderness Awareness School
The Wilderness Awareness School, located in Duvall, is a non profit with a mission to “to help children and adults cultivate healthy relationships with nature, community, and self.” They offer ongoing opportunities for nature related education, including but not limited to ongoing, free courses: Monthly Tracking Club and Monthly Bird Language Club. Find out more by following the link and visiting their website.

Walk With a Doc
Walk With a Doc is a global community where doctors go on short walks with patients and members of the public. Each walk kicks off with a short presentation on a health topic followed by a short walk through a local park. Currently these walks are virtual due to social distancing measures, but will return to in-person meet-ups as soon as it's safe to do so. Walks are held in Everett, Olympia, Yakima, Spokane and St. Helens Oregon.

Personalized Outfitting with an REI Expert
Get expert advice from the comfort of your home with our virtual outfitters. Video chat with our team to get the next great piece of gear, advice for an upcoming adventure, or explore the possibilities of a new outdoor activity. Book a live appointment today and connect with our team right from your home. Appointments are available 7 days a week from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PST. Free.

Self-guided Forest Bathing
The Washington Park Arboretum has several great resources for visitors to practice forest bathing, an approach to mindfully enjoying nature. Learn about the practice, find resources and share your experience with others.

Volunteer as an Adventure Scientist
Help collect tree samples for a database that will be used to catch illegal timber harvests. Volunteer hikers collect leaves, seeds and wood samples and send them in to be tested, then the timber industry is able to check the wood that comes through their mills against this data to determine if it was harvested from an area where logging is permitted.

Participate in Bird Counts in Your Backyard or Beyond
Community science programs are central to the efforts of Audubon scientists. You, too, can be a volunteer scientist and help save populations of bird species around the world. Programs in which you can participate include Hummingbirds at Home, Christmas Bird Count, and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Be a Citizen Archivist for the National Archive
Add tags to photos from America's Scenic Byways to make this resource more searchable for the public. First you must register, then you can pick the type of archiving you want to do and get started. There are more opportunities here as well, like transcribing historical documents about the first U.S. roads and trails to be built in Alaska.

Environmental Film Festival
Explore the collection of current and past festival films now available for streaming. The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) is the world’s premier showcase of environmentally themed films.

They/Them
Patagonia’s new film They/Them is a documentary that follows climber and guide Lor Sabourin into the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona, on a journey to piece together one of the hardest and most inspiring routes of their life. By embracing the strength in vulnerability, Lor has found the space to thrive and build a climbing community that others like themself can call home.

Mapping Seattle's Historic Orchards
Help identify historic fruit trees in your neighborhood that may be remnants of historic orchards. This project aims to identify and preserve these heirloom varieties still growing in Seattle.

Living Snow Project
The Living Snow Project mobilizes volunteers to collect and submit samples of pink snow so researchers at Western Washington University can study the microbiome of creatures living in these environments. Anyone in the mountainous US can participate with a simple phone app and a sample kit that can be picked up or mailed to you.

Story Time at the Miller Library
The Miller Library at UW's Botanic Garden presents monthly stories about gardens, plants and nature. Tune in anytime to watch a virtual reading of a new book each month.

Monthly eBird surveys at Wenatchee River Institute
Join WRI's knowledgeable naturalists on a birding survey around the WRI Campus! eBird is the largest biodiversity-related community science project in the world. Participants will be utilizing it to record observations of local wild birds. Each event includes four 15-minute stationary bird counts for an hour of birding. Total walking distance is a half mile, over a gravel path with two moderate hills. All skill levels are welcome!

OTHER Local & Amazing hiking communities

We also keep a list of many other local meet up groups and networks. While you might not be able to connect in person, you might find their online community is someplace you'd like to spend some time.

Explore these accounts and podcasts

by land podcast - Hunter and backpacker Emory Wanger began By Land as a way to share his personal journey in the outdoors so others can learn from his time in the field, and to bridge gaps between outdoor communities.
Cascade Hiker Project podcast - inspiring you to get out on the trail. Interviews make the show feel like a radio channel dedicated to hikes and backpacks.
Dirtbag Diaries podcast - Climb. Ski. Hike. Bike. Paddle. Run. Travel. Whatever your passion, we are all dirtbags. Outdoor writer Fitz Cahall and the Duct Tape Then Beer team present stories about the dreamers, athletes and wanderers.
For the Wild podcast - an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.
Outdoorsy Diva - Traveler, foodie, outdoor lover, & single mom featured in Huffpo Travel, BBC Earth Podcast, and listed as one of the top Black travel bloggers on the planet.
Outside Voices - inspired by one idea: the outdoors belongs to all of us. We all have a relationship to nature, whether through hiking, gardening, sacred ceremony or gathering at the local park. We aim to celebrate and amplify those who don’t always see themselves reflected in the “Great Outdoors” narrative.
She Explores podcast - interviews, in-the-field recordings and listener submissions make up a tapestry of episodes covering themes such as solo hiking and camping; entrepreneurship; aging; diversity, equity and inclusion; conservation; motherhood; chronic illness, and feminism as they intersect with outdoor experiences.
The Joy Trip Project - James Edward Mills' ongoing search to discover how to lead a harmonious life in balance with the natural world and the rest of humanity.
THE WILD podcast - explores how nature survives and thrives alongside (and often despite) humans. Taking listeners across the Pacific Northwest and around the world, host Chris Morgan explores wildlife and the complex web of ecosystems they inhabit. He also tells the stories of people working in and protecting the wild around us.
thewildpod on Instagram - Get back to nature with surprising stories of wonder and resilience from the world of wildlife with ecologist @chrismorganwildlife

If you have a suggestion for the Hiker Events Calendar, please email the details and a link to Nicole Masih-Theberge at nmasihtheberge@wta.org