Starting a Monthly Hiking Club Helped Me Make Adult Friends

Making real-life friends as an adult can feel like an uphill hike. But what if the solution is just that? Eleanor launched a monthly social bushwalking group to foster friendships amongst like-minded adventurers in their 20s and 30s.

I take a quiet moment of reflection while everyone continues to go around the circle introducing themselves. We’re stopped at the sandy rest stop next to Jerusalem Bay on the iconic Cowan to Brooklyn walk, and we’re running through some icebreakers. I know from experience that this will spark many conversations further down the trail. 

It’s our first Hike Club for the year and my 24th one in a row. I first did this walk with this group two years ago, but it wasn’t this group. Maybe four or five of the original members are here, but the group has expanded so much over time that it’s like a sports team with nearly entirely new members. Is it still the same team it once was?

It’s a bit of a full circle moment, and a warm and fuzzy feeling comes over me. Here, on this patch of dirt in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, magic is being created. A weekend adventure is beginning, friendships are forming, and the monthly ritual that started so long ago lives on. 

I still can’t believe people show up month after month, and even convince their friends to come along too. But I guess I get why they do it. It’s for the same reason that I started this whole damn thing. Because making friends as an adult is hard. And making friends as an adult in Sydney is even harder.

Making adult friends in Sydney who also like hiking? Harder again!

Where it all began

It all began when I was a kid… no really, it did. 

I was one of those babies in a carrier backpack – the ones I regularly see parents carrying and say, ‘Geez, wish you’d carry me in one of those’, as I pass them by, instead of just ‘G’day’ like a normal person.

As I started to walk, my weekends continued to revolve around the hikes my parents went on. They’d keep me entertained with games like ‘Arrows’ where my Dad would run ahead and create markers out of sticks and rocks to show Mum and I which way to go.

A game of Arrows is afoot

My tantrum-having self didn’t realise it at the time, but they were laying the foundation for a love of the outdoors. As an adult, I’ve kept up the bushwalking, albeit with a Premium AllTrails subscription instead of ‘Arrows’. 

In my early 20s, I did overseas treks and local walks and took any willing or unwilling friend along with me for the ride. 

Then, as my 20s neared their finish line, I started to experience what many people do – a palpable friendship fade. The ease of school and university connections had evaporated, leaving a void that professional city life in Sydney struggled to fill.

Hiking alone became increasingly common

The ‘Join a Community Group’ Advice

Advice around finding friends in your 30s often revolves around ‘joining a community group’, which while well-meaning, is often better in theory than in practice. 

Sometimes it’s just hard to get your social sport friends to translate to your everyday life, or your ocean swimming crew to want to do things that aren’t underwater. 

While these groups have their place, I wanted to create a group that ensured you were socialising while doing the thing, rather than just doing the thing and then hoping everyone wants to get drinks afterwards – and also likes each other!

I wanted to create the group that I desperately longed for. One that combined my love of walking and my desire to make like-minded friends. 

I wanted to struggle to fit all my mates into one photo

Starting My Own Group

‘Hike Club’ was born.

Rubbish name, I know. But Social-Hiking-Group-To-Make-Friends kind of sounds needy, and more importantly, isn’t that catchy. I put the call out on my Instagram and little by little the WhatsApp group grew and I’d set a date for the first event. 

There are now over 60 members and it’s a fully-fledged ‘community group’ – exactly the type that people might tell you to join if you want to make new friends! Ha. That’s funny. People come with their partners, friends, cousins, and oftentimes by themselves. And everyone comes for different reasons. One regular who first joined to conquer her anxiety around hiking, now comes to every single meet-up and is up the front with me, helping set the pace. A couple from Shellharbour gearing up to walk the Tour du Mont Blanc, joined to train for their trip.

Together, we’ve created a flourishing and vibrant network of people who enjoy the outdoors across Greater Sydney. I’ve even met some people who are now my closest friends, some potentially lifelong.

Trailblazing Together

As it’s a social hiking group aiming to be accessible, hikes range from about 10-15km in length and are suitable for people of all fitness levels. You don’t need any fancy gear, just some joggers, a water bottle, and an open-minded vibe. Oh, and snacks, lots of snacks. 

We do icebreakers and play conversation card games. Sometimes we meditate or forest bathe and every walk ‘conveniently’ ends up at a good pub. 

I love that the cure to my adult loneliness was right in front of me this whole time. I just had to go out on a limb (not my right knee, that’s fucked from hiking!) and start a group myself. Worth it. 

Can’t find your people? They’re probably on a hiking trail somewhere