Hike has become popular amid COVID, but hasn’t always been accessible

• According to a March report from the Outdoor Industry Association focused on COVID, more Americans have turned to the outdoors.
• As people from all walks of life headed outdoors, groups like Black Girls Hike RVA wanted wary newcomers to know the outdoors was meant for them, too.
• Disabled Hikers, which was created by and for people with disabilities, provides the kind of helpful details needed to make hiking accessible.

Narshara Cade didn’t do her first hike until she was 31 years old.

“Of course, I asked, ‘Do I need a hiking pole? What items do I need to be prepared?'” she said. “We couldn’t even finish it that day. It was so intimidating.”

Cade, who later co-founded Black Girls Hike RVA, remembers how ill-prepared she was for the track. She also remembers that few hikers were like her and her friends.