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Three hiking podcasts to check out now

I hike by myself...a lot...especially during COVID. While sometimes I like to just take in the surroundings, many times I like to listen to podcasts. Luckily for us there are a number of great hiking podcasts out there right now. Here are some of my favorites. Some of these have a feminine focus, but that doesn't mean everyone can't enjoy them.


Girl Gotta Hike
The Girl Gotta hike podcast features "interviews with adventurous women and outdoor entrepreneurs" and is hosted by Melissa "Click" Goodwin. Melissa is an accomplished day- and long-distance hiker who's completed the Appalachian Trail (2011), the John Muir Trail (2016), the Long Trail (2017), Mount Everest Base Camp (2018), and the Hundred-Mile Wilderness (2019). She's a professional photographer, but whenever she can, she leads hikes and backpacking trips in the NYC area, the Catskills, and beyond. You can listen to my episode on the podcast, and I loved the two episodes on forest bathing in NYC (Part I, Part II). Really you can't go wrong with any of these episodes. Just pick one and listen!

Listen to Girl Gotta Hike the podcast

 

She Explores
Founded by Gail Straub, the She Explores podcast is about "inquisitive women in the outdoors and the stories, art, and connection nature inspires. The podcast dates back to 2014, and there are now 500 episodes on hiking and camping, entrepreneurship, motherhood, aging, diversity and inclusion, and much more. I love California, but I'm originally from New Jersey, and I missed two planned trips to the East Coast during the pandemic. With my East Coast homesickness, I'm really loving "Where we Walk" miniseries She Explores has on women who have hiked the trail (sections or all of it) and the women who will be part of the trail's future. The first episode in the mini-series features many women, including Melissa from Girl Gotta HIke!

Listen to the She Explores podcast

Out and Back
If you're into extreme hiking—or if you like leaning about people who are, check out the Out and Back podcast. Its episodes with long-distance hikers, elite athletes, and other back country-loving will inspire you to get out on the trail. My perfect hike is something between a 5-8-miler, so I'm impressed with the intense, hardcore outdoors people on the show. Since I am an urban hiker primarily, I loved episode 7 on Liz "Snorkel" Thomas, aka the Queen of Urban Hiking. I also loved hearing from a hiker of color on episode 4 with Daniel "The Blackalachian" White. Lastly, in episode 12, I loved hearing about how Rue McKenrick conceived of the Perimter Trail, a 12,000 mile trail around the United States Check out these episodes and more.

Listen to the Out and Back podcast

I'm starting to check out other hiking podcasts, too, such as Hike, which features "stories of people and places that inspire us to explore, wander, and live," and Unlikely Hikers, which features "diverse, anti-racist, body-liberating stories from people underrepresented in outdoor media and culture."

Do you listen to any hiking podcasts? If so, which ones?


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Have you checked out our books? We wrote Urban Trails: San Francisco and Urban Trails: East Bay to help you explore the trails of San Francisco and the East Bay from Richmond to Fremont.

And if you like stairways, check out our map and spreadsheet of San Francisco's 1000+ public stairways.

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