Colorado Mountain Club
This hiking club, founded in 1912, is devoted to studying and promoting all aspects of the Colorado mountains and is a strong advocate for conservation and environmentalism. The club operates the American Mountaineering Center, with the second-largest library in the world devoted to mountaineering, a learning center for mountain-oriented education and a climbing wall. It also houses the American Alpine Club and Outward Bound, Wilderness. The club conducts a variety of classes, workshops and seminars covering a wide range of topics, including hiking, mapping, skiing, first aid, wild plants, geology and more. The club is organized into local groups, including a Denver chapter. The Denver club organizes several group hiking trips and multiday excursions throughout the year.
Colorado Mountain Club
710 10th St.
Golden, CO 80439
cmc.org
Denver Trail Heads
This grassroots hiking club in Denver, founded in 2006, has more than 1,500 members who meet up for a variety of hiking excursions, from short, after-work walks to climbs up to the summits of Colorado's 14,000-footers. The group also organizes snowshoeing and cross-country ski trips in the winter. Volunteer members organize hiking trips on a monthly basis, usually offering two per weekend. Members sign up online and are asked to make a $1 donation per trip. Look at the calendar, sign up for a trip and show up!
Denver Trail Heads
meetup.com/Denver-trail-heads/
Happy Hikers Club
This online club, started in 1988, began as an outdoor skills class at the Women's School and Denver Free University. Today, the adults-only group organizes a variety of weekend hiking trips throughout the spring, summer and fall. In the winter, the group goes snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. Most hikes are half-day or one-day outings and moderately challenging, averaging around four to eight miles. Each hike is organized and led by group leaders. The club publishes a quarterly hiking calendar describing the hikes, and members are asked to contact local leaders to sign up for trips. Groups typically meet at RTD Park-n-Ride lots throughout the city.
Happy Hikers Club
happyhikersclub.org
Article Written By Pamela Wright
Pamela Wright is a freelance writer, author of more than two dozen guidebooks, and hundreds of articles. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including "National Geographic Traveler," "Family Circle," "Family Fun," "Backpacker," "Hemispheres," "Cooking Light," "Yankee" and more. An active member of the Society of American Travel Writers, she holds a Bachelor's from Michigan State University
