Executive Summary
We analyzed 31 hiking communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: hiking has many smaller groups and a few very large outliers pulling averages up.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated 2026-04-26
- Communities
- 31
- Platforms
- 4
- Avg members
- 7.3M
- Median members
- 801K
Where Hiking Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 15 communities (48%)
- Reddit: 7 communities (23%)
- Facebook: 7 communities (23%)
- Meetup: 2 communities (6%)
- 15(48%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 7(23%)
Reddit - 7(23%)
Facebook - 2(6%)
Meetup
Independent Platforms leads, but Reddit and Facebook also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 0 communities (0%)
- Medium: 0 communities (0%)
- Large: 0 communities (0%)
- Huge: 1 communities (3%)
- Massive: 4 communities (13%)
- Gigantic: 4 communities (13%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 0(0%)Small20-100 members
- 0(0%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 0(0%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 1(3%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 4(13%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 4(13%)Gigantic1M+ members
22 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 30 communities (97%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 1 communities (3%)
The average is much higher than the median (7.3M vs 801K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Hiking Differs From Other Categories
Hiking is more free-to-join, and larger, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Hiking | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 97% | 85% |
| Median members | 801K | 25K |
| Average members | 7.3M | 669K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 3% | 15% |
| Live chat | 19% | 38% |
| Topic pageviews / mo | 185 | 714 |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 28 communities (90%)
- Online/Offline Events: 8 communities (26%)
- Live Chat: 6 communities (19%)
- 90%Forum
- 26%Online/Offline Events
- 19%Live Chat
Niche Features
- Paid Community: 1 communities (3%)
- 3%Paid Community
Forum appears on 90% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 14
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 15 | 48% | 2 | 15% |
| 7 | 23% | 5 | 38% | |
| 7 | 23% | 6 | 46% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Facebook gets 46% of clicks but only 23% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked features
- 8(62%)Forum
- 6(46%)Live Chat
- 1(8%)Online/Offline Events
Most-clicked size ranges
- 6(46%)Gigantic
- 2(15%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 2(15%)AllTrails
- 2(15%)r/backpacking
- 2(15%)Camino de Santiago Pilgrims
A few listings get most of the clicks; the rest split what is left.
Trends
Founded year
- 1925: 1 communities (9%)
- 1966: 1 communities (9%)
- 1976: 1 communities (9%)
- 2000: 1 communities (9%)
- 2009: 4 communities (36%)
- 2010: 2 communities (18%)
- 2013: 1 communities (9%)
20 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2009.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Hiking. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
- •Last updated 2026-04-26