Where to walk, climb and birdwatch gay from London

Two walking clubs whose first walks date to 1972 and 1974, a hiking group that did not exist three years ago, a climbing club with a fixed Thursday, and a birding club running about a hundred events a year. Who runs what, what it costs, and the next date for each.

Gay Sunday Walking Group

The first walk was in March 1972, twenty-seven people, more than half from Croydon CHE; the club as it exists now dates from early December 1997, when the first walk under the GSWG name went Kew to Richmond Park. At least two walks a month: a half-day walk of 3 to 6 miles, usually in a green part of Greater London, and a full-day walk of 7 to 12 miles within about an hour's train ride of central London. Saturdays as well as Sundays, despite the name. Membership is £12 a year, £17 by post, and covers as many walks as you like; the group is affiliated to the Ramblers for insurance. Any age. You can try one or two walks before joining by emailing gswg@hotmail.com for the meeting details, which the public site does not print. Coming up: Sunday 20 September, West Ruislip to Rickmansworth, 9 miles; Sunday 4 October, Russia Dock Woodland and the Thames Path, 5 miles; Saturday 17 October, Hemel Hempstead and the Chilterns, 11 miles; Sunday 8 November, Wanstead Park, 4 miles.

Gay Outdoor Club, London group

GOC is the national one: founded on 9 July 1974 when about eight people met at 22 Great Windmill Street and organised a weekend in Snowdonia, now a charity with around 40 groups. The London group has around 475 members (the site shows a live count) and runs at least one walk a month, generally the third Saturday, with extra first-Saturday walks in summer and some shorter midweek ones. Every walk starts and finishes at a railway station and ends with tea and cake or a beer. Membership starts at £8.50 a year with the first four months free, half price for concessions, and you need it to see the meeting points: the public listing shows date, distance and grade only. September has two: Saturday 12, a 10-mile moderate circular from Brookmans Park near Hatfield, 11am to 5pm; and Saturday 19, Lee Valley, Docklands and Woolwich Royal Arsenal from East India Dock Basin, 10.3 miles, 11am to 6pm, dinner at the Dial Arch after. After that, the South Downs to Brighton on 10 October and an easy, dog-friendly Epping Forest walk on 28 November. GOC's national Women's group, 89 members, lists no London dates.

OutdoorLads

The biggest calendar of the lot: a charity running events for the gay, bi and trans community across the UK, over 1,500 a year, four pages of them in the South East filter today. Registering is free and puts two £12.50 coupons on your account, enough for two day walks; after that a day walk is £12.50 pay as you go, or free with full membership at £65 a year (£13 if you are 18 to 30, a student or on benefits). In London itself the fixture is bouldering, weekly on Thursday evenings in Bermondsey and Saturday mornings in central London, no event fee, shoe hire £3.50. The Sunday sessions are at the Stronghold Centre on Andrew's Road, E8; if you have not been before, pre-register online and watch their introduction video, because the centre may ask you a few questions at the desk. You also complete a one-off participation statement before your first OutdoorLads event, not one per event. For walking: Sunday 27 September, Frensham in Surrey, 8 miles with 140 m of climb; Sunday 25 October, Amersham station into the Chilterns, 11.6 miles and 300 m of ascent; Sunday 1 November, Chislehurst and its caves.

Dykes Who Hike

Started in March 2024 with 60 people on the first hike and more than 200 on the second, according to an April 2025 interview, and 37 events on their ticketing page since. Walks are for gay women, including bi and pan women, trans people, trans mascs and non-binary people, 18 and over, roughly once a month, and they leave London: Dover to Deal, Tonbridge to Penshurst, Birchington-on-Sea to Margate Pride. Tickets are £2 plus a 50p fee. Next is Saturday 12 September, Newhaven to Brighton along the coast, about 17 km and five and a half hours with a lunch stop, meeting at Newhaven Town station, Railway Approach, BN9 0DF, at noon. Book on OutSavvy, where it was still their one listed upcoming event on 10 September 2026; meeting details and the WhatsApp group come with the confirmation email.

Queer Walking Group at the Community Centre

The London LGBTQ+ Community Centre on Hopton Street, SE1 9JH, runs a free monthly walk inside London, usually the first Sunday: this year's routes have included the River Lea, Richmond Park and Epping Forest. Next dates are Sunday 4 October at noon and Sunday 1 November at 2pm; the route and meeting spot arrive by Eventbrite email nearer the time, and the walk sets off no more than ten minutes after the start. Open to all.

Not So Trad

The climbing club, formed in 2007 out of a GOC group, now more than 100 members from their 20s to their 60s with an equal gender balance. The fixed meet is every Thursday at the Castle Climbing Centre, Green Lanes, N4 2HA: gather from 7pm at the first-floor seating area next to the lead walls, climb from 7:15, about 15 people, then the Brownswood pub over the road. Tell reception you are with the club and you pay the £12.50 concession rate instead of £18, plus the Castle's £3 registration fee if you are new. It is not a teaching club: you need to be able to climb and belay already, and the Castle runs belay courses if you cannot. There is also a monthly meet at The Reach in Woolwich, aimed at the first Sunday, most recently 6 September. You can climb with them as a prospective member for up to three months before paying; full membership for 2026 is £35.49, £28.88 for students and disabled climbers, and includes BMC club membership with civil liability insurance. Contact form on the site.

Gay bouldering without a club

City Bouldering Stratford, 234 High Street, E15 2JA, runs a Queer Climbers Social every Friday, 7pm to 8pm, all levels: £9.50 for non-members with shoes included, free for members. Queer Climbers LDN, who ran this year's Pride Social at Rise Climbing on 27 June, exist only on Instagram at @queerclimbersldn, which this guide could not check, so their regular socials are unconfirmed here.

Gay Birders' Club

Running since 1994, with about a hundred member-led events a year since 1998, and the club says its membership grew to around 350 with almost equal numbers of men and women. Membership is £14 a year, £20 joint, £8 concession, by standing order from 1 August and pro rata by quarter if you join mid-year (November costs £10.50). The dated calendar goes to members, but the public 2026 list shows the South East events: the London Wetland Centre in Barnes and Cissbury Ring in September, Oare Marshes and Abberton Reservoir in October, Staines Reservoirs in November. Ask enquiries@gbc-online.org.uk.

Picking one

Never walked with a group: the Community Centre's free Sunday, or GSWG's 5-mile Russia Dock walk on 4 October. Want out of London every time: Dykes Who Hike, or GOC's Saturdays. Most dates: OutdoorLads, on the two free coupons. Climbing: Not So Trad on Thursday if you can belay, City Bouldering on Friday if you cannot.