17 Inspiring BAME Outdoor Instagram Accounts

by Tom Oswald July 03, 2020

Updated 24th April 2023 | Words by Matt Jones @ WildBounds HQ

Why is the great outdoors so white? It’s a troublesome and problematic question, but one that is undeniably an important issue. Our national parks, national trails and other outdoor spaces should be places where everyone feels welcome and represented. But only showing white people taking on epic adventures promotes a false narrative of who the great outdoors is for, while also making people in minority communities feel like hiking and camping is not for them.

That, of course, is a harmful stereotype that must be eradicated. The great outdoors is for everyone. Now, we’re not saying that following a few outdoorsy black people on Instagram is going to change things. There are plenty more important actions you can take, like following the #blacklivesmatter movement to self-educate and effect change. But it can help. Black, Asian and minority ethnic adventurers are massively under-represented in the outdoor sector. Yet there are plenty of people out there, doing awesome stuff. And seeing people from different cultures and backgrounds enjoy the same activities as you can only be a good thing, while also increasing awareness of the challenges and prejudices that others face.

This is an evolving list and we’ve mostly focused on UK-based adventurers, with a couple of exceptions. For more outdoorsy folk from around the world, check out this great piece from Field Mag. But if you feel like we missed somebody, let us know on support@wildbounds.com.

Thank you, and stay boundless.

Black Girls Hike @bgh_uk
Followers 4.4k | Diversifying the outdoors

Dwayne ‘Adventure’ Fields @dwaynefields
Followers 8.9k | Ordnance Survey Get Outside champion and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Mary-Ann Ochota @maryannochota
Followers 7.6k | Broadcaster & Lover of archaeology & anthropology

Mahroof Malik @jabaladventures
Followers 287 | Mountain Leader, Rock climbing instructor, cyclist & mountain biker, Scout leader

Zahrah Mahmood @the_hillwalking_hijabi
Followers 4.5k | The hillwalking hijabi (‘you can find me in the hills with some sort of head covering’…)

Sophia Danenberg @sophiaclimbs
Followers 1.2k | The first African-American person to summit Everest

Melanin Base Camp @melaninbasecamp
Followers 55.1k | We are people of color in the outdoors

Elie Gordon @eliestories
Followers 3.7k | Wildlife photographer, inclusivity in the outdoors champion, nature wanderer

Colour the Trails @colourthetrails
Followers 7.8k | Group for POC & allies interested in outdoor activities, including hiking, skiing/snowboarding, kayaking, camping founded by Juju Milay (@jujumil)

Dave @davedventure
Followers 1.8k | Lake District fellwanderer and Wainwright completist

Rhiannon K @rhi_kirton
Followers 936 | Grad student, zoologist, mammal lover, co-organizer of #BlackBirdersWeek

The Blackalachian @theblackalachian
Followers 15.9k | Thru-hiker: AT’17 | UGRR ’18 | TGOC ’19 | Camino Norte‘19

Nina Williams @sheneenagins
Followers 203k | Full-time student, certified coach, and professional climber

Mosaic Outdoors @mosaicoutdoors
Followers 420 | To build sustainable links between Black and Minority Ethnic communities and the countryside and outdoors