Some of the best communities start with a broken kneecap. In 2019, Kate Joyner was running trails at Beaman Park on her lunch break when she slid down a ravine, broke her phone, and broke her kneecap. She fashioned a makeshift cane from a stick and slowly made her way back to her car, where a second phone allowed her to call her husband. He waited until she was safely in the hospital before he said what needed to be said.
"No more hiking alone."
She agreed. And the very next week, she got on Facebook and formed a group. That group became Outdoor Women of Nashville, and six years later, it has grown into one of Middle Tennessee's most purposeful communities, with 26,000 members on its public page and nearly 18,000 on its private women-only page.
At the heart of Outdoor Women of Nashville is the idea that every woman deserves access to the outdoors, regardless of experience, equipment, or confidence level. Angela West, the group's Regional Director of Tennessee, describes it as a "try before you buy" experience, a place where women can show up and try something completely new without the pressure of investing in gear or committing to a hobby they're not sure about yet.
"We do everything from water sports like paddleboarding, kayaking," she says. "We do fishing, hunting, and it's about breaking down barriers to getting women to the outdoors. "The group provides equipment for nearly everything — kayaks, paddleboards, guns, ammo, ear protection, even camouflage for hunting trips. Women can walk in knowing nothing and walk out with a passion they didn't know they had.
West speaks from personal experience. She joined the group while going through a difficult divorce, looking for a safe space and a way back to the outdoors she had been removed from during her marriage. Her entry point? A long-range rifle and muzzle-loader workshop.
"I was terrified of guns," she says. "So I was like, 'Let's get over this fear.' The next thing you know, I'm now running trips and workshops and just having a great time."
The group's programming ranges from weekly hikes to multi-day adventures across the American West. Member Katie has been hosting Tuesday night hikes at the same trailhead for four years, rain or shine. "It's more about having women walking in the woods for an hour and meeting new people and staying consistent with it so that people always know that there'll be a group here on Tuesdays," Katie says.
For members who catch the bug, the adventures scale quickly. The group has traveled to Bryce Canyon and Zion, where they went canyoneering through slot canyons. To Moab, where they paddleboarded small rapids and drove ATVs through Hell's Revenge. To Yosemite, Joshua Tree, the Channel Islands, and Glacier National Park. This winter, they snowmobiled through Yellowstone and dog sledded through 20-degree weather to a 104-degree hot spring.
"There is nothing like getting a group of women that are each other's cheerleaders to push you beyond what you think you can do," West says.
Member Debbie Elder discovered her passion for hiking through the Tuesday night group and has since completed two Mammoth Marches — with a third already on the calendar. "If it wasn't for Katie, I would not have found my passion for hiking," she says. "She posted this in a Facebook group and I'm like, 'I'm going to go try it.'"
West describes watching friendships form at workshops between women who had never met. "The best part of being in this role that I'm in is watching communities form," she says. Many women find the group during significant life transitions, whether it be a divorce, a move, a moment of searching. "A lot of us join when we're going through something in our life where we're looking at some type of big change and so we're looking for a community."
Membership is free, with fees only for specific workshops to cover the cost of equipment and instructors. The group welcomes women from anywhere — not just Middle Tennessee and not just Tennessee. "Feel free to jump in," West says.
Find Outdoor Women of Nashville on Facebook to join the public page or request access to the private women-only community.