Christina Roh was enamored by San Diego’s sunny beaches and bluffs when she was an environmental policy major at UCSD, but something else struck her about being outside.
“It felt very homogenous,” says Roh. “It felt like some specific type of person was mostly allowed to be outside, and I felt like I didn't really see as many Asian folks.”
When Roh moved to LA, she was excited about hiking but didn’t have a community built around it. That’s when she found Outdoor Asian, a national organization aimed at creating diverse and inclusive communities of Asian and Pacific Islanders in nature, with chapters in Colorado, Washington, and Vermont.
“That really aligned with my mission,” says Roh. “I'm a proud daughter of Korean immigrants, and I feel like their mission is really about creating a more inclusive space outdoors.”
She started an LA chapter of Outdoor Asian in 2019. The organization hosts hikes, picnics, beach excursions, and bouldering trips, and she says she’s gotten good feedback.
“We'll combine outdoor activities – or, I guess, gateway to outdoor activities – like indoor bouldering gyms, but then add boba. So we have this element of ‘oh, this is accessible, this is cool. Even if I’m scared of climbing, at least I have boba to drink,’ Roh says. “I'll add little elements like that.”
She tries organizing hikes that are closer to the city, so even people without cars can access them, and trails aren’t terribly difficult so people of any fitness level can join.
Roh, who grew up in Los Angeles, says her favorite trails are in the Verdugo Mountains and Temescal Canyon. “Anywhere where it's still pretty easy to get to and there's parking is the big thing.”
Other diverse hiking groups in the Los Angeles area include Black Girls Trekkin,’ Black Men Hike, Latino Outdoors, and Hike Clerb.