The Melanin Base Camp book is here! Melanin Base Camp: Real-Life Adventurers Building a More Inclusive Outdoors is a celebration of underrepresented BIPOC adventurers that will challenge you to rethink what outdoorsy looks like. Get your copy today!
HOW DOES THIS SITE WORK?
The Adventure Starts Here
Welcome to Melanin Base Camp: your home base for diversity in outdoor recreation and environmental justice. Our purpose is to inspire you with weekly content from Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous and Queer People of Color who love the outdoors. Join the movement and help us #diversifyoutdoors.
Recent Articles
Trip Reports
Check out our Featured Bloggers page to hear firsthand accounts from Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ people who love the outdoors!
Want to learn how to kayak? Planning a weekend hiking trip or a visit to a national park? Check out our Trip Reports page for relatable content from our team of outdoor bloggers. We tackle how to get started and what type of gear you’ll need. You can also read interviews with grassroots activists, environmentalists and educators as well as longform articles on complex issues like race, gender, sexuality and disability in the outdoor community.
Looking for gear to purchase? Before you do, check out our Gear Reviews page.
Join the conversation at Around the Bonfire and submit your own article to the blog.
Finally check out our Diversify Outdoors page to connect with other affinity groups, influencers, bloggers and nonprofit organizations promoting diversity in the Outdoors. Learn more at DiversifyOutdoors.com! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and on Instagram where #melaninbasecamp and #diversifyoutdoors have been used over 58K and 154K times respectively.
FEATURED BLOGGERS
Danielle is the founder of Melanin Base Camp, Diversify Outdoors & co-founder of Team Blackstar Skydivers. She enjoys coalition building, writing, editing and barefoot skydiving
Favia is a photographer, climber and member of Brown Girls Climb. She enjoys practicing medicine and maintains an active lifestyle with her husband, rescue pup and five cats.
Nadia is an active climber, hiker and skydiver from North Carolina as well as a Cardiac nurse. She loves to challenge herself and others by conquering her fears in the outdoors.
Eugene is a Korean-American dirt chasing cyclist, outdoor guide and educator. You can find him on the road/bike with his dog, behind the lens or working in the backcountry.
Vanessa is an environmental sociologist whose writing illuminates systemic barriers that keep BIPOC out of outdoor spaces. She enjoys disrupting unhealthy outdoor norms and taking up space in the mountains.
Amath Diouf is a Muslim, North Carolina based hiker from a globe-trotting Senegalese family. He enjoys hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge mountains and writing about outdoor access and diversity.
![“[Hiking] used to be a solo activity but now, my son has started joining me and [my dog] Merle on our outdoor adventures! At 15 months, he can hike in the desert terrain for 30 minutes on his own! But it didn’t start out that way.“](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59e802b9be42d61a159cbf16/1725994173909-83QDQ942ADCH7741UCUD/image-asset.jpeg)
My cat actually seems much happier living in a van where she and I can have our own space than in a cramped apartment, or even a house, with multiple roommates.