Big City Mountaineers

About

Big City Mountaineers (BCM) provides free, fully outfitted, professionally guided outdoor adventures for youth from disinvested communities. Working in partnership with community-based youth agencies, BCM identifies and breaks down material, social, and psychological barriers to outdoor access, thus promoting youths’ deep sense of joy and their connection to the self, their community, and the natural world.

Categories Program BIPOC Children & Youth Community & Advocacy Mental Health

Program Details

Big City Mountaineers’ mission is to provide transformative experiences through connections to nature that strengthen life skills and build community for youth from disinvested communities.

While opportunities for outdoor recreation abound in the United States, systemic inequities in our society have created barriers to outdoor access for historically disinvested communities. BCM’s goal is to break down barriers for these youth and cultivate a generation that stewards the well-being of themselves, the nature around them, and their communities.

For more than 35 years, BCM has empowered youth to harness their own power and connection to nature nationwide. Since our inception, we have conducted nearly 1,100 expeditions, served over 12,000 youth, organized 5,000 volunteers, and provided nearly 45,000 nights under the stars for youth who might not have otherwise had the opportunity.

Populations Served
Big City Mountaineers’ serve youth ages 12-18 who are a part of or disaffiliated from communities that have experienced historical marginalization and underrepresentation in outdoor recreational spaces. People of non-white racial identities and/or a lower socioeconomic status are often disproportionately affected by such marginalization.

BCM offers programs for youth in six major metropolitan areas across the country: Birmingham, AL; Boston, MA; Denver, CO; Minneapolis, MN; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; and Seattle, WA. Our national headquarters are located in Arvada, CO.

Contact David Taus — Executive Director david@bigcitymountaineers.org 303-271-9200 Website

Services Offered
BCM offers a scaffolded trip model for all youth participants. This begins with a day trip (either a hike or a paddling clinic) followed by a single night camping trip. The trip series concludes with a multi-day backcountry expedition. In most of our regions, the expedition is a backpacking trip—however, in Minnesota, the expedition is a backcountry canoe trip.

Staff Composition
BCM employs 9-10 full-time staff members nationally. We hire experienced field instructors each program season to run trips in the field. These instructors are supported by a trained team of adult volunteers.

Cost to Participate
BCM’s outdoor programs are free to youth participants. In addition to free program participation, BCM provides access to all of the gear and specialized clothing needed to be safe and comfortable on the trail.

Partner agencies who work with BCM pay a low, yearly fee (~$250) for access to our program.

A group of youth participants diligently march in a line with their backpacking gear along a sunny mountain trail, which is dense with green foliage and speckled with yellow and white wildflowers.Towering deep green pine trees fill the horizon behind the participants.

Four participants clothed in cold weather gear play jump rope with a long seaweed strand as they stand on a beach while on a camping trip on the coast of Washington. An overcast sky stretches over them, and in the background are a view of the misty ocean and patches of forested regions.

Four expedition participants take a break from their hike outside Birmingham, AL. They sit in pairs on a shaded, leaf-covered trail surrounded by vibrant green trees as they examine a trail map. They have taken off their backpacks and hiking gear to reorient to the trail.

A teen in a bright red jacket stands on a trail amidst vast trees and gazes upward, taking in the sights and sounds of the towering forest surrounding him. While he stands in the shade, warm sunlight brightens the forest scenery before him.

A youth participant wades in one of the lakes in the Rocky Mountains, his steps causing the water to ripple around him. He looks out towards the sunset horizon, which is reflected in the lake and colors the surface with pale orange hues.

Two youth participants paddle in a canoe in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and enjoy a vast view of an orange sun peeking over the cloudy horizon. The gradient sunset sky reflects onto the rippling water surrounding them.

Under a clear blue and sunny sky, youth participants sit together beside their yellow tents on a small, grassy hill in a backcountry campsite in California. As they converse with each other, trees tower around them and shade their campsite.

Recent Case Studies

A large group of participants express their excitement at the start of a backpacking trip. Trees and distant mountains fill the horizon behind them.

Program

Wild Hearts Idaho

Wild Hearts Idaho is a non-profit that builds community, confidence, and leadership skills for middle and high school girls through free outdoor adventures.

A close-up shot of Dan riding his trike with a confident grin.

Program

Spokes Fighting Strokes

Spokes Fighting Strokes (Spokes) introduces recovery through exercise and fun by providing recumbent trikes to stroke survivors, amputees, able-bodied humans, and those with or who have had traumatic brain injury (TBI), neck and back injury, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), and cerebral palsy (CP).

An aerial image of the playground showing play equipment, gathering spaces, and a painted ground mural looping around the playground.

Place

Louis H. Farrell Elementary School

This project was designed to advance literacy and learning goals while promoting playful learning in public schoolyards. Key features include a Gateway Plaza, a Literacy Art Loop, an Outdoor Classroom & Performance Space, separate play areas for older and younger children, and a Native Pollinator Meadow & Nature Discovery Trail.