Our Founder

Stephanie Nicole Dawkins spent her childhood outdoors at her paternal grandparents farm. It was there she was the assistant to her Grandfather taking care of the farm animals, gardening with her Grandmother and where her love for the great outdoors first began. As a little girls Stephanie enjoyed hiking, camping and anything that included nature and being free. 

At 36, being quarantined Stephanie found going back into nature was the only way to relieve her of the pressures 2020 presented us all with. One day she told her then husband "I'll be back" put on sneakers, grabbed a bottle of water and went into the woods. The healing power of nature, the quiet and God's presence all around she fell in love all over again.  

August 2020 our founder invited friends to join her hiking and this community of black women hiking began. One of Stephanie's objectives with this passion project is to debunk myths that black women are "afraid" of the outdoors. Black Girls Hike Too! is a bold declaration that Stephanie is making to say we can hike, camp, swim, kayak, canoe, hunt, fish and take up space in the great outdoors as well.