Walk Finder

Where can you go for a walk? How can you find upcoming charity walks and other walking events? These walk finder resources can help you discover both organized walks and those you can enjoy on your own.

These sites are good ones to use to look for walking events. You can narrow down the search to a city, state or search by date.

• Active.com: You can find organized walks, charity walks, and community events, and often you can register for them online. While many other directories have come and gone, Active.com has endured.
• Runners World Race Finder: Runs often have a walk associated with them, so check their calendars of events. You may be surprised to discover that runners are welcoming of walkers, so long as you observe good race etiquette in any mixed running/walking event and stay at the back of the pack for the starting gun.

These walks are hosted by local walking clubs, with everyone welcome to join in. They include walking events held for one or more days, group walks, and designated walking routes you can do at any time. Not only can you enjoy the walk, you might also take the opportunity to make new walking friends and join your local club.

AVA.org Event Search: Find volksmarches in the United States hosted by the clubs of the American Volkssport Association (AVA). To find hosted events and group walks, select "Traditional Events" as the event type. To find walking routes you can do on your own, select "Year-Round and Seasonal Events." Each event has details and a contact person. These events are very low cost, usually $3 or even free. The standard distance is 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) but many have a 5K (3-mile) route, and some have longer routes.

Canada Walks: The Canadian Volkssport Federation clubs also host non-competitive walking events, group walks and walks you can do on your own. Select Calendar of Events to download a list of events by month. Use the Permanent Trails link to go to lists of walking routes you can do on your own, within the walking season.

Search for AVA walks in each state by entering the state name or abbreviation on the AVA website.

These long-distance events and competitions require a little research. You can use HalfMarathons.net to look for half-marathons by state, although you will have to research each one to see if it is walker-friendly. MarathonGuide.com has an excellent list of walker-friendly marathons, and Dave McGovern at Racewalking.org has a list of marathons, half-marathons, and other events that welcome walkers and racewalkers.

Racewalking.org Calendar of Events: Use this list to find competitive judged racewalks where you must use Olympic-style racewalking technique.

MapMyWalk: This site and app is a great resource for finding walking routes that others have mapped out and use, or for drawing, measuring and mapping your own route. Use the Discover link to find routes by location and to map your own.

Trails.com: If you want to go off-road, this site is a great place to start. You can find basic information about trails for free, but you must subscribe to get maps and full details.