If you’re looking for people to hike with, read with, sketch with, or even to paint taco holders with, look no further than these Salt Lake City-based social meetup groups.
Making friends is hard, especially as an adult. And a move to a new city, marriage, a new baby, or other life transitions can make it even harder.
In many big cities, including Salt Lake, meeting new people can mean sitting around in a bar for hours on end, but that’s definitely not for everyone.
Luckily, Salt Lake offers multiple ways to socialize and make new friendships, including hiking clubs, book clubs, pickleball leagues, and more. Whether you’re sporty, outdoorsy, a bookworm or an art lover, here’s a sampling of the many options out there.
Adventure Book Club
The Adventure Book Club is perfect for those of us who would rather read about mountaineering than break out the crampons, helmets, and harnesses.
The reading pace is forgiving—a new book every six weeks— but ABC still manages to burn through a number of titles in a year. You can see past club picks thanks to “Adventure Matt,” who built this handy-dandy site, where members can also send in questions before meeting up or vote on future book selections. (You can view recently nominated titles here.)
The group meets at both indoor and outdoor venues around the city, including at Sugar House Park. You will need a Meetup account to message organizers and join the group.
Bookish SLC
BookishSLC promises to “make reading a social sport.” The most recent meetup was on the new patio at Poplar Street Pub—what Bookish categorizes as a “literary mixer”—but it also hosts traditional book club meetings and “reading parties” where people BYOB (bring their own books) and silently read together.
This summer, Bookish issued a Summer Reading Bingo Card (you can find it pinned on their Instagram account) that readers can complete by Labor Day to redeem for an end-of-summer pizza party. Bookish also organized a yearlong Utah Indie Bookstore Crawl, which requires users to print out a physical map. Readers get their map stamped on visits to bookstores around the state, and then at the end of the year, claim a prize at their final bookstore visit.
Membership is informal—you can find upcoming events on Bookish’s website, and new people are welcome to just show up and hang out with fellow bibliophiles.
Pickleball Leagues (and Mahjong, Trivia and Art Nights) at Second Summit Hard Cider Co.
Location: 4010 S Main St, Millcreek
Second Summit is—forgive the Utah pun—a regular hive of social activity. Half of the cidery’s patio is dedicated to covered pickleball courts, which are always busy with league and individual play.
A woman-owned business, Second Summit is designed as a community meetup space, not just a place to drink. (In fact, if you don’t drink, there’s a whole freezer case full of N/A options next to the bar.) They also host food trucks on the regular, and on non-truck nights, offer their own menu options.
Second Summit’s calendar is full of regular social events: Bingo, trivia, Mahjong, and art nights. Recent art night projects included painting plant pots and taco holders; art supplies are included with registration, and those events in particular tend to pack the entire taproom.
Other nice touches at Second Summit include complimentary mints, hair bands, and deodorant wipes in the bathrooms (for post-pickleball cleanup) and a tiny freezer of free popsicles on very hot days. To join a pickleball league, book a court, or register for an art night, you must set up an account through CourtReserve.
Salt Lake City Urban Sketchers
Salt Lake City Urban Sketchers are only sketchy in the most literal sense—they meet up to make drawings together. According to its website, an urban sketch is “a drawing created on location, indoors or out, capturing what the sketcher sees from direct observation.” In other words, a tiny artwork designed to capture the ever-shifting life of a city.
One of many chapters around the world, SLUS picks a site for members to meet up, and then folks get busy rendering it in their chosen media, be it pencil, ink, pastel, or watercolors. Past subjects have included private gardens, Scheel’s sprawling sporting goods warehouse, and the Utah Symphony (yes, during a performance).
SLUS hosts a public-facing website with event announcements, but the best way to connect with club members is through SLUS’s private Facebook group.
Utah Hiking Babes
You can find these hikin’ babes on Instagram and Facebook, but mostly you’ll find them at Hidden Peak at Snowbird, White Pine Lake, the Eagle Crest Trail, and other outdoorsy Utah spots.
Their mission is very simple: get outdoors and hit the trails, even in the winter—a few years ago, the club hosted a February Galentine’s Hike, where hikers paired wool socks, puffers, and sparkly heart-shaped deelyboppers for a snowy group hike along Alien Tower Trail.
In addition to organizing group hikes, members offer support to one another through a private Facebook group, where people share on topics including fitness, trail conditions, and improving hiking skills. Those wanting to join the Babes’ ranks should reach out through Facebook or Instagram. (UHB invites hikers of all skill levels, but it is a women-only hiking group.)
Utah Outdoors
Utah Outdoors is a very active group that welcomes all people, no matter their background or hiking abilities—its raison d’etre is to connect people to each other through the experience of being outdoors on Utah’s many trails. As it states on its Meetup page, “Hiking isn’t just about conquering summits; it’s about forging connections, building community, and rejuvenating the spirit.”
In addition to its Friday night hikes along the Wild Rose Trail in North Salt Lake (a moderately difficult hike that’s accessible to most hikers), UO also meets for coffees on Sunday mornings, organizes yoga nights, and gathers for hikes where you get a two-fer with other fun events, like its recent Red Butte hike that coincided with the Red Butte Concert Series.
Reach out to organizers about becoming a member through Utah Outdoors’ Meetup page.
Women’s Wine Hiking Society of Utah
The Women’s Wine Hiking Society is a national nonprofit that aims to empower women to get outdoors. It cheekily advertises itself as the place “where sisterhood, hiking, and booze meet,” and “a social club with a hiking problem.”
With all of Utah’s awe-inspiring hiking trails, there’s no way our state wouldn’t have a chapter—despite what people think, you can drink in public here—though all hikes are wine-optional.
Recently, the Utah chapter was asked to host a hike for visiting athletes with the 2026 United States Women’s Disc Golf Championship (they went to Brighton). They’ve also collaborated with the Girl Scouts of America on a camping event at Park City.
To join, visit the membership page on the Women’s Wine Hiking Society site, register and pay dues, then visit the events page and filter for Utah hikes. Members can also ask to join the private Facebook group for the Utah chapter.
