Explore
Complete hikes, runs, traverses and outdoor challenges.
What is Hikezilla?
This isn't just an audience.
Hikezilla is built around participation.
Members don't just scroll through outdoor content. They go places, organise things, help people, share what they know and occasionally build something that probably started as a terrible idea at 11pm.
Volunteer
Help at races, parkrun, clean-ups, parks and community events.
Share knowledge
Write guides, contribute to the Wiki and help other members.
Build
Create open-source tools, datasets and projects for the outdoors.
Organise
Host events and bring people together.
Contribute data
Publish datasets, dashboards and research that make outdoor information more useful.
Learn
Build outdoor skills and help others do the same.
Show up
Sometimes contribution is simply being the person who keeps turning up.
The community
A community that actually shows up.
Hikezilla started with a few people getting together for hikes around Sydney. Six years later, we're still organising adventures, sharing what we've learned and building things that might help others get outdoors. Here's a little of what we've done so far.
2,300+
Meetup Members
160+
Community Events Organised
200+
Outdoor Datasets Collected
6 Years
Bringing People Outdoors
Six years of hikes, muddy boots and good company.
See the adventuresA collection of photos from our community hikes since 2020.
Meetup membership includes inactive members. Figures reflect historical community activity and project work.
Ways to work together
How partners can get involved.
Start with one, or combine a few. Each one plugs into something members already use.
Rewards
Provide gear, vouchers or experiences members can redeem with Trail Points.
Achievement perks
Reward members who've done something meaningful — volunteering, sharing knowledge, building useful things or completing serious adventures.
Challenges
Support challenges that encourage people to get outside, explore somewhere new or try something difficult.
Projects
Fund or provide tools for open-source outdoor projects built by the community.
Gear Library
Put useful outdoor equipment into the hands of people who need it.
Events
Support community hikes, runs, workshops and gatherings.
Volunteer recognition
Help us recognise people giving their time to races, parks, clean-ups and community organisations.
Data & Insights
Support open datasets, dashboards and research that make outdoor information more useful.
Skills & education
Help members access courses, training and outdoor education.
"If the partnership doesn't make Hikezilla better for members, we probably shouldn't do it."
— Hikezilla crew
How we partnerNo banner ads.
No banner ads.
No sponsored pretending.
We don't want Hikezilla to become a feed of ads disguised as community content.
A good partnership should add something useful — a reward, an experience, equipment, knowledge, funding, access or support for something the community is already doing.
- Give something useful.
- Support something worthwhile.
- Be clear about who's behind it.
If the partnership doesn't make Hikezilla better for members, we probably shouldn't do it.
Why we built the Trail Economy
Good people deserve good rewards.
Outdoor communities run on people who rarely get much recognition.
- The person volunteering at their 50th trail race.
- The person answering hundreds of questions for new hikers.
- The person maintaining trails or cleaning up bushland.
- The person building a free mapping tool because they thought it should exist.
- The person organising hikes so strangers have someone to go with.
Hikezilla recognises those contributions through points, achievements, perks and rewards. Partners can help us give something back.
Volunteer
Volunteer 50 times
Patch: Actually a Good Person
Partner reward example
Your next race is on us.
Free race entry up to A$300.
Knowledge
Earn PhD in Hiking
Patch: PhD in Hiking
Partner reward example
Outdoor education grant.
Help them learn even more.
Building
Earn Data Nerd
Patch: Data Nerd
Partner reward example
Professional mapping/data tools.
Help them build something useful.
Exploration
Earn Peak Finder
Patch: Peak Finder
Partner reward example
Help fund their next adventure.
They've explored Australia. Maybe it's time to leave.
Examples of how achievement-based partnerships can work. No company currently sponsors these rewards.
Not based on follower count.
Based on what someone actually did.
Follower count can be useful. It just isn't the only thing worth rewarding.
Hikezilla also recognises the people volunteering, organising, sharing knowledge, building tools and quietly making the outdoor community better.
Examples
What this looks like, in practice.
Hypothetical examples. None of these are live partnerships yet.
Volunteer recognition
A trail-running brand
A trail-running brand rewards volunteers.
Provide race-entry vouchers reserved for members who've earned a major volunteering achievement. Someone spent dozens of weekends helping other people race. Now they get to race.
Hypothetical example
Data & Insights
A mapping company
A mapping company backs the Data Nerds.
Provide premium software, API credits or mapping tools to members publishing useful outdoor datasets and dashboards.
Hypothetical example
Challenges
A local outdoor shop
A local outdoor shop backs a challenge.
Provide gear credit or equipment to members completing a difficult local challenge.
Hypothetical example
Exploration
A tourism organisation
A tourism organisation supports exploration.
Support a challenge or achievement that encourages members to responsibly explore a region and its trails.
Hypothetical example
Skills & education
An education provider
An education provider backs community knowledge.
Provide navigation, wilderness first aid or outdoor-skills training to members who've made substantial knowledge contributions.
Hypothetical example
Infrastructure
Help fund the stuff people actually use.
Hikezilla runs community tools, open-source projects, a Gear Library, outdoor datasets, events, challenges and volunteer recognition.
Partners can support the infrastructure behind those things — not just advertise beside them.
Gear LibraryOpen-source projectsHikezilla InsightsOutdoor datasetsCommunity eventsVolunteer recognitionChallengesWiki / outdoor knowledgeAccessibility initiativesEducation
See Hikezilla Projects Our partnersWe're looking for our
We're looking for our
first partners.
If your organisation wants to help people get outside, reward community contribution or support something useful, we'd like to hear from you.
Work with us
Want to help us reward good people?
Tell us what your organisation can offer, what you care about or what you'd like to support.
We'll figure out whether there's a good fit.