We invite you to adventure the trails of Perth with us. To lose your mind and find your soul through Movement, Connection, and Nature.
Hey there, and welcome to The Hike Collective. The Perth-based hiking adventure tour company, bridging the gap between an urbanised life, and the greatest adventure. We provide a safe space to explore the rugged beauty of Western Australia and empower experiential discovery through unique and inclusive trail experiences. We are one of Western Australia’s hottest emerging tour operators and are successfully maximising access to the local hidden gems around Perth through endless possibilities to explore.
In a term captured by English adventurer, Alastair Humphreys, we create microadventures, offering a realistic escape to wilderness, simplicity, and the great outdoors, without the need to ski to the south pole. We have taken the same philosophy of big adventures and applied it to our small-scale tours. These adventures are not a dilute form, but rather a concentrated one. Distilled. Like a shot of espresso. You get the taste, the effect, and maximum impact in a short, condensed burst of adventure. Our hiking experiences are short and simple, yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing, and rewarding. We make adventure accessible to people who may have little outdoor experience, enabling them to discover the true essence of Western Australia through majestic landscapes and incredible experiences.
The adventure of The Hike Collective began in 2016 when founder, Kate Gibson, began a mental health awareness initiative, providing free hikes each month to locals who wanted to connect with others, and adventure in nature with like-minded souls in the safety of a group. As a personal trainer, she saw the benefits every day of being in nature to move the body and wanted to share this adventure with those around her.
At the heart of our hiking experiences is our team of passionate and high-quality guides, who care deeply about the guest experience, and the places they are sharing with their guests.
Movement Matters. We believe in movement’s transformative power to boost mental and physical health, engender respect for ourselves and our surroundings, and create and strengthen a sense of community. We believe in uniting a diverse hiking community from around the world through connection to self, nature and others.
Connection creates community. We unite a diverse hiking community through connection. Through group hiking experiences, we believe that we can promote connection with self, nature, and others, and nurture an evolving hiking community.
Nature Must Be Nurtured. We protect the places that we love, and when we are directly engaged with our surroundings through hiking, it invites a deeper personal connection to the land. This leads to a greater commitment to care for the trails health and preservation. We strive to comply with environmental protection standards and principles of sustainable tourism as an Eco certified company.
Our mission is to provide a safe space to explore the rugged beauty of Western Australia while mobilising the power of movement, connection, and nature through unique, inclusive, and authentic hiking experiences and endless possibilities to explore.
Hiking trails in WA are an avenue for movement and connection, our pristine and diverse landscapes, flora and fauna are a source of enjoyment, and wellbeing, and we are able to increase access and awareness to hiking in the Perth Hills region highlighting it as an unforgettable and sustainable experience.
Kate started the Hike Collective in 2017 after noticing a gap in opportunity for people to get out into nature on the trails in a safe way and she has an unwavering love for the trails of Western Australia. Her background as a personal trainer and event manager prior to starting the Hike Collective has proven the perfect combination to bring the visions of THC to life. Living the “juggle Life’ , Kate has a toddler to keep her busy when she is not on the trails or getting creative in the office.
Danielle has an incredible ability to connect our hikers to the trails of Perth with incredible storytelling. Her love of the trails is brought to life when she is able to share the powerful stories of the land, and the history and heritage.
Erin joined The Hike Collective in 2019 with a lifelong love of hiking and the outdoors. Being out on the trails has helped develop a love of wildflowers and the Australian bush, while building her knowledge of local Australian history and wildlife. Erin fully embraces the ‘Movement Connection Nature’ philosophy of The Hike Collective and is a strong believer in the power of nature to benefit mental health.
Mariana joined The Hike Collective in 2017. Her love of hiking begun on the trails of East Europe, and has extended to the trails of Perth, where she is able to share her joy of being in the nature. On the trails, she likes taking the hikers out of their comfort zone, offering motivation and support with a never ending smile. As a finance professional Monday to Friday, she loves the balance that hiking brings to her life, and when hiking is paired with boxing, running and coffee, she is living her best life!
Following a memorable day exploring the west end of Rottnest Island as a guest, and hearing more about the Hike Collective’s belief in Movement, Connection, and Nature, John joined The Hike Collective as a support guide in 2021. Helping others to explore hikes around Perth provides a release from the pressures of being a single parent of two teenagers and running a boutique consulting business. John is a passionate believer in the importance of movement as we age and the ability of the body to achieve the seemingly impossible. One of the joys guiding for the Hike Collective is those occasions where a guest has challenged themselves to take on a hike and succeeds.
Hiking helps Dani connect with nature, calm her mind, and energise her soul. She loves to explore the Perth hills, beaches, and trails and share the best that Perth has to offer on tour. ” It is so amazing to be part of a community and team through The Hike Collective with such purpose and drive.”
We believe that our environment is changing and deteriorating and it is a priority to us to provide an environmentally sustainable experience. The Hike Collective is committed to the use and purchase of environmentally and socially responsible materials, products and services. We believe that we can make a sustainable difference.
We understand the importance of impact, and partnering with organisations and brands who share the same vision and values as us, and understand the importance of what we do.
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that direct exposure to nature is essential for our psychological, emotional and physical health (Jordan & Hinds, 2016). In particular, therapeutic approaches that engage natural environments and are focussed on mindful awareness in nature, and building meaningful connections with nature, have shown good outcomes for individuals struggling with anxiety and stress symptoms (Mood Walks, 2015; White, 2012).
We believe that through creating a safe and inclusive foundation for hiking, we can help reduce the percentage of Australians suffering from mental illnesses. By providing hiking experiences that foster community and movement in nature, and encouraging hikers to participate in an environmentally sustainable and low impact activity to protect our trails, we can empower more people to take control of their lives, belong to something special, find an inner sparkle, and enhance their mental health.
Movement and brain health are inherently interconnected, and research suggests that physical exercise is just as beneficial for the brain as it is for the body. While the brain is the control center for the body, the body also directly impacts the functionality and health of the brain. Engaging in movement can reduce anxiety and depression, improve mood, boost self-esteem, minimise stress, and enhance cognitive functioning.
Social connection improves physical health and psychological well-being. Lack of social connection is a detriment to health than obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Social connectedness therefore generates a positive feedback loop of social, emotional and physical well-being.
A Stanford-led study finds quantifiable evidence that walking in nature could lead to a lower risk of depression. Specifically, the study found that people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area, as opposed to people who walked in a high-traffic urban setting, showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression.
The Hike Collective believes that education is important for increasing awareness about where our environmental positioning is at the moment and the role ecotourism can play in achieving sustainability. We are committed to educating our guests on the threats and impacts to the environment in which we operate, and provide best practices to help mitigate the threats and impacts.
Acknowledgement of Country
The Hike Collective acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We acknowledge that this land on which we tread, whilst beautiful and admired by us, has even deeper layers of significance for its Traditional Owners:We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present. The Hike Collective is committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.
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