Hiking with people you haven’t met
Meeting a stranger at a trailhead deserves more care than joining a group chat. Here is what the product does about it — and what it asks of you.
Hosts approve every request
Nobody joins your trip without your say-so. You see their profile, hiking history, and a short intro before you decide.
Chat unlocks only after acceptance
There is no way to message someone who hasn't accepted you. This is the single most important anti-harassment decision in the product.
Reviews from people who actually hiked with them
Reviews can only be left by confirmed members of a completed trip. Ratings cover reliability and preparedness, not personality.
Share your trip with an emergency contact
Generate a read-only link with the trail, start time, meeting point, and the hour you told them you'd be in touch by. If that hour passes, the page tells them what to do. No login needed to view it, it never shows the group chat, and it never names anyone else on the hike.
Block and report, anywhere
Blocking takes effect the moment you press it, needs no reason, and isn't announced — neither of you can join the other's trips, and a request still waiting between you is withdrawn. Reporting blocks them too, straight away, rather than making you wait on the outcome. A person reads reports about harassment or safety within a day.
Women-only trips
Any host can mark a trip women-only, and we hold that line: requests from members who haven't told us they're women are refused. Gender here is what you tell us — we don't ask for documents, so treat this as keeping the group as intended, not as proof about any one person. Host approval and reporting are what carry the weight.
Before you go
- Read the host’s profile and reviews. A host with no completed hikes isn’t disqualifying — but you should ask more questions.
- Send the trip’s safety link to someone who isn’t coming, and agree on when they should expect to hear from you.
- Meet at the trailhead for your first hike with a new group if that feels better than carpooling. Hosts should never pressure you on this.
- Check the route yourself — distance, elevation, and conditions — rather than assuming the listed difficulty matches your experience.
- Turn around when you need to. No summit is worth an unsafe descent.
Conduct expectations live in our community guidelines.