Thousands of trail runners and hikers around New Zealand use Wild Things to find their next trail run, stock up on gear, grab partner discounts, take part in challenges and stay motivated.

If you've never run on a trail before, or if powering up snowy mountains at the weekend is your thing, it doesn't matter. We're here for everyone, no matter your experience.

We're trail runners ourselves, using the trail directory for our own adventures, and taking part in challenges for that extra bit of motivation.

So, we put together this guide based on how we've seen thousands of other members use Wild Things over the years (plus a bit of our own personal experience!).

We've got you!

If you're here, you've probably already done this, but if not, have a read of this article, here.

If you have signed up for a Free account, it's worth upgrading to the free trial of VIP Membership. It's entirely free and you can check out the features below in full for two weeks. For free.

Click here if you'd like to grab a free trial. Did I mention it's free? 🤣

The first time you visit the trail directory, you'll be presented with a short tour. Follow the prompts - it's super quick and gives you a great overview of the basic things you need to know.

After you've found a trail you like the look of, click on it to view all of the trail details. Can't decide? Here you go.

💡 Feel free to play around with all of the options on the trail details page. Try adding one to your wishlist, or getting directions to the start. Give the different buttons on the map a go too.

💡If you're navigating the trail map on your mobile, it's often handy to click the Expand map icon so you can use it in full-screen mode.

You might not need anything right now, that's cool - but it's worth taking a quick look so you know what you could treat yourself to, and the discounts VIP Membership gets.

Visit the shop here 🛍️

As well as discounts in the shop, VIPs can get heaps (and heaps) of discounts from our partners and events.

You probably won't use these straight away (or maybe you will?!) but again it's worth checking them out to know what you can save on when you're ready.

💡It's worth checking back on the discounts page now and then and hitting the "latest" filter as we're regularly adding new ones.

View our Partner Discounts here.

If you have a Strava account, now is a really good time to connect it to Wild Things.

For more details on this step, read this article, here.

There's always a challenge going on, so head to our Challenges page, here and join one (or more!).

💡 It doesn't matter if you don't think you'll get many points - if you've connected your Strava account, you might be surprised and remember, prizes are awarded as spot prizes, so anyone can win 🕺

Wild Things is here to help you explore more.

Try and use the Trail Directory to plan your next adventure.

Take a look at your Dashboard (here) and you'll find heaps of other features such as FKTs, Target Times and our Community.

Remember, all great journeys start with the first step, so take your time and have fun.

Help Centre 📖

Here we have all our help articles like this one, FAQs, how-tos and more all in one place. Great for your initial go-to if you're stuck. Visit the Help Centre home here.

Facebook Group 😍

Our Facebook Group is full of thousands of like-minded people where you can get some great trail running advice and motivation from the community. Ask our community anything.

It's also a handy place to be kept up to date with any new features, partners and giveaways we are launching!

Chat with support 🗣️

If you'd like some extra assistance with your setup, just reach out via the Messenger and chat with our support team. We're always here to help.

You can also find other ways to contact us here.