We’re Macs Adventure and self-guided walking and cycling holidays are what we do best. From Northern Ireland to New Zealand, the Cotswolds to the Camino, our portfolio extends around the world where we plan exhilarating, life-changing and challenging adventures along some of the best walking and cycling routes on Earth.  

Founded over 20 years ago, our first-ever trip was along the West Highland Way in Scotland. A 96-mile journey through the heart of the Scottish Highlands. As we’ve all heard before, true love lasts a lifetime, and our love for this route runs deep.  

Another route that holds a special place in our heart, as well as being a top seller and incredibly loved by many walkers, is the South West Coast Path. An English national trail stretching a thigh-aching 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset! For the ambitious adventurer, we offer the full route across 57 days, or if you’d prefer to complete it bit by bit, you can do it in stages and tackle a section at a time.  

We live and breathe our active adventures and strive for two things – for our travellers to have the BEST time on our self-guided walking and cycling holidays, and to be a business that does good for people and the planet.  

In 2023 we joined forces with associations on the West Highland Way and South West Coast Path - two of our most popular trips - to help support them in their path restoration and maintenance mission. We identified a huge opportunity to leverage our business as a force for good and collaborate with others who have the same goals. It was a natural move to support these organisations, which are doing amazing things to enable us to keep walking these trails.  

Two years on, these partnerships are thriving—but we’re not stopping there. We’ve extended our path maintenance efforts to mainland Europe, partnering with Bergwaldprojekt to support conservation and upkeep along the Lech River Trail in Austria. 

So, we’re donating £5 for every adventurer who travels with us along these routes. That means, by booking your trip with Mas Adventure, you’re directly supporting these restoration initiatives and becoming part of a community that cares about these trails. 

Our Commitment to Self-guided Walking and Cycling Holidays 

Why are we Supporting Path Maintenance on the West Highland Way, South West Coast Path and Lech River Trail? 

These trips go down a storm year after year, with the West Highland Way in particular almost always selling out. We send thousands of adventurers along these routes every year. That’s a lot of feet on the ground! So we must take ownership and responsibility for how our business affects these routes.  
We see almost every day the joy these paths bring to our travellers, and we want to help maintain, improve and preserve these much-cherished routes so that future adventurers can enjoy them too. A well-kept route also means walkers don’t need to deviate from the trail and risk damaging local ecosystems that surround the path or put themselves in potentially dangerous situations. 

How are our Donations Supporting Path Restoration? 

Since launching these partnerships, we’ve contributed over £55,000 to trail restoration and maintenance - including £34,000 to the West Highland Way, £11,000 to the South West Coast Path, and most recently €2,640 (£2,216) to support the Lech River Trail in partnership with Bergwaldprojekt. These funds help purchase essential materials and support specialist labour to keep the trails in top condition - something we couldn’t do without you, our amazing community of walkers. 

Our support goes beyond financial contributions, too. Last year 30% of our team got hands-on with trail maintenance, and we’re aiming to grow that to 33% in 2025. It's clear that our team shares our customers' deep love for the outdoors - eager to dig in, get muddy, and protect the paths that mean so much to all of us. 

What Our People Say 

“I have volunteered before, but it was my first time helping with path maintenance. It was so rewarding to see the difference we made. We took before and after photos of the trails, and I'm glad we did - it was so satisfying to see such a big difference! What looked like a normal path at first suddenly became what it's meant to look like. It really hit me then that this work matters. Now that hiking season has started, I feel proud knowing so many people will be out enjoying the trails we helped tidy up. I’ll definitely be signing up again this year!" - Phoebe, Marketing Executive 

What Does Path Maintenance Involve? 

Our support helps with the restoration of bridges, installation of new way markers, and enhancements to drainage systems. When our volunteers went out to lend a helping hand, they lopped overgrown vegetation, cleared stairs and paths of any debris and helped trim trees that were poking onto the path. While this was partially for the walker’s comfort, it was also to make sure the official walkway was clear, and people wouldn’t start walking off the trail and disrupting the surrounding ecosystems. 

They worked on digging small drainage trenches and clearing the drainage systems to ensure that flowing water would drain away from the path and prevent footfall from walking out with the path boundary. 

Trash Free Trails

For the past two years we’ve partnered with Trash Free Trails, a brilliant non-profit on a mission to eliminate single-use pollution from wild places. So far, we’ve donated £2,500 to support their work and teamed up through their “Purposeful Adventures” initiative, which aligns perfectly with our belief in responsible, sustainable travel. Together, we’re raising awareness, reducing litter on the trails, and doing our part to keep the outdoors clean, healthy, and thriving. 

It’s not just talk—we roll up our sleeves too. Last year, our team took part in a litter pick along the John Muir Way, one of our most-loved routes, and this year we’re joining forces with the West Highland Way Association and Trash Free Trails for another cleanup along the iconic West Highland Way. We also love sharing their 9 Steps to a Safe, Effective & Enjoyable Trail Clean with our community through our socials, website, and newsletters - because everyone can play a part in protecting the places we explore. 

Taking Steps Towards Sustainability 

We strive to leave as small a footprint as possible where we tread. These path restoration partnerships are just a small step in the right direction along our journey towards building and evolving a more sustainable business and future here at Macs Adventure. 

For more information on the path restoration work we’re contributing towards here at Macs Adventure, head to our Path restoration page. And to learn more about how we’re working towards being a more sustainable business, check out our sustainable travel journey hub and carbon counting page.