Intrepid Travel Resurrects REI Guided Tours with 25+ New Trips
Purchases made through some links on this page may provide The Detour Effect with commissions (at no extra cost to you). Thank you!
When outdoor gear retailer REI ended their Experiences, or guided hiking trips, back in January, the ripples were felt throughout the industry. Disappointed travelers came together online to help each other find alternative outfitters, guides looked for new gigs, and competitors scrambled to pick up the slack. Most surprising, perhaps, was the true mourning that guests expressed. The company’s exit from the travel space felt like a major loss for the outdoor adventure community, and raised questions about its health; if so many people loved REI Adventures, how are they not able to persevere?
Indeed they will. Today, REI and tour operator Intrepid Travel (who I joined on a trip to Jordan, and more recently on a special “Active-Ism” advocacy and conservation-focused trip in the Southwest) have announced a collaboration that will kick off in January 2026, featuring two collections:
REI Exclusive: A collection co-created between the two companies which promises to “deliver adventure and authentic local connections with experiences to match a variety of paces and personalities.” 25+ new trips will be available to book at REI.com/travel starting January 5th. REI co-op members and their traveling companions will receive a 15% discount.
REI Recommended: These 55+ trips across 30 countries are endorsed by the co-op’s experts and encompass a wider range of styles and themes. They will be available to book at either REI.com/travel or IntrepidTravel.com. Members who book on REI.com/travel will receive a 20% off coupon for a future REI gear and apparel purchase.
If you join the co-op today through Nov 24th, get a $30 member bonus card towards your next gear or apparel purchase.
All trips are small group tours, and travelers will be able to choose from both domestic and international locations such as Joshua Tree, Yosemite, and Olympic National Parks in the US, Machu Picchu in Peru, the W Trek in Patagonia (my personal bucket list destination), and the Kumano Kodo in Japan.
For those familiar with Intrepid’s B-Corp status and The Intrepid Foundation, this is a match made in heaven. One percent of each booking goes to the REI Cooperative Action Fund, which supports nonprofits across the US doing essential work to make the outdoors more accessible and inclusive.
This comes a few years after Intrepid similarly partnered with Wildland Trekking, who offer backpacking trips in remote destinations as well as frontcountry basecamp-style and lodge-based trips, day hikes, and llama-supported treks (read about my experience on their Bechler River Traverse with guide Liz Lucas). Intrepid began in Australia and is perhaps better known abroad, but their presence in the North American market is making huge leaps, and these two collaborations are proof of an investment in hiking and trekking adventures specifically.
It remains to be seen how REI customers and adventure enthusiasts will react to the collaboration. There is major trust in REI and their guests seemed hesitant about whether they could trust competitors when Experiences first ended, so I suspect most will be excited their favorite outfitter has returned. Others may feel a bit of whiplash at the announcement, after recently resigning themselves to the idea that REI Experiences was no more.
Everything REI does elicits voracious conversation and wide-ranging opinions. My readers know I pride myself on never writing puff piece reviews in exchange for free stuff (my hate for my old Osprey Aura 65L is pervasive across this blog) and strive to give my true opinions on gear I actually bought and destinations I chose myself (last year I even wrote about other unique operators to choose from besides the big players of Intrepid, G Adventures, and Contiki), but in this case I am too biased.
I have been a proud REI affiliate since the early days of this blog, when I was first getting into hiking and REI was an accessible and welcoming entrypoint for a gearhead newbie; I took orienteering classes at their Flagstaff location in 2019 when I worked at the Grand Canyon, and bought all of my gear at their New York City location in 2016 before my first attempt at a thru-hike. I also worked for four years at Wildland, half of which was during and after the partnership with Intrepid. Then I took a year off to travel and hike (The Arctic Circle Trail, Malerweg, Wicklow Way, Romania), and recently returned to work on the Intrepid side of things. I’d argue it speaks volumes that I have seen behind the curtain and still chosen to stick around (considering the motto of my blog is about taking many “detours” and frequently straying, especially if a situation doesn’t align with my values). So I am particularly excited about this update, but you can simply take this post as a source of news, opinions aside.
Read REI’s Newsroom announcement about the collaboration, and if you’re into it, it may be time to start preparing for a post-holiday booking spree! Where do you want to travel in 2026?
Related:
Pin It:
My dream is to write travel and hiking content full-time. All of my guides and itineraries are free and my travels are self-funded. If you enjoy my site and would like to support, you can donate any amount to my Ko-fi page. Thank you!!