Trailhead Newsletter
October 2025
Walkers Welcome!
Welcome to our new Trailhead Newsletter Website!
This is where we hope to build a space for walkers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts to find both inspiration and practical ideas. Walking brings people together, whether on familiar paths close to home or on adventures further afield. With this newsletter, we want to foster a community of like-minded walkers.
You’ll find new content each month, including features on long distant walking trails, navigation, new walking publications and photo competitions.
In this issue you’ll find four features:
- Trail of the Month: Insights into the Causeway Coast Way with Jack McKenna from Absolute Escapes.
- Some helpful tips on getting kids hiking with psychologist Fergal McLoughlin.
- A behind-the-scenes look at cartography with Barry Dalby of EastWest Mapping.
- Our first monthly Trail Photo Competition.
Causeway Coast Way
Thinking about where your take your next walking adventure?
Our new Trail of the Month series is here to inspire future journeys. This month we begin along the north coast of Northern Ireland.
The Causeway Coast Way is a 50km route that takes in world-famous sights such as the UNESCO-listed Giant's Causeway, the iconic Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and several Game of Thrones filming locations.
We ask Jack McKenna of Absolute Escapes about where the real magic lies and find out about his hidden gems, from quiet rock pools and castle ruins to the simple joy watching cows on the beach. It is definitely a trail worth finding out more about.
Barry Dalby of EastWest Mapping
What ingredients do you need to make a great hiking map?
For those who value precision, heritage, and the skill of turning landscapes into lines on paper, many will already be familiar with EastWest Mapping and recognise Barry Dalby as a master craftsman.
In advance of his new book MapMan ~ Irish Maps & Mapping, Barry reflects over three decades of cartography, from the essential fieldwork that sets great maps apart, to the traditions of local placenames, to the changing tools and materials of modern mapmaking.
How to make hikes fun for kids
Do you have trouble getting the kids excited about hiking?
It isn’t always easy to get them out the door but there are a few simple tricks that can help parents (and grandparents) instill an appreciation of the outdoors in our younger members of society.
Fergal McLoughlin and Mairéad Furlong, both psychologists, know this well as their young son has already climbed the highest peak in every Irish county. Blending trail experience with professional insight, they show how hiking can boost family wellbeing while keeping children engaged and curious.
Prize: Silva Binoculars
We are launching our first monthly Photo Competition, which is open to hikers everywhere around the globe.
This month’s theme is Autumn in the Great Outdoors, whether it’s a favourite local trail or a fond memory from a holiday in Ireland or the UK, we would genuinely love to see it.
The winner will recieve a pair of Silva Pocket 10X Binoculars (retail value €60), compact and lightweight making them perfect to bring hiking.