Choose a Trek
Pick a journey that inspires you, from the birth of the Universe to Everest Base Camp.
THE UNIVERSE · 13.8 KM
Science in motion
Walk through the history of everything.
Time Trek turns the distance you walk, run or ride into journeys through cosmic time, deep Earth, space and the world’s greatest expeditions. Real movement makes impossible scales feel real.
A number can tell you the age of the Universe. A journey can help you feel it. On the 13.8 km Universe Trek, every metre represents roughly one million years. Our entire species appears only in the final 30 centimetres; recorded history occupies about the last five millimetres. Suddenly, scale is no longer trivia. It is something beneath your feet.
Built for explorers, educators and curious minds.
13.8 km = 13.8 billion yearsFinal 30 cm = our entire speciesFinal 5 mm = recorded historyGPS powered discovery
Walk in the real world
Your actual movement becomes the timeline. Walk, run or ride at your own pace.
GPS ACTIVE · NEXT DISCOVERY 98 M
Unlock the story
Milestones reveal clear, credible science exactly where it belongs along the route.
✦ THE COSMIC DARK AGES · READ ALOUD
Why Time Trek works
Do not just learn the scale.
Move through it.
The magic is not a list of facts on a map. It is the moment a fact, a distance and your own effort become one memory.
✦ Milestone reached0.30 km into the Universe Trek
The first stars ignite
Gravity gathers enormous clouds of hydrogen and helium. Their centres grow hotter and denser until nuclear fusion begins—and the dark Universe switches on its first lights.
Why this is cool
For tens of millions of years there were no stars at all. Every starry sky began with this first generation of light.
Why it matters
Stars became the engines that forged many of the heavier elements later used to build planets, oceans and living bodies.
What to picture
A dark cosmic ocean slowly gathering into brilliant islands—then lighting the path toward galaxies and worlds.
Story depth: Child · Adult · ScientistAudio available while you moveSources and uncertainty included
Feel proportion, not just facts
When our entire species occupies the final 30 centimetres of a 13.8 km route, “recent” becomes something you can see and feel.
Give every walk a reason to continue
The next discovery is always somewhere ahead. Curiosity creates momentum; genuine movement earns the reveal.
Make one story work for more people
Child, Adult and Scientist modes change the depth—not the underlying science—so families, learners and experts can share the same Trek.
Explore the Treks
Pick your scale.
Begin the journey.
Time Trek transforms vast scales into distances you can physically experience. Each Trek has its own map, milestones, stories and rewards.
One milestone, three ways to experience it
The same discovery.
A different depth.
At each milestone, Time Trek adapts the explanation to the person holding the phone. Here is how the moment when the first stars ignite changes across the three modes.
Child Mode
“The Universe switches on its first lights.” A vivid, energetic story built around wonder, clear language and a mental picture children can remember.
Wonder first→
Adult Mode
“Gravity squeezes enormous clouds of hydrogen and helium until nuclear fusion ignites the first stars.” Useful science, with unfamiliar terms explained as they appear.
Clear science→
Scientist Mode
“The earliest Population III stars likely formed from metal-free primordial gas during cosmic dawn.” Full terminology, estimated epochs, uncertainty, evidence and scientific sources.
Full context→
Next discoveryThe first stars ignite210 m ahead · about 6 minutes
→0.72 kmDistance
10:28Moving time
12Milestones
The first stars ignite
Gravity gathers hydrogen and helium into the earliest stars.
Read moreRead aloud
Live walking experience
Your world.
The world’s story.
A live map, distance-powered milestones and beautiful science storytelling work together to keep you moving and curious. Discoveries arrive at the right distance, not after another swipe.
◎ Live progressReal-time route mapping
↟ Distance-poweredMilestones unlock as you move
⚗ Science-backedSources and context built in
Honouring the original Time Trek
A remarkable trail started this journey.
The Time Trek idea began as a 13.7 km nature and hiking trail in Finland, created by a multidisciplinary team including Kirsi Lehto, Harry J. Lehto and their collaborators. One kilometre represented one billion years; one metre represented one million years.
Their work showed that a person can understand immense time more intuitively by travelling through its proportions. The Time Trek app is an independent project inspired by that powerful educational foundation—bringing the experience to GPS, adaptable routes, different audiences and many new kinds of journey.
Published in the International Journal of Astrobiology; DOI 10.1017/S1473550412000225.
Institutional collaboration
Build a journey people can physically experience.
Time Trek is seeking universities, research institutes, museums, schools, tourism organisations and expedition operators to co-design credible new ways of learning through movement. A collaboration could begin with scientific review, a small research pilot or a location-based Trek, then grow into a public programme, curriculum resource or flagship institutional experience.
Founding collaboration opportunities now openUniversities & researchersScientific review, public engagement, student projects and learning research.
Museums & science centresExtend exhibitions into indoor, outdoor or city-scale journeys.
Schools & educatorsCurriculum-aligned field learning with Child, Adult and Scientist modes.
Tourism & public placesReveal the science, culture and history hidden inside a real destination.
Expedition operatorsConnect preparation, route milestones and team storytelling.
Sponsors & fundersHelp create credible public-access Treks with meaningful recognition.
Co-createDevelop an institution-backed Trek around a field, collection, location or expedition.
ResearchStudy learning, memory, motivation, wellbeing and engagement with physical scale.
PilotStart with a focused audience, test the experience and build evidence before scaling.
Early partners can shape the platform itself. Opportunities may include advisory input, a named flagship Trek, co-authored research, student involvement, beta access and institution-specific deployment models.
Be part of the journey
Join the beta.
Help shape Time Trek.
Get early access updates and help test an entirely new way to understand time, distance and discovery.
Enter your email to join the early-access list.
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