Our guides have traveled this high clearance, 4-wheel-drive, two-track road many times and have plenty of navigation experience as well as knowledge of the most interesting sights to point out. First thing in the morning, you meet your guide at our retail shop in Torrey, conveniently located at the junction of highways 24 and 12. On the way, you will pass the National Park system's oldest orchard (dating from Mormon pioneer days), historic structures including a school and a settler cabin, and some of the most awe-inspiring natural features in Capitol Reef.

You will then turn onto the dirt Cathedral Valley road for a drive that showcases sandstone rock spires and towering natural monuments. The vistas along this route include views of Thousand Lake Mountain, Boulder Mountain, and the Henry Mountains, which were the last-explored, last-mapped, and last-named mountains in the lower 48. Lunch on this trip will be at a stop overlooking the Cathedral Valley, a perfect picture-taking site.

There is the additional option of stretching your legs for a brief stroll either at this lunch stop or around the base of the two most well-known features in Cathedral Valley, Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. After lunch you continue on through the Hartnet Draw across the Bentonite Hills through Blue Valley. A memorable ending to the trip is when you cross the Fremont River at the River Ford! These trips usually return to the office between 4 and 5 PM.

First thing in the morning, you will meet our guide at our retail shop in Torrey, conveniently located at the junction of highways 24 and 12. You will head east through the Fremont River Gorge Canyon, which iconic Western writer Edward Abbey termed the most stunning one in Capitol Reef National Park. On the way, you will pass the National Park system's oldest orchard (dating from Mormon pioneer days), historic old structures including a school and a settler cabin, and some of the most awe-inspiring natural features in Capitol Reef. This area holds some of the most varied and interesting terrain in Utah.

You will then head south down Notom Road, which starts paved but soon becomes dirt. This road runs all the way down to Lake Powell, but you will turn right well before then and ascend up the Burr Trail Road. Right at the top of the Burr Trail switchbacks you will stop to stretch your legs and eat lunch. When you start your journey again, you will pass through the tiny town of Boulder, the last place in the continental U.S. to still receive its mail by mule train—through the 1940s.

From there, you will be shuttled over Boulder Mountain along one of America's most spectacular highways, Highway 12. Verdant Boulder Mountain, the highest timbered plateau in North America, is covered by lakes and streams interspersed amongst high mountain meadows and light, airy aspen groves. Boulder Top, as it is referred to by the locals, features stellar views of Capitol Reef, the Henry Mountains, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Book Cliffs over 100 miles away!

You will return to our store between 4 and 5 pm. Lunch is included on this trip.

Starting bright and early at our retail shop, conveniently located at the junction of Highways 12 & 24 in Torrey, you and your guide will set out. As you curve over the flank of Boulder Mountain, to your east you will see the sublimely beautiful, almost entirely uninhabited rocky canyon and desert landscape sprawled all the way to the Henry Mountains. The Henrys were the last-explored, last-mapped, and last-named mountains in the lower 48 states.

As you head south along Highway 12, you will soon catch a glimpse of the immense grandeur of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which encompasses nearly 2 million acres of remote, rugged, and spectacular scenery. This austere landscape is home to unexpected waterfalls, desert denizens ranging from lizards to jackrabbits to golden eagles, and gorgeous sandstone formations right alongside the road. Shortly past the town of Boulder (the last town in the U.S. to receive its mail by mule train, which it did until the 1940s), you will turn off the paved road and begin your off-road experience.

The Hell's Backbone Road is aptly named, snaking as it does over a narrow bridge spanning a sheer chasm below! As you head deeper into the wilderness you also gain elevation on Boulder Mountain. Threading through tall pine trees, the cooler air circulates and the views never stop. Boulder Mountain, often referred to by locals as the Boulder Top, is itself a level plateau that stretches 12 miles in diameter and 10,000 to11,000 feet high. (The road you will be traveling on doesn't go quite that high.) It is also part of the Aquarius Plateau—the highest timbered plateau in North America. This is big country, home to 183 species of forest-dwelling birds and mammals! You might catch a glimpse of pronghorn antelope (which might race your vehicle), peregrine falcons, bald eagles, mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, and over 800 lakes and ponds. Prairie dogs, once almost driven to extinction, now thrive on the lower slopes.

Your route will drop down in elevation on the Aquarius Plateau northwest of the Boulder Top. Winding through sagebrush, cheat grass, and stands of pinyon and juniper trees, you will soon arrive back on the paved Highway 24 and return to our store in the late afternoon or early evening.

Join us for this spectacular journey. Lunch is included.

Escalante 4x4 Tour

First thing in the morning, you will meet at our retail shop in Torrey, conveniently located at the junction of highways 24 and 12. From there, you will be shuttled over Boulder Mountain in our vehicle accompanied by your knowledgeable local guide, who will tell you a bit about the area's history and stop at overlooks along one of America's most spectacular highways, Highway 12. Verdant Boulder Mountain, the highest timbered plateau in North America, is covered by lakes and streams interspersed amongst high mountain meadows and light, airy aspen groves. Boulder Top, as it is referred to by the locals, features stellar views of Capitol Reef, the Henry Mountains, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Book Cliffs over 100 miles away!

As you descend the other side, you will pass through the tiny town of Boulder, the last place in the continental U.S. to still receive its mail by mule train—through the 1940s. You will then head west toward the town of Escalante and the remote, off-road Hole-in-the-Rock Road, which twists through the heart of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument. This is truly a 4x4 experience. The austere, beautiful desert views are immense and striking in their varied formations. Fifty-Mile Mountain runs alongside for much of Hole-in-the-Rock Road, and the vistas are open all the way toward the Henry Mountains to the northeast. Scientists such as geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, historians, and biologists have all been afforded great opportunities for new research in this wind-shaped region, and you will understand why as you look around. The multicolored cliffs, plateaus, mesas, buttes, pinnacles, and canyons you will see along this drive are stunning!

Options for this tour include stopping to hike Calf Creek Canyon, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in southern Utah. This is a 5-mile round-trip hike that features ancient Native American ruins and pictographs, abundant flora, and towering sandstone cliff walls along the whole route. This trail follows the creek the entire way and is shaded in spots. The falls are a great lunch destination.

An alternate choice is to stop at the junction of the Escalante River and Highway 12. This is another magnificent area that features a hiking trail along the river as well as a well-hidden scramble to some ancient petroglyphs. It is an excellent, cool place to stop and eat lunch on a hot summer's day.

If continuing all the way to Hole-in-the-Rock Road, there are three possible stops there as well. One is to view dinosaur tracks preserved in the rocks for millions of years, baked under the Utah sun. Another is explore Spooky Slot Canyon, an amazing adventure into a very narrow canyon created by eons of water action shaping the very rock. A third great lunch stop along Hole-in-the-Rock is at Devil's Garden, a natural “garden” of sandstone formations that will entice the imagination and provide a fun natural playground for kids of all ages.

No matter which option best suits you, our 4x4 tour into the desert canyons and plateaus of Grand Staircase-Escalante presents some of the most classically breathtaking scenery to be found in all of southern Utah.