I am not one to leave anything less than nice 5 star reviews as I do not tend (or like) to leave and speak negatively about any business. However, I do not want anyone else to feel swindled and misled like we do.
We needlessly threw away $1200 here, which nobody has to do to get the experience we did - you can 100% easily do this on your own, with buying a day pass to get in the park and without a guide. My wife and I could have simply driven ourselves to Zion park and done everything we did here on our own, among the large herds of other people doing it there with us.
Positives: Our guide Moises was a very nice and courteous gentleman and pleasant company to be with. He was a great chauffeur who picked us up at where we were staying (AirBnB) and drove us out to Zion national park and after, safely returned us back to where we were staying. He took a couple pictures for us. If you're okay with spending $1200 for this (a nice chauffeur), he is wonderful!
Negatives: There was nothing private about this hike and we don't feel we had a guide. After arriving at the park, we then waited in line to get on a public shuttle bus that took us to trails. It was a nice hike and good scenery - but it was not the Narrows.
Our guide Moises did not appear to be an experienced hiker or physically fit, which I suspected early on with his choice of clothing attire he wore for the day. From the start of the hike, he couldn't physically keep up with us and we reached the top of the trail (a couple of miles) about 25 minutes ahead of him and waited for him there at the top. I essentially led my wife up and along the trail as we hiked along with numerous other people out on the trail.
After being patient and trusting/allowing us to be "led" and not seeing the Narrows yet as the day and sunlight was winding down, I pushed our guide to see the Narrows (it is after all, what we signed up for to see). We then proceeded to go to the Narrows, but we were only able to get to the head of the trail and not go in any further where all was there to see - apparently (as we were told) for not having the license to do so (I don't see online that you need any license for this) and further, our guide Moises did not have any of the hiking gear (boots, water pants, etc) to do so. Moises simply was not capable of leading us through the Narrows. That is where it ended, day and hike over.
Summary: The hikes and scenery in Zion was great and we would highly recommend going to Zion - just save your money and go there yourself and get a day pass for $35. But this entire $1200 "private guided hike" to the Narrows was a blatant and misleading advertisement and we would never recommend this to anyone else for this insane price tag. We feel really ripped off and spending this $1200 only got us a nice chauffeur - which is not what we were paying for and again - we could have driven ourselves to Zion in our rental car which we had already paid for and saved a lot of our money.
Again, I do not like to leave a negative review but I would hate for anyone else to waste this kind of money and feel like we do. We are not super wealthy people and $1200 was a lot of money to us to unnecessarily and literally waste on something like this. We have happily paid for guided tours in the past and they were completely different (and awesome) experiences compared to this.
I think these guys could do well if they get the appropriate gear while ensuring they are physically capable by practicing hiking these trails (and getting to know them like experts) and THEN offer these highly priced guide services after doing so. I think everyone should know these guys (albeit super nice and personable, good people skills, etc.) are (in our opinion) essentially inexperienced hikers that are asking a premium price that should only be charged by experienced guides with all the necessary tools to provide the experience being advertised to their customers.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
May 2022
Hi Roger,
I am sorry to hear you were not pleased with your recent experience with us. We pride ourselves in offering a safe, fun, welcoming experience with mild hiking and lunch. We generally cater to active seniors and families with Children; It sounds like we may have not been the right fit for you.
It appears Moi agreed to take you on a hike that was not on the itinerary, in his efforts to provide you with a more active experience. The itinerary offered from Salt Lake City is for mild trails in Zion National Park, and the Riverside Walk, time permitting. We have never offered the river portion of The Narrows hike from Salt Lake City, as there is just not enough time to complete this hike; and return to Salt Lake City the same day. We charge higher prices for private transportation from Salt Lake City, as the experience lasts 15 hours and includes over 600 miles of driving in a single day.
Though all experiences we offer are private, we cannot control the number of people in the park. Our commercial permits do limit the trails we are allowed to use with customers, and these are trails that have heavier afternoon use.
We wish you well in all of your future adventures.