This is our second time working with Outriders Northwest. We like to do fun things for our employee outings so last winter we booked snowmobile rentals through Elk Lake Lodge and Outriders supplied the snowmobiles. They were brand new Polaris sleds and it was SO MUCH FUN. They had maps and GPS and were so easy to use.
They do a really good job of giving a thorough, complete orientation to the vehicle (both snowmobiles and RZRs) and they stress safety. Honestly if you break the machine it's because you didn't listen to what they said.
The Lava Run tour is guided and our guide was a woman, which was super cool. We are all local but we still love cruising through our forests here and checking out the lava field. It's definitely easier to follow a guide than try to navigate back there.
If I had to pick between the two experiences, I would say the snowmobiling was better simply because you don't get as dirty, haha. Despite being patient and leaving tons of space in between RZRs, if you don't have enough wind it'll be SO DUSTY. The RZRs are super fun to drive and the backroads have lots of variety, but we all were completely covered in Central Oregon moon dust. They had a leaf blower (sweet touch!) to clean you off with afterwards, which is really amusing. Definitely bring a buff or something for your face, sun glasses, sunscreen, and a bottle of ice water. It gets hot!