I get to be the bad guy with the first average review. the owner will surely point that out, which valid, as are my complaints. the tour itself, generally speaking, is awesome and even a great value imo. the vehicles are up to the task, the content is fantastic, the tour is plenty long and we had a blast. i am compelled to review though, with my complaints, as we did have a major safety concern. with my 18 year old behind the wheel we came too close to rolling off a cliff side with a 20 foot drop.
we can all argue forever about how close it was, how far the drop really is, why it happened etc. bottom line is... before she took the wheel for that section, i specifically discussed the prospect with the guide, riley. i told him she is 18, told him she has never driven an atv or anything, and asked if he thought she could handle it... and based it on his opinion of how the UPCOMING section compared to the PREVIOUS one. section 1 had been "scary" fun. section 2 was mostly level, a zig zag blast of fun. riley said upcoming section was similar to the last one. and based on his response, my daughter took the wheel. section 3 was not like section 2. but she was cautious and she did great... until she didnt. a small but very vertical pop was the, on hindsight, one of the trickiest so far (but deceiving as it was small). it was one of the few where tire spin seemed likely. she did spin the tires, and again, and then we rolled down backwards. there wasnt much room for error at that point with the cliff side close by because she had drifted to the left coming off the vertical. my daughter panicked and to prevent disaster i had to grab the e-brake. there are spots on this course where a rollback like that would have been disastrous.
FYI the next vehicle through - a professional tour operator, also spun his tires and came rolling back off the vertical - TWICE - before succeeding. bottom line... riley, being the expert on the course and charged with the our safety, should have said upon my earlier inquiry, something like "if you are asking that question, she probably shouldnt be driving this course. its up to you - but there are some challenging spots up ahead so matter who drives". for instance - there were spots up ahead (i had gotten back behind the wheel b5 these ones), where riley told us "make sure you stay between the painted lines here, or you'll fall off the side")
the course is very challenging for tourists without atv experience. the lady working the desk tersely concluded that it was I who should have realized my daughter wasn't up to the task. and while i can accept that premise and part of the blame... i was relying upon the experts and i did very specifically ask riley for advice prior to the driver switch.
riley is 17 years old leading these tours - and while he may be the best atv driver ever, he is still a young kid in charge of keeping people safe - mainly tourists oput of their element and with their guards down. i was worried the moment he announced his age at the start of the tour to be honest. so, my bad, to an extent. he also made it very clear that he was hung over as he delivered the initial info on the vehicles and the course. he alluded to it multiple times. again, the owner may claim that his references about his "rough night" could mean many things. please, spare me, i am 52, he said much more than "oh i had a rough night" and i knew precisely what his references meant.
there are literal scientific reasons regarding decision making that compel most states these days to have separate driving rules for under 21 drivers. all the other companies in moab require 21+ for the self-drive tours and upon hindsight it seems more sensible. having 21+ guides seems sensible as well. i don;t question riley's driving skill and knowledge. he discussed his driving experience, and his deep knowledge of that course in particular, many times during the tour. and if he is that skilled and knowledgeable, he should have given a better response to my queries about the potential driver switch.
its a challenging course. it can get you into trouble. a young driver in particular could absolutely have an issue leading very quickly to a perilous situation. I should have done the math better on that... and riley should have as well.
i definitely didnt appreciate the person at the desk dismissing my concern and putting it all on me. lol, she was VERY gracious when i delivered my other complaint - the well advertised "water to be provided during the tour" wasnt provided and it was 105+ that day. but her attitude changes quickly when "safety" was mentioned - and i was very forgiving in lodging the complaint. and i acknowledged when she put it all on me that perhaps i share the blame. but i walked out with my 2 waters to go feeling entirely unappreciated.
its a serious "charge" that i made... and it was a serious situation rolling off the vertical towards a cliff edge.
the tour was amazing. i believe the company is generally fantastic and can list their safety measures in their response. but on our tour, a weakness was revealed which they didnt seem at al concerned about at the time. riley seemed like a great kid, with great potential for leading tours, but he was clearly "under the weather" and off his game that day. the desk person was adamant that they ALWAYS provide the water and even give out water to others on the trails as needed. i believe her, 100%. it was a rare oversight... and i guess that could have something to do with riley coming off a "rough night" prior to the 8am tour driving thru the cliffs.