Personalized Tour: Hidden Gems and Local Insights

Your guide will impart personal knowledge about every facet of the tour and will introduce you to sites and highlights tailored to your preferences, leveraging years of comprehensive familiarity with the area. This includes locations that are typically overlooked by other tours.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Capitol Reef National Park - The journey to and from the Bentonite Hills includes a trip through the famous geology and cultural history of Capitol Reef National Park. Your guide will share insight into the regions geologic origins as well as more recent cultural history and both Native American Fremont Culture and Ancient Puebloan sites located within the region.
What's Included
  • Complimentary bottled water
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities not included
Location
877 UT-24
Utah 24
The meeting point address is The Hidden Falls gas station's parking lot. The same parking lot is shared with La Queva restaurant. Park under a big green sign with gas prices on. Your tour guide will arrive in a black or white SUV with the letters MERIDIAN on it.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(32 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
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1 star
Dyna_c
Oct 12, 2024
Wonderful - It was our first time to visit this part of Utah. Could not ask for a better company to show us around.
Review provided by Viator
Leslie_s
Sep 26, 2024
Wonderful! - We appreciated that Mel customized our itinerary to meet our objectives. We made the 'blue hour' at Bentonite Hills and it was amazing. Thanks Mel for a once in a lifetime tour!
Review provided by Viator
Karl_r
Sep 23, 2024
Exciting tour! - This tour is the best way to see bentonite hills up close. Our guide was a very kind and she was very educated and will answer most of your questions on what you will see in your journey aboard a jeep.
Review provided by Viator
Byshoes
Sep 16, 2024
We have traveled to many parks and more overwhelmed by the beauty and the knowledge on each of the two tours we took. - Mel and Jenny are outstanding tour operators. They are extremely knowledgeable and offer a comprehensive experience of the entire area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Edward_r
Sep 13, 2024
Mel is an exceptional... - Mel is an exceptional guide. His knowledge and expertise is very valuable. He knows his stuff. Would highly recommend. Ed
Review provided by Viator
Terry_d
Aug 29, 2024
Beautiful Bentonite - Bentonite Hills at sunset was spectacular. Not only were the colors rich, the clouds showed up with similar colors. Our guide, Mel, was very accommodating for photo stops and answered a million questions. Highly recommend this tour with Meridian.
Review provided by Viator
Willem_v
Oct 7, 2024
Great experience - That's up to me - don't start a mandatory novel full of compliments. We likes what we saw, let's keep it with that.
Review provided by Viator
714stefaniev
Sep 1, 2024
Safety is not a priority - Safety is not a concern for these companies whatsoever. My friend and I booked a tour to the bentonite hills and cathedral valley for 8/23/24. We had been visiting multiple national parks that week and on 8/23/24 we had finally arrived to the pick up location. We had some time so we stopped at the visitor center to use the wifi and finalize our pick up time and location. Once we arrived at the visitor center there were several park rangers that we spoke to who we had mentioned we had a tour scheduled to the bentonite hills for that evening and the immediate response from multiple park rangers at the counter was not to go due to the rain that had been hitting the area for 7 days straight. They mentioned that rain and the bentonite will turn into clay and several cars(SUV, Jeeps, trucks) including the only tow truck in the town had been stuck out there for several days and it was extremely unsafe and irresponsible to even attempt to go out there. This information was concerning for us so we decided to call Meridian Tours since we haven’t heard from them. We voiced our concerns and relayed the information that was provided by the park rangers. Meridian Tours mentioned that they’ve been doing tours for 5 yrs and they know what they are doing and they won’t get stuck because they have a jeep and that the park rangers only want to hurt their business and not to worry. Then he mentioned that if we had more time the following day that it would be better . That comment made me feel unsafe and I asked to cancel and get a refund since the weather made it unsafe. The guide refused and said it was because it was booked via Viator even though the cancellation policy talks about weather being a reason to cancel outside of the 24 hour period. I hung up and called viator Viator asked to submit proof. I jumped on the National Parks Service website and submitted screenshots noting that the bentonite hills and Cathedral valley are closed and impassable. Then I submitted videos of the weather showing rain and thunderstorms along with a recording from the NPS also noting that the hills have been closed since 8/21/24. After all this proof Viator declined our request for a refund noting the proof wasn’t enough. To me customer safety is not a concern for them. I understand needing to make money but at what cost? I am so disappointed in Viator and Meridian Tours lack of care for customers safety and lack of adhering to their own cancellation policy. I travel multiple times a year and I will never use either of these companies.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stefanie_v
Sep 1, 2024
Safety is not a concern - Safety is not a concern for these companies whatsoever. My friend and I booked a tour to the bentonite hills and cathedral valley for 8/23/24. We had been visiting multiple national parks that week and on 8/23/24 we had finally arrived to the pick up location. We had some time so we stopped at the visitor center to use the wifi and finalize our pick up time and location. Once we arrived at the visitor center there were several park rangers that we spoke to who we had mentioned we had a tour scheduled to the bentonite hills for that evening and the immediate response from multiple park rangers at the counter was not to go due to the rain that had been hitting the area for 7 days straight. They mentioned that rain and the bentonite will turn into clay and several cars(SUV, Jeeps, trucks) including the only tow truck in the town had been stuck out there for several days and it was extremely unsafe and irresponsible to even attempt to go out there. This information was concerning for us so we decided to call Meridian Tours since we haven’t heard from them. We voiced our concerns and relayed the information that was provided by the park rangers. Meridian Tours mentioned that they’ve been doing tours for 5 yrs and they know what they are doing and they won’t get stuck because they have a jeep and that the park rangers only want to hurt their business and not to worry. Then he mentioned that if we had more time the following day that it would be better . That comment made me feel unsafe and I asked to cancel and get a refund since the weather made it unsafe. The guide refused and said it was because it was booked via Viator even though the cancellation policy talks about weather being a reason to cancel outside of the 24 hour period. I hung up and called viator Viator asked to submit proof. I jumped on the National Parks Service website and submitted screenshots noting that the bentonite hills and Cathedral valley are closed and impassable. Then I submitted videos of the weather showing rain and thunderstorms along with a recording from the NPS also noting that the hills have been closed since 8/21/24. After all this proof Viator declined our request for a refund noting the proof wasn’t enough. To me customer safety is not a concern for them. I understand needing to make money but at what cost? I am so disappointed in Viator and Meridian Tours lack of care for customers safety and lack of adhering to their own cancellation policy. I travel multiple times a year and I will never use either of these companies.
Review provided by Viator
Edelizr2024
Sep 1, 2024
Questionable code of conduct - I had an unfortunate experience w/ this company. My friend and I had a tour booked for the Bentonite Hills August 23rd 2024. We were at the pick up location, getting some general information at the visitor’s center. When we told the park rangers where we were going they were adamant about us not going as the terrain was dangerous and had basically turned into a peanut butter like consistency. It had been raining for the last 3 days and told us that a tow truck had gotten stuck out there just a few days before. When we got on the phone w/ Meridian Tours they told us that it was still safe to drive in those hills. Went on and on about all the equipment they had for these types of situations. And that they were unable to cancel/ refund our money because we had booked through Viator. I’ve booked through Viator many times and unfortunately this will be my last. We called Viator and asked to cancel/ refund our money since the circumstances was something that was completely out of our control. And this falls under their “act of god” policy. We sent them a screen shot of the website where it clearly stated the Bentonite Hills was “impassible”, sent the link, and even the phone number for the National Park Service. And they still declined our request for a refund on grounds of they just had a tour on August 18th and everything was ok. But the warning had not yet gone into effect until August 21st. I was disappointed with both Meridian Tours and Viator’s code of conduct. Please be aware before you book a tour w/ any of these companies.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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