Walk throughthe rock.

Small-group expeditions to the arches, slot canyons and honeycomb walls of Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Six guests at most, permits handled, back before the heat.

38.2673° N, 109.8683° W
Mesa Arch · 6,100 ft

Why the holes

Wind, salt and 190 million years turned sandstone into Swiss cheese.

Navajo and Aztec sandstone were once dunes. Water seeps in, salt crystals grow, grains pop loose, and a pit becomes a pocket, then a window, then an arch. We have spent fourteen seasons finding the best ones — and the quiet hour to see them.

Guides who read rock
Every lead guide holds a Wilderness First Responder card and a geology background.
Permits sorted
We enter the lotteries and file the paperwork. You pack water.
Six guests, never more
Small enough to walk the fins without queueing at the narrow bits.
Leave no trace
We stay on slickrock and wash, never on the living cryptobiotic crust.
Red sandstone wall riddled with honeycomb holes, Valley of Fire
Close-up of tafoni pockets in sandstone

2,000+natural arches catalogued inside Arches National Park alone

14seasons guiding the Colorado Plateau
3,800+guests walked through the rock
27arches and windows on our routes
4.9/5average from 1,120 reviews

Rock guide

Six ways a rock gets a hole.

Hover a row to see it. Every formation below is on at least one of our routes, and your guide will explain it standing right next to it.

  • Tafoni

    Salt crystals pry grains loose until pits merge into a honeycomb.

    Canyonlands, UT
  • Arch

    Frost widens a crack in a sandstone fin until the middle falls out.

    Arches NP, UT
  • Slot canyon

    Flash floods drill a hairline crack into a corridor 120 ft deep.

    Page, AZ
  • Hoodoo

    A hard caprock shields a soft column while the rim retreats.

    Bryce Canyon, UT
  • Sandstone wave

    Fossil dunes, cross-bedded and sanded smooth by wind.

    Coyote Buttes, AZ
  • Window

    Two alcoves erode from opposite sides until they meet.

    Valley of Fire, NV

After dark add-on

At night, the holes fill with stars.

Arches is a certified International Dark Sky Park. After a day hike we drive back out, switch to red light and frame the Milky Way through a window in the rock.

Add to any trip · $65 Bortle 2 skies · Apr–Oct · 9 pm–midnight
Two hikers crossing the desert toward red cliffs in Valley of Fire

How a trip runs

From your motel door to the arch and back.

  1. Pickup before first light

    We collect you in Moab, Page, Kanab or Las Vegas in a high-clearance van. Coffee is already in the cooler.

  2. Trailhead briefing

    Ten minutes on heat, water and crust. Everyone gets a 3-litre pack, trekking poles and a sun hoodie.

  3. Walk the formations

    Slow pace, frequent stops. The guide carries a satellite messenger and a full first-aid kit.

  4. Lunch in the shade

    Picnic in an alcove, then back to the van before the rock gets hot. Photos arrive by evening.

If you can walk 5 miles on uneven ground with a daypack, the Easy and Moderate trips are fine. The Wave trek involves 6.4 miles with no shade and some scrambling.

We enter the advance and daily lotteries for you. If neither draws, we switch to Coyote Buttes South or White Pocket and refund the price difference.

March to May and mid-September to November. Summer trips start at 5 am and finish by 11; we don't run midday hikes above 95°F.

Yes, from age 8 on day trips and 12 on multi-day trips. Kids under 16 get 30% off.

Reviews · 4.9 from 1,120

What guests say at the trailhead.

★★★★★
“Our guide knew which pocket in the wall held water after rain. Standing inside a honeycomb of rock is something I still think about.”
MK
Margot KellerZürich · Honeycomb Walls
★★★★★
“We lost the Wave lottery on day one and won it on day two. They had a backup plan ready either way. Worth every mile.”
DO
Daniel OrtegaAustin, TX · The Wave Lottery Trek
★★★★★
“Six people, one guide, zero rush. We had Double Arch to ourselves for twenty minutes at sunrise.”
PN
Priya NairLondon · Arches & Windows
★★★★★
“The After Dark add-on was the highlight: the Milky Way through a hole in the rock, red headlamps, total silence.”
TB
Tom BrennanDublin · After Dark
★★★★★
“Pickup at 5 am with coffee already poured. Back in Vegas by lunch with 400 photos of the Fire Wave.”
LH
Lena HoffmannMunich · Fire Wave & Elephant Rock
★★★★★
“Our 9-year-old counted every hole in the slot canyon walls. The guide made it a game the whole way.”
CA
Chris & Ana SilvaLisbon · Slot Canyon Light

Gear & media partners

Trusted by 40+ outfitters and publications
Slickrock SupplyMesa QuarterlyDune/LineNorthstar OpticsJuniper RadioBasecamp & CoOverlookRed Dirt Coffee
Juniper RadioBasecamp & CoOverlookRed Dirt CoffeeSlickrock SupplyMesa QuarterlyDune/LineNorthstar Optics

Next departures

Seats are going. Pick yours.

Every departure runs with six guests at most. These are the next ones with space; the full calendar is on Dates & Prices.

Upcoming live