My wife and I took the tour having done nothing with ATV before. We were a bit nervous. The forecast was snow. There was already thick snow on the ground at the trailhead. So this review is for a winter ATV tour in the snow.
Advice:
Wear warm, wind breaking shell. Gloves are a must. Beany hat or bandana. Face covering. The helmet and visor are not enough. Cold wind will enter the helmet And make you miserable.
Since we stayed in Page, the company let us follow the guide in our car to the trailhead, so we can save the drive back to Kanab to fetch our car when the tour is done.
Trevor was our guide. I'll be honest, at first he looked like someone who was kind of annoyed to get to take another newbies out. Looked like he just came back from a tour and he was not in a tiptop mood. To be fair, the weather was going to be bad and the trail condition was not good. I'd be worry too.
The thing he said before we started that I took to heart was to not treat the Polaris ATV like a golf cart. Oh boy, did I not.
Driving instruction was brief and quick. He led the way and off we went. He did not start slow nor too fast. I felt like he wanted to see how comfortable we were and how far I was going to go along with the speed. I think I gave plenty of indication that I was more than eager.
The trail was wide at the beginning. Snow was fresh. Not too long into it, I skidded and spun around 360 degrees. I thought we were going to flip over but didn't. He stopped and was going to come and help but noticed that I managed to reverse and turned around the ATV myself. That's what I like about Trevor; he did not baby us.
Before we resumed, I took the opportunity to put on a beanie and face cover. It was so cold.
Higher on the mountain, the snow was deeper and the path got very zigzaggy. There were some wet puddles and washboard sections. But we still did 20 to 30 mph. Needless to say I went off track a few times. My wife beside me was screaming the whole time. The Polaris can take a lot of torture and I was very impressed with its capability.
Then it was snowing heavily. The one con about the gear is that the visor got foggy easily. Fresh snow that fell on it tends to stick and hampered visibility. We had to stop a few times to clean our visors.
We reached Inchworm Arch and it was cool. Not too big but unique in shape. We loved it. We found out that Trevor likes hiking in canyons, slot canyons and to arches - just like we do. From then on we swapped canyon hiking stories and tips. It was nice.
Next stop was an overlook of the canyons below the mountain.
Trevor and I hiked down a bit to see dinosaur track. My wife stayed behind because she did not have the right shoes on. Trevor had a blanket for her to stay warm. There was a petroglyphs on the edge of the cliff but it was too snow covered and slippery that he decided it was too dangerous to attempt.
Three hours or so into it, it was time to head back. From here it was nonstop ATV cross country fun ride. Of course I spun around a few times more. But we were Ok. I learned that using the brakes would make you spin more easily. Just play with the gas. And if you started to skid, turn the wheel to the opposite direction. It was super fun, adrenaline rush galore.
This experience is kind of rare because of the snow that added a little bit of danger element to the tour. We love it very much. Thanks to Trevor for putting up with us and not treating us like newbies, even though we were. Highly recommended. Five stars!
