We had Shawn as our tour guide for 2 days, first to white pocket and buckskin gulch the second day. He was a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable about the area. We highly recommend this tour company because of their knowledge and safety. It was an amazing 2 days.

If you want to see White Pocket or South Coyote Buttes in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, you HAVE to do it with Jeff from American West Scenic Adventures! It was hands down two of our favorite places we'd ever been and going there with Jeff and Shawn made it even better. My husband and I wanted to see both White Pocket and South Coyote Buttes but didn't want to just do the typical day trip with a tour company. We thought each place deserved a full day (and it does!) and being avid campers, thought it would be great to camp overnight in White Pocket to see the sunrise/sunset. We weren't comfortable driving through the deep sands ourselves and so we sought out a tour company that would be willing to do a two-day overnight custom trip with us since we couldn't find anyone who offered it.

Every other tour company we called thought our plan was ridiculous and tried to convince us to sign up for their normal group tour. A few said it might be possible but would have to charge an outrageous price. Then we called Jeff and we immediately knew he was our guy. He thought it was an awesome idea and immediately started brainstorming with us how to plan the trip. He's such a down to earth guy and knows his stuff. He grew up in the area and has an incredible amount off off-road driving experience so we knew we'd be in good hands (you do not want to drive to these places yourself - it's highly likely you will stuck in the sand in the middle of nowhere desert).

I should also mention that while we were at these places, the other popular tour companies came and went multiple times with different groups, while we spend the better portion of the day exploring each place. We couldn't believe how they were brought in and out like cattle, barely stopping for a few photo ops before departing (and driving at ridiculous speeds for the road conditions, I might add, not good if you get car sick!). There are permit limitations of how many people tour guides can bring and how often and we realized that many of these companies were breaking the rules which are in place to protect this amazing place and ensure it doesn't get overcrowded and damaged. After seeing that I would NEVER book with one of the other tour companies, even if I was doing a day tour.

Before our tour, we backpacked overnight in Buckskin Gulch/Whitehouse, ending at a different location than our vehicle. Jeff picked us up at our ending point and brought us back to our car to swap out our stuff before heading off and only charged a very small shuttle fee.

Included in our custom tour were meals so Jeff brought along Shawn to show us around each place while he cooked us our meals. THE FOOD WAS AMAZING!!! We also realized once we got out there that I forgot to grab my husband's bag of clothes and they were so gracious in helping to provide a few extra items from their wardrobe to keep him warm during the chilly nights.

The places were beautiful, we loved getting shown around by Shawn who really knew his stuff about the area and geology and picked awesome walking routes to really highlight each place (customized for our interests, physical abilities, and the lighting for photos), and Jeff's cooking and driving were superb. Not to mention that Jeff was such a joy to work with on planning this trip and the prices were very reasonable and we felt it was worth every penny.

I can't say enough nice things about American West Scenic Adventures and Jeff & Shawn. If you want to check out these places, you MUST do it with them and I highly recommend an overnight to see both (NOTE: you'll need to get a highly-sought-after permit for South Coyote Buttes several months before but White Pocket does not require a permit).

Tell Jeff Stacy & Dan from Cincinnati sent you and say hi from us!

We came to Northern Arizona to do some guided tours. I spoke to Jeff a few times for suggestions, as we only had 2 days. We narrowed down to Buckskin Gultch and South Coyote Buttes. Our guide for both was Shawn. We had such a great time! He is so knowledgeable about the area and made us feel so comfortable. We had a very positive experience, I highly recommend AWSA!