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Key Takeaways
- Every tour is private to begin with. You’re never grouped with strangers, so the real question isn’t privacy — it’s how personal you want the day to be.
- A smaller party means more of everything. With just a couple or a small family aboard, the guide’s attention, the pacing, and the flexibility are yours undivided.
- The pace is set to you, not an average. No lowest-common-denominator tempo across a big group — the tour moves at exactly the speed your party enjoys.
- Photo stops are unhurried. Linger at an overlook, wait out the light, retrace a few yards for a better angle. On a small private tour there’s no one waiting on you.
- Built for occasions. Anniversaries, a couple’s getaway, a proposal backdrop, or a small family who simply want the day to themselves — the intimacy is the point.
- The adventure is customizable. Tell Dave what your group is after — scenery, history, a relaxed cruise — and he matches the trail and the day to it when you book.
- Nothing about the experience is downgraded. Same Kawasaki KRX 1000 machines, same expert guiding by Dave and Trudy Wilson, same helmets, gear, and safety briefing.
- Straightforward pricing. $349 per machine for a 3-hour tour, up to 2 riders; $125 to add a ride-along passenger. Call (435) 219-9447. (For custom or special-occasion arrangements, VERIFY WITH OFFICIAL SOURCE when you book.)
Why Choose a Private Tour?
Start with the fact that reframes the whole decision: with Adventure Tours Vernal, there is no crowded, mixed-in-with-strangers alternative to escape from. Every tour is already yours alone. So choosing a “private tour” isn’t buying your way out of a bad experience — it’s dialing the good one up to its most personal setting. The smaller the party you bring, the more completely the day bends to it.
That personalization shows up first in pacing. On any tour with more machines, the tempo naturally settles to an average — comfortable for everyone, tailored to no one. Ride as a couple or a small family and that compromise disappears. Want to linger at Moonshine Arch until the shadows are right, then open it up a little on the sandy stretches of Doc’s Beach? Prefer to take the whole three hours slow, stopping often for the history and the quiet? Either way, the pace is a conversation between your group and your guide, not a setting the group size decides for you.
The same is true of flexibility. A small private tour can change its mind. If the light is better for photos on the way back than on the way out, you flip the plan. If your group is captivated by a rock-art panel and wants ten more minutes, you take them. If someone would rather trade the wheel and just take in the scenery, you swap on the spot. None of that requires negotiating with a dozen other people — it’s just your party and Dave and Trudy, adjusting as the day unfolds.
For couples and anniversaries, that intimacy is the entire appeal. A shared Kawasaki KRX 1000, a trail most visitors never see, and a guide who gives you room rather than a schedule — it’s an unusually personal way to mark an occasion. Many couples pair it with a longer getaway; our Romantic Weekend in Dinosaur Country itinerary shows how a private tour anchors a whole trip. And because the machines are genuinely beginner-friendly, neither of you needs any off-road background to enjoy it — the Beginner’s Guide to UTV Tours covers that side in depth.
Photography is where a small tour quietly outperforms a large one. The backcountry around Vernal — canyon corridors, hidden arches, ridge-top panoramas on Asphalt Ridge, the golden hour over the basin — rewards patience, and patience is exactly what a private tour has to spare. There’s no line of machines idling behind you while you frame a shot, no rush to keep a big group moving. You stop where the picture is, for as long as the picture takes.
And for families who want the day to themselves, a private tour keeps the experience contained to the people who matter for the occasion — no larger party to coordinate around, just your own group on the trail together. (If your family is on the larger side and you’d rather bring everyone at once, that’s a different, equally good option — see our Group UTV Tours page, which is built for parties up to twelve.)
None of this comes at the cost of the experience itself. You ride the same Kawasaki KRX 1000 side-by-sides — automatic transmission, power steering, full roll cage, FOX 2.5 PODIUM LSC suspension — guided personally by Dave and Trudy Wilson, who built the routes and know every overlook and panel along them. The safety briefing, the helmets, the local expertise: all identical. What a private tour changes isn’t what you get. It’s how much of it is shaped around you. To see the full range of terrain you can tailor a private day around, the Best UTV Trails Near Vernal guide and the Ultimate Guide to UTV Riding in Vernal lay out every option.
Making the Day Yours
The best way to think about a private tour is as a day with adjustable dials rather than a fixed itinerary. You don’t need to plan any of it in advance — but knowing which parts flex helps you get exactly the day you’re picturing. Here’s what’s yours to shape.
One of the dials you can turn is which country you ride. All five trail systems leave from the same staging point in Vernal, so tailoring the day starts with choosing among them — the diagram below shows the full set.
| What you can tailor | How it works |
|---|---|
| Which trail | You choose when you book. Tell Dave your group and what you want and he’ll match the terrain to it. |
| The pace | Set on the day to your party — relaxed and scenic, or a little livelier where the trail allows. |
| How long you stop | Linger at overlooks, arches, and rock-art panels as long as you like. Nobody’s waiting. |
| What the day emphasizes | Say whether you’re there mainly for scenery, history, photos, or a calm cruise, and the tour leans that way. |
| Who drives | Drive, trade off mid-tour, or add a ride-along passenger — your call, adjustable as you go. |
| Timing | Book the slot that suits you, subject to availability. (VERIFY WITH OFFICIAL SOURCE when you call.) |
The through-line is simple: on a small private tour, none of these are decided by a crowd. They’re decided by you and your guide, in conversation, on the day.
Perfect for Anniversaries, Proposals & Milestones
A private tour lends itself to occasions precisely because it’s personal and unhurried. Anniversaries are the most common — couples who want something active and memorable instead of another dinner reservation, in scenery they’ll actually remember. Proposals happen out here too; the hidden arches and canyon overlooks make settings that are genuinely hard to top, and because it’s just your party, the moment stays yours.
The one thing that turns a good occasion into a smooth one is telling us in advance. Let Dave and Trudy know what you’re marking and what you have in mind, privately, when you book — that’s what lets them help with timing and give you room at the right spot. Because a milestone deserves to be planned rather than improvised, VERIFY WITH OFFICIAL SOURCE by calling (435) 219-9447 to work out any specifics together. For couples building a whole getaway around the day, the Romantic Weekend in Dinosaur Country itinerary is the place to start.
Unhurried Photography
If photos matter to you, a small private tour is the format that serves them best — not because of any special equipment, but because of time. With just your group on the trail, you set how long each stop lasts, so you can wait out harsh light, work an angle, or double back for a shot you spotted on the way in. The terrain does the rest: red-rock canyons, the hidden sandstone of Moonshine Arch, and the ridge-top panoramas of Asphalt Ridge are all within a three-hour tour. For a trip built entirely around getting the shot, our Photography Weekend in Vernal itinerary pairs a tour with the region’s other standout locations, and the Best UTV Trails Near Vernal guide notes which trails are strongest for scenery.
Riding Together: Drive, Trade Off, or Ride Along
For a couple or a pair, the nicest part of a two-seat machine is that you don’t have to choose one role for the whole tour. Each Kawasaki KRX 1000 seats two, and the $349 price covers both riders, so one drives while the other takes in the view — then you swap partway through, and each of you gets a turn at the wheel and a turn with the camera. If neither of you wants to drive at all, the $125 ride-along lets you experience the full tour as a passenger with a guide. There’s no wrong configuration, and you can decide on the day rather than in advance.
Planning & Booking Your Private Tour
Booking a private tour is the same simple process as any tour, with one addition worth making: tell us about your group. Choose your date and trail on the booking page or call (435) 219-9447, and let Dave or Trudy know who’s coming and whether there’s an occasion behind it — that’s what turns a standard three hours into a day shaped around your party. Beginners don’t need to prepare anything beyond showing up ready to ride.
Timing is the one thing worth planning ahead. Peak season runs May through October, and because only one full-fleet tour runs at a time, popular weekends — and dated occasions like anniversaries — fill up. If your date is fixed, book early. High-desert weather can also shift quickly; the Vernal Weather Guide covers seasonal expectations, and for same-day conditions or any rescheduling policy, VERIFY WITH OFFICIAL SOURCE by calling us directly. For the practical odds and ends, What to Wear on a UTV Tour and What to Bring have you covered.