Method
How we compare operators
Every comparison site claims to be objective. Rather than assert it, here is the actual method, including what we measure, what we refuse to measure, and where our judgement enters.
What we record for every trip
These come from the operator's own published material. They are facts, not opinions, and they are what the comparison tables are built from.
Where an operator does not publish something, the table says so rather than filling the gap. On enquiry means exactly that. A blank is more useful to you than a guess.
The hard part
Two things we do not use
Star ratings
Because we did not earn them
We have not booked every trip on this site as a paying customer, so we do not publish scores out of five. Sites that do are usually aggregating somebody else's reviews or inventing a number to look authoritative. If you want customer reviews, read them on the operator's own listings and on the booking platforms, where the volume makes them meaningful.
A single best operator
Because it depends on you
There is no best guided hike in Moab. There is a best one for a family with a seven year old in July, and a different one for two experienced walkers in October, and they are not close. Every listing here is framed as best for rather than ranked first to last, because the ranking changes with who is asking.
Judgement
Where our opinion does enter
Facts alone do not tell you which trip to book, so we do make calls. When we do, we say why, and you can disagree with the reasoning rather than having to trust the verdict. The judgements come from three places.
- Local knowledge. Which routes hold shade in August, which have water, which are cairned rather than trailed, and which trailheads fill by eight in the morning. This is what a working guide knows and a listings page does not.
- Reading the small print. A tour advertised as hiking that involves a mile of walking gets described that way here. Not because the operator is misleading anyone, but because the word hiking carries different expectations for different readers.
- Group size and ratio. Where two companies run the same route at similar prices, the one capping the group smaller usually gives the better day. We will say so, and say that it is a preference rather than a fact.
We will not disparage an operator on the basis of secondhand reports or a handful of bad reviews. Guiding is weather dependent and human, everyone has a bad day, and a comparison site is not the right venue for that. Where we think a trip suits a narrower audience than its marketing suggests, we say so plainly and leave it there.
Maintenance
How often this is checked
Every page carries the month its figures were last verified. Prices and trip menus are reviewed before each main season, in early spring and early autumn. Permit and access rules are checked whenever the National Park Service or the Bureau of Land Management announces a change, because those are the facts most likely to ruin a trip if we get them wrong.
If you find something out of date, tell us. Corrections about permits, prices and access get priority and we note the date on the page when we fix them.