Bentonite Hills Cathedral Valley Half Day Tour
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Utah, USA
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore the beauty, color, and distant mesas of the Bentonite Hills and Cathedral Valley, containing ancient Native American sites, dinosaur fossils and tracks, and beautifully banded hills of color. Your guide will devise a custom itinerary based on your abilities and interests, including exceptional places not on the usual tourist path. After the tour, you'll have a better understanding of it all, as well as amazing memories of natural splendor.
- Led by a local guide with intimate experience of the area
- Drive through Capitol Reef National Park
- Cruise through the Bentonite Hills, made of Jurassic era sediment
- Gain insight into the geology, geography, and human history of the area
What's Included
- Bottled water
- Gratuities not included
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
Capitol Reef National Park (Pass By)
1
Bentonite Hills
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Greg_H
Had a great time with Mel on our tour. He was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, entertaining, and of course an excellent driver. We got to see places that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to and learned many new things. I would highly recommend his services to anyone who wants to do some back country off road touring in comfort.
Reviews
4.8
based on 59 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Virginia_K, Jul 2026
Wonderful. Fantastic. Well worth the investment. Our guide Mel was the best. Up front he gave us several choices of what we would like to see and then structured the tour appropriately. He took us to parts of the Bentonites that we would not have seen on our own. His academic and professional background helped provide facts that made our trip more interesting and meaningful. The land formations and colors were beautiful and unlike anything we have ever seen. We highly recommend this tour.
Susan_S, Jun 2026
Great tour very knowledgeable guide and driver. Would highly recommend. He was able to adjust the tour to our ability.
maureen_c, May 2026
Mel was great. Very informative & showed me places that were truly inspiring. Had a great time. A very memorable trip. Thanks!
Vianey_V, May 2026
Great experience and explanation from Eugenie our tour guide , very friendly conversation and very comfortable jeep . Very knowledgeable on the area
ltforbes, May 2026
Mel was terrific, friendly and a wealth of knowledge. He was willing to stop anytime if we wanted to take pictures. I would highly recommend this tour. The bentonite hills was absolutely beautiful!
Vance_S, Apr 2026
We booked a tour to account for the roads which can be challenging. Mel picked us up at our Airbnb and drove us out to Bentonite Hills. He is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic while sharing. We had about 30 minutes at two locations plus a quick side stop to see petrified wood, which was cooler than I expected. Mel also made a couple recommendations of other things to do in the area. We did one the next day and it was fantastic.
Beth_H, Apr 2026
My guide Jenny was absolutely the best! So knowledgeable about the region, went on trails that were not normally known to the public. Great experience!
Caitlyn_L, Mar 2026
Had a great time seeing the Bentonite Hills with Jenny! She was incredibly knowledgeable about the area including the geology, plants, history, and best time of day to see various landmarks. She tailored our tour to our interests which included finding old fossilized shells and petrified wood. Her enthusiasm made for an exciting tour and we're hoping to come back to Utah to book more Cathedral Valley tours with Jenny and her partner! 10/10
Lawrence_W, Mar 2026
Jenny was an enthusiastic and informative guide and driver. We learned about the history and geology of the area and even went to a petrified forest
Robin_V, Nov 2025
Private tour into the Bentonite Hills. Picked up and returned to our campground. Plenty of time for pictures. Our guide Mel was full of knowledge about the area, the geology - excellent.
Mary_L, Sep 2025
We had an amazing time! The ride was fun and the views were spectacular! This was a part of Utah I never would have been able to see without this tour. We loved it!
Don_H, Jun 2025
Mel, our tour guide was amazing. Very helpful and accommodating. VERY knowledgeable about the geology and history of the area. Engaging personality, fun stories. Good service, on time and provided more than we asked for.
Perlita_G, May 2025
My husband and I enjoyed our tour with Meridian, next time when we are in the are, we will definitely do it again.
Thank you for taking us around the Bentonite Hills.
Greg_H, May 2025
Had a great time with Mel on our tour. He was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, entertaining, and of course an excellent driver. We got to see places that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to and learned many new things. I would highly recommend his services to anyone who wants to do some back country off road touring in comfort.
James_C, May 2025
Very enjoyable and informative tour ,the guide did a great job. She informed us about what to look for in late evening picture taking.
TheoS, Feb 2025
Experienced guide who is passionate about the area’s cultural, natural & geological history. Would use again if were in the area.
Bev_B, Nov 2024
We really enjoyed our Bentonite Tour with Mel. He took the time to find out what we would enjoy the most and he made it happen! Mel was very knowledgeable about the region and the history. The Jeep was amazing and comfortable. We highly recommend this tour.
Elvisa_A, Oct 2024
The driver was really nice and informative. He showed us how to find different type of rock in different land formations. There was this one part where there used to flow water, and in those sections of land you can find naturally tumbled rocks and crystals.
Dyna_C, Oct 2024
It was our first time to visit this part of Utah. Could not ask for a better company to show us around.
Willem_v, Oct 2024
That's up to me - don't start a mandatory novel full of compliments. We likes what we saw, let's keep it with that.
Leslie_S, Sep 2024
We appreciated that Mel customized our itinerary to meet our objectives. We made the 'blue hour' at Bentonite Hills and it was amazing. Thanks Mel for a once in a lifetime tour!
Karl_R, Sep 2024
This tour is the best way to see bentonite hills up close. Our guide was a very kind and she was very educated and will answer most of your questions on what you will see in your journey aboard a jeep.
Edward_R, Sep 2024
Mel is an exceptional guide. His knowledge and expertise is very valuable. He knows his stuff.
Would highly recommend.
Ed
Stefanie_V, Sep 2024
Safety is not a concern for these companies whatsoever. My friend and I booked a tour to the bentonite hills and cathedral valley for 8/23/24. We had been visiting multiple national parks that week and on 8/23/24 we had finally arrived to the pick up location. We had some time so we stopped at the visitor center to use the wifi and finalize our pick up time and location. Once we arrived at the visitor center there were several park rangers that we spoke to who we had mentioned we had a tour scheduled to the bentonite hills for that evening and the immediate response from multiple park rangers at the counter was not to go due to the rain that had been hitting the area for 7 days straight. They mentioned that rain and the bentonite will turn into clay and several cars(SUV, Jeeps, trucks) including the only tow truck in the town had been stuck out there for several days and it was extremely unsafe and irresponsible to even attempt to go out there. This information was concerning for us so we decided to call Meridian Tours since we haven’t heard from them. We voiced our concerns and relayed the information that was provided by the park rangers. Meridian Tours mentioned that they’ve been doing tours for 5 yrs and they know what they are doing and they won’t get stuck because they have a jeep and that the park rangers only want to hurt their business and not to worry. Then he mentioned that if we had more time the following day that it would be better . That comment made me feel unsafe and I asked to cancel and get a refund since the weather made it unsafe. The guide refused and said it was because it was booked via Viator even though the cancellation policy talks about weather being a reason to cancel outside of the 24 hour period. I hung up and called viator
Viator asked to submit proof. I jumped on the National Parks Service website and submitted screenshots noting that the bentonite hills and Cathedral valley are closed and impassable. Then I submitted videos of the weather showing rain and thunderstorms along with a recording from the NPS also noting that the hills have been closed since 8/21/24. After all this proof Viator declined our request for a refund noting the proof wasn’t enough. To me customer safety is not a concern for them. I understand needing to make money but at what cost?
I am so disappointed in Viator and Meridian Tours lack of care for customers safety and lack of adhering to their own cancellation policy. I travel multiple times a year and I will never use either of these companies.
Response from Host, Sep 2024
This review is not in any way supported by accurate, region specific, informed facts. Its intention is solely to damage our business and reputation because of a reviewer who ignored the terms of agreement they had with Viator and constructed a complicated explanation in attempt to circumvent their own poorly chosen actions . This reviewer refused our service and stated defamatory falsehoods, inaccurate descriptions, and lies. Additionally, posting multiple reviews from unrelated accounts is a violation of Viator's guidelines. She was never served by our business. She refused our service based on unfounded fear and was never told that authorities were trying to hurt businesses. She was eating a hamburger 50 miles and hours away from the region she booked her experience in and stated she was told by officials and other hamburger eaters that she should absolutely not go on the tour. She was informed by us that officials advise visitors based on protecting said visitors, the environment, and others, from ill-advised actions that may be taken by inexperienced, poorly equipped, and unknowledgeable VISITORS, not professional tour operators! Our business is fully vetted, licensed, and insured with no history of the problems she falsely stated as justification for her request to cancel. Officials would never make such statements regarding properly licensed, vetted, and insured operators. The hills were not closed, when the State and County determine the regions inaccessible, they put up clearly posted barrier signs that say "Road Closed". The term inaccessible is used to prevent unnecessary and dangerous actions by visitors operating their own and rental vehicles and no Road Closed signs were posted the date of her tour. She chose to request a cancellation/refund from Viator whom she transacted business with which had no obligation to refund her based on Viator's own clearly stated policy. We were available, able, and responsibly present to safely provide another exceptional experience as we have all our thousands of prior guests. She missed out on a wonderful experience and took the opportunity away from another guest to enjoy the experience by booking and then refusing service. We were in the region of her booked tour and confirmed no conditions were present that would have prevented the safe delivery of the service she booked. All tour operators in the region had been, were, and continued providing safe operations during the period of her visit and we are truly sad she chose to falsely claim danger and safety concerns. Citing unverified, non-related 'evidence' to support her irrational, non-factually based fear, furthered to slander our reputation as well as Viator's. She formulated an opinion based on a false narrative of perceived danger to perhaps justify her own desire to leave the region because she wasn't pleased with the possibility of precipitation. Her opinion does not in any way relate to the facts of the conditions which she chose not to collect clear, accurate data on. We explained to her that there were no conditions present to pre-emptively cancel the tour and that if we arrived upon conditions that would require safely returning without completing the tour, she would be entitled to a full refund as per Viator's stated policy, yet, she refused to even embark. Her request to Viator for cancellation was based exclusively on her own irrational fear, not the true facts of the situation we were thorough in our explanation of and didn't fall within Viator's own policy guidelines for cancellation. We will protect our business and reputation against her actions by responding with the truth in the presence of all her falsehoods. All our guests are informed of the details of their booked experiences and any questions or concerns are addressed professionally and respectfully. We address everything we can and connect them with any additional resources they need to gain the understanding and answers they desire. We cannot, however, professionally address an irrational reviewer who claimed that we were "putting her life in danger" and "all about money" while she ate a hamburger and refused to embark on her tour. All our guests for the many years of our service, who have legitimately, unlike this reviewer, received our services, have never claimed the issues she attempts to represent in her review. Our multitudes of customer experiences, exhibit only 5-star, exceptional service and detail none of the sort of issues she falsely claims to represent. Her review hasn't any relevance to the reality of her interaction with us. We feel that if Viator allows such clearly false, maliciously constructed reviews to propagate on the platform, it does nothing but hurt both Viator's and its supply partners' good reputations and inhibits the ability of other guests to accurately choose their experiences on the platform. Hearsay and inaccurately-sourced, unrelated 'evidence' are not qualified to represent true experience and interactions with Viator and it's supply partners. This review is completely false, misleading, and does nothing to promote a true sense of shared experiences in this space which should be protected from such ill-intended falsehoods.
Terry_D, Aug 2024
Bentonite Hills at sunset was spectacular. Not only were the colors rich, the clouds showed up with similar colors.
Our guide, Mel, was very accommodating for photo stops and answered a million questions.
Highly recommend this tour with Meridian.
Courtney_R, Aug 2024
Melvin was a fantastic guide. He was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Of course, the bentonite did not disappoint! The entire tour was fun with incredible views from start to finish. We would highly recommend this to others and hope to be back again to try a milky way tour!
Ilona_L, Aug 2024
It was really nice to see such incredible views and hear over the history of the place. It was great to see the fossils and stones of millions of years.
Surender_V, Jul 2024
Our tour was guided by Jenny and Mike.(Meridian tours)They both did fantastic job to ensure that the tour was thrilling, edifying and joyful. They explained all aspects of Bentonite Hills in a very amicable manner. I wholeheartedly recommend them as tour guides.
Surender
Sharon_G, Jun 2024
Mel provided stories and information about the area. He provided an excellent tour keyed to our areas of interest. We truly enjoyed our tour!
Teresa_J, Jun 2024
Had a fascinating and informative trip through the Bentonite Hills with Mel. The ever-changing scenery and geology were well explained by our knowledgeable guide, and the vistas are unbelievable! Definitely a bucket list item!
From $195.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Bentonite Hills Cathedral Valley Half Day Tour
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