Canyonlands Lake Powell Flyover and slot canyon tour
Will be going on our first Tauck tour in early May. Very excited and have read a lot of the comments on this forum. I am a bit of a sissy when it comes to heights and the thought of sitting in a smail, 6 person plane 10,000 feet up is both nauseating and terrifying! Can anyone tell me about their experience or if there is any way to find out if there have been any accidents? I tried to search online but only found that someone had died in an accident on an Alaskan tour. Was considering the trip to Monument Park but not sure I would be able to handle even longer time in the plane at that altitude! Didn’t like that the person on the phone at Tauck could not commit if the plane would sit 6 or 18…said they would have no way of knowing which planes would be available that day so you have to book without knowing! Also, do you remember which Slot Canyons the tour took you to? Was hoping to go to Antelope Canyon but was disappointed to find out that isn’t on the tour. Lastly, any info about the raft ride down the Colorado River. My husband is not a swimmer and the release they give you to sign is full of all terrible stuff that can happen. Is there anything to worry about in regard to rapids? Just wanted to get a realistic heads up of what to expect from people that have experienced it first hand. Looks like a wonderful time and we are excited to go! Thanks in advance for any advice, particularly from those who might have gone same time of year.
Comments
We took Canyonlands tour years ago and the equivalent Family one just last year. We have been in small phase many times, from just six seats upwards. They have a good track record and all pilots are very experienced and love their job. There really is no way of knowing which planes are to be used. Last year, our family had never been on small planes and they loved the experience. We had paid for the extra flight over Monument Valley, but the weather did not cooperate so it was canceled and we received a refund. I was so disappointed became my husband and I had been there before and it is wonderful.
The raft ride is just a float, no rapids.
Tauck has waivers to be signed for many of their tours, so it’s not unusual and what tour companies have to do these days to protect themselves….i would think mainly from people who do not follow instructions, do stupid stuff.
We were supposed to visit Antelope canyon on our original tour but it was canceled due to flash flooding threats, I don’t know how often that happens. Last year, it was not on the itinerary, we went to another slot canyon and that was one of the highlights of the tour for the family. It was spectacular and we had a very good indigenous guide who helped us all take great photos to make the most of the shapes and colors. Both our adult children had some of their shots made into art for their walls. I can’t recall the name of the Canyon and my notes are on my travel iPad. It hardly matters, it was great. Of course, you know kids, they were fascinated by the fact that our guide had lost several fingers in a horse wrangling accident. He told us all about it and they were fixated on his fingers for some of the tour.
There are plenty of Tauck tours to chose, maybe a different one would have been best to try until you can trust Tauck, but this is one of their most popular tours and has been running for many years.
We did the Canyonlands tour in the fall of 2022 and it was a great tour. For the flight, there were probably 10 to 12 people on the plane. There were beautiful views. The slot canyon tour was not available for our tour but we did the float trip down the Colorado. I am not a strong swimmer and was worried about the raft trip as well - but that ended up to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was very calm and our "captain" was a great storyteller. I have included a picture our TD took of all of us on the raft to give you an idea of seating. There is also a picture I took during the trip of another fishing boat - you can see it was pretty calm.
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The type of aircraft used on the optional Monument Valley trip will be determined by the number of people who signed up. On our tour there were quite a number on the flight. They used a larger 18 seat plane and a smaller 6 seat plane due to the number of people. They just picked people at the airport for each plane. I would tell the TD of your aversion to smaller planes before you go to the airport and they will most likely be able to accommodate you. It was worth the trip.