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Recently, Huffington Post did a list of "must visit" places and things in every state, and although the list lacked many of the most spectacular national parks in the world, we were pleased to see one of our favorite locations on the list for Utah.  Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is listed as one of the "must visit" locations for the Southern United States, and we could not agree more.  Delicate Arch is one of the most photographed and scenic locations in the Southwest, and has come to be recognized as an unofficial symbol of Utah. Delicate Arch towers over eighty feet in the air, and is considered by many to be the world's most beautiful natural archway.  Many also consider the Delicate Arch hike to be one of the best in Arches National Park, along with the Devils Garden hike. Arches National Park itself is located five miles north of Moab, Utah.  Delicate Arch is actually located 11.7 miles into the park at the Wolf Ranch turn off. When hiking toward Delicate Arch, you will encounter  a wide and well defined trail that leads to the base of a steep sandstone hill. The trail follows cairns (stacks of rocks) as the route climbs over the sandstone hill.  As you near Delicate Arch you will pass Frame Arch on your right.  Frame Arch is often used by photographers to capture the beauty of Delicate Arch in a completely unique way, by framing the photo of the arch with another arch. Arches National Park and Delicate Arch in particular is one of Bindlestiff Tours most requested and popular excursions.  The completely unique visual landscape is something that every adventure tourist should see with their own eyes, as photographs do not nearly do justice to the incredible span.  You can inquire for more information

In an article recently released by Huffington Post entitled The Most Photogenic Places On Earth, The Grand Canyon was voted by a group called Veryfirstto as the third most photogenic place on earth, trailing behind Bora Bora and The Great Barrier Reef.  We cannot say we are surprised, as we have always known that the Grand Canyon offers one of the most dramatic geological views that can ever experienced.  Although the article only addresses the Grand canyon from a photographic sense, and the creation of dramatic images utilizing it as a backdrop, we can easily also vote the Grand Canyon National Park as one of the most interesting and beautiful experiences from an adventure tour aspect that can be had anywhere on earth.  Of course we feel lucky that it just happens to be located practically in our back yard, and close enough that we can offer a tour of the Grand Canyon as a single day trip leaving from Las Vegas in the morning and having you back in your hotel room by evening (as well as multiple day camping trips as well,) so we are probably a little biased in our voting. If you are interested in touring the grand canyon in order to photograph the third most photogenic place on earth, Bindlestiff Tours has you covered with our inclusive adventure tour packages which offer not only transportation to the park, an expert guide who is experienced with the area, lunch, hiking and nature walking/photography....we can even arrange for a helicopter ride over the canyon expanse which is sure to not only thrill you but also provide you with an even more dramatic view than the Huffington Post reported on.  The Grand Canyon is one of the deepest and most diverse canyons on earth, and will provide you with

Bindlestiff Tours proudly announces the addition of Joe Dan Boyle to it's already impressive team of tour leaders.  As many customers already realize, Bindlestiff Tours prides itself on employing only the most experienced guides that are available, a practice which translates to better customer experiences and a richer traveler environment.  The Senior Tour Leaders are chosen due to their knowledge of specific areas due to personal experience with them, to their lifestyle that embodies the experiences that Bindlestiff Tours makes part of every customer's trip.  "The tour leader is the guide that shapes the experience of every customer on a tour, and their knowledge of an area must go beyond what they themselves have read in books," said Rachel Frampton, owner of Bindlestiff Tours.  "The guide must live and breathe the area, must understand it from a local perspective and truly love adventure travel, or the customer will simply be being given a guided tour instead of what we offer, a real, living experience of the area."

Many people traveling to the American Southwest want to experience one of the harshest climates on the face of the earth, and put a Death Valley tour on their calendar.  Even though a tour of Death Valley under the right circumstances is a wonderful experience filled with some of the most exquisite scenery you will ever experience, visitors must realize that the area itself can be dangerous if you attempt to explore it yourself without a qualified guide who knows the area.  Last year, a news story surfaced about a family who ventured into Death Valley with only a few bottles of water and a GPS system, only to find that many of the roads that the GPS listed were not actually there, and much of the information was incorrect.  They ended up running out of gas deep inside the territory, and did manage to be located by the California police in the nick of time.  The lesson to be learned from their experience is that Death Valley is not to be taken lightly, it is a very large expanse of unpopulated area that is also home to a climate that can literally kill you in a short period of time.  Exploring it on your own without experience with the area can prove to be a grave mistake if you get lost or are unprepared. Death Valley is home to the highest temperature that has ever been recorded on Earth.  If you embark on a Death Valley tour during the summer months, you can expect to be exposed to a level of heat that you probably are not prepared for.  Once the temperature is over 100 degrees, the relentless sun can cause visitors to become light headed, confused and dehydrated very quickly.  It is important to understand why the landscape

In a recent article on News.com.au in the travel section, the author attempted to put together a list of global travel destinations that provided the best experience based on the grandure of the location itself and weighing it up against the amount of tourists that will also be sharing your experience, in an attempt to find the best travel locations for those who want to experience the landscapes of the world without feeling like you need to take your picture quickly and move out of the way so someone else can take theirs.  In a list that included such exotic locations as Burma, Italy, Morocco and Peru we were not surprised at all to find one of our favorite locations mixed in to the list, and tours of Monument Valley were presented among the 20 best places on earth to visit. What needs to be taken into consideration when judging the best places on earth to visit as a tourist is how many other people are also doing the same thing as you, and potentially making it feel less like you are experiencing the area and more like you are just looking at it through a window.  Bindlestiff Tours has always strived to make our tours more of an experience, and to guide our clients through an area, providing interaction and interesting facts as we move, but not interfering with your experience as a adventurer.  When you enter an area like Monument Valley, you feel as though you are transported back into the Old West, and visions of cowboys riding across the range immediately come to mind.  The beauty of Monument Valley is that in addition to that fantastic landscape of vast sandstone buttes that reach upwards of 300 feet into the air, there will be very little in the

Death Valley tours are some of the most popular excursions that are offered by the tour companies that call Las Vegas home, and Bindlestiff Tours is no different with Death Valley tours being offered at almost all times of the year.  "There are some points during the summer when it just gets too hot to be safe," commented Rachel Frampton, owner of Bindlestiff Tours.  There are points during the summer months when the area really does live up to it's name, and it gets so hot out there that it is not a comfortable place to visit." Death Valley saw its first 120 degree temperature this year on June 9.  Yes, you read that right, it was 120 degrees in Death Valley in June.  What is truly amazing about this is that it is expected to get even hotter than that in the later summer months.  Here are a few facts about Death Valley that most people might not know: 1. On average, Death Valley California sees 15 120 degree days. 2. June 25 -August 15 are the average first and last days that Death Valley sees 120 degree temperatures each year. 3. In 1917, Death Valley recorded 52 120 degree days. 4. In 2013 Death Valley saw 27 120 degree plus days. Very few places in the United States ever get to see 120 degrees on the thermometers.  Of all of those places, none ever get to reach the temperatures that Death Valley can reach, and as a matter of fact in 2013 Death Valley actually almost hit 130 degrees, falling just one degree short on June 30.  Death Valley actually saw eight straight days over 125 degrees from June until July.  If you were looking to get out of the heat of the day and think that it

Bindlestiff Tours-  Monument Valley National Park Few places offer the majestic landscape and soaring views that characterize Monument Valley National Park. This must-see natural wonder is a destination that is included in most Utah and Arizona guided National Parks tour packages offered by Bindlestiff Tours. Visitors have the option to visit Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, and Zion as part of a three, seven, or twelve day trip. For adventurers seeking the ultimate National Park experience, there is also a twenty-one day tour available. When touring Monument Valley, you will be immersed in the vast, open desert that defines the American wild west. Our 4x4 jeep tour offers a genuine outdoor experience, and you will have the opportunity to hike, camp out, and live like the cowboys did. The unique sandstone formations are some of the most photographed in the world, and have appeared in countless iconic Western movies. Vivid red and gold butte and mesa formations, carved out for centuries by slow-moving rivers originating in the Cutler Formation of the Colorado Plateau, get their rich color from iron oxide in the stratified layers of sandstone. Some of the more well-known formations include the East and West Mitten Buttes, Merrick Butte, Honeymoon Arch, and Mitchell and Wetherill Mesas. One of the most often photographed is Totem Pole, a spire of rock that reaches 450 feet high, but only a few meters wide. The juxtaposition of these formations thrusting up from the sweeping valley floor make for stunning sunsets and incredible photographs. As the sun drops in the sky, it bathes the towers in rich red hues, and casts long shadows on the valley floor. We ensure our visitors have ample opportunity to photograph these breathtaking sunsets, but many simply stare in awe at the wondrous scenery. Your guide will educate you

There has been a great amount of discussion regarding federal land and National Parks this year, with many politicians attempting to make a name for themselves by taking up the position that federal land should not belong to the federal government, and instead should be seized by the individual states that the land is bounded by.  This political posturing may be a difference of opinion between the parties, but the potential future of our National Parks may hang in the balance.  By the theory of federal land being transferred to the individual states, the outcome could be current National Parks being sold off to the highest bidders for a variety of activities including development, drilling, exploration, logging,  fracking and pipelines.  While this may seem like something worth considering as it could raise money for cash-strapped states, the consideration must be made to recognize the fact that our unspoiled National Parks cannot be recovered if any of these activities were to take place.  Once they are gone, they are gone forever. A prime example of this fight is happening in Colorado, where Republican nominee Bob Beauprez recently stated during a debate that he supported the seizure of Colorado’s national parks, forests and public lands by the state government, saying “this is fight we have to wage.” He went on to say that if the land were being leased from the state by the federal government, "we would cancel their lease."  His opponent Gov. Hickenlooper retorted by asking where Beauprez planned of acquiring the additional funding that would be necessary to maintain the additional land in question on a state level, pointing out that the additional burden to the taxpayers would be around $200 million annually.  If the costs of battling forest fires is to be addressed, the costs to taxpayers could be in the

All national parks have a birthday, a day when they were officially recognized by congress as a protected area in the United States, and would be governed by the rules set forth under the protection acts in order to forever keep their natural beauty intact for people to observe.  On October 1, 1890 President Benjamin Harrison signed into law a bill that gave Yosemite Valley a National Park status.  In this law, Yosemite National Park is preserved and protected, including more than 1,500 square miles of park area, Tuolumne Meadows, the high country, and Hetch Hetchy. Yosemite Valley and the Giant Sequoias of Mariposa Grove were still under the control of the State of California under the provisions of the Yosemite Grant (which was receded by California on June 11, 1906,) but the combination of the legislation and the existing Yosemite Grant makes up most of what Yosemite National Park as it is known today.  The Yosemite Grant itself is 150 years old, being signed on June 30 1864. Yosemite National Park is considered one of the most beautiful open spaces in the world, and one of the little known facts is that the Indian Village that once was home to residents of Yosemite was burned by the National Park Service in 1969, after the last residents were moved out.  The natives of the area were inhabitants for thousands of years, but upon being designated as protected land and being given the status of "National Park" the residents were not allowed to stay if they remarried, nor were children allowed to stay if the parental figures died.  Today, Yosemite National Park is enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year, and is cherished as an unspoiled example of the beauty of America.

Saguaro National Park officials have voiced their opinion that they are opposed to development of the land across from Rincon Mountain entrance.  The opposing opinion to the proposal of development hinges on the fact that it is in close proximity to the park, and is simply too close.  This opposition raises an interesting question regarding national park land, "should there be a development buffer zone around national parks?"  The question is going to be debated heavily from both standpoints, with examples of West Yellowstone at Yellowstone and Gatlinsburg at the Sugarlands entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park being used s examples.  In the example of Saguaro National Park, the potential development of the 45 acres of land across from the Rincon Mountain District is deemed by opposition as far too close. There are many examples of development happening within walking or short driving distance of national parks nationwide.  The development of Bar Harbor is within steps of Acadia National Park in Maine, the development of West Glacier is on the western border of Glacier National Park in Montana, Three Rivers Development is next to Sequoia National Park in California and Royal Front Development is steps from the northern entrance of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  In the majority of cases of development near national parks, the towns were established previous to the national park. At Saguaro, the disputed area is known as Bike Ranch development, and the opposing viewpoint is to  preserve open space around the entrance to the Rincon Mountain District. The property is located in the Pima County Buffer Overlay Zone, which preserves and protects the open space characteristics within one mile of public preserves, according to park staff. At the Pima County Hearing Administrator in May the proposal of development was strongly opposed by officials.  At