Adventure Guide 46 CONTENTS DISCOVER AN ANCIENT 4 HIKING & BIKING 26 LANDSCAPE Full-day hiking tours The Amangiri Experience Half-day hiking tours An Ethical Journey Three-hour hiking tours Full-day bike tours Half-day bike tour SELF-GUIDED ACTIVITIES 6 Three-hour bike tour Slow down and take it in National Park tours EXPERIENCES FOR ALL AGES 32 Wahweap Overlook Horseshoe Bend Amangiri adventures Navajo National Monument Adventures further afield Glen Canyon Dam Horseback riding Off-road adventures Colorado River excursions Lake Powell National Golf Course California Condor day with the Peregrine Fund Lake Powell Utah’s Best Friends animal sanctuary Evening programs and special opportunities Large-group activities PRIVATE AIR TOURS 8 Alfresco dining Helicopter tours Fixed-wing air tours DESERT HIKING TIPS 40 Hot-air balloon MAPS 41 NATIONAL PARKS 12 Grand Canyon National Park Zion National Park DRIVING TIMES 42 Bryce Canyon National Park Arches National Park AMANGIRI ENCOUNTERS 18 Monument Valley & the Navajo Nation Paleontology at the Grand Staircase-Escalante White-water rafting on the Colorado River Boating on Lake Powell Discover the Via Ferratas 3 DISCOVER AN ANCIENT LANDSCAPE Awaken the spirit of adventure at Amangiri, in a land where iconic geology reveals millennia of history The Amangiri Experience An Ethical Journey Thousands of square miles of untouched scenery Amangiri is fortunate to call the Colorado Plateau surround Amangiri, which lies at the gateway to home, but with this honor comes responsibility. To major national parks in the Colorado Plateau. From experience the landscape in its unaltered, pristine canyoneering and cultural insights to excursions state, guests are encouraged to travel quietly and by air, bike, boat or on horseback, guests are lightly on the land. encouraged to discover the region their way. Long-standing relationships with local experts Cultural artifacts are safeguarded by the allow Amangiri to arrange tailor-made itineraries Archaeological Resources Protection Act. It is for every guest – a bespoke approach that illegal to remove or disturb archaeological or guarantees a creative, adventurous and fulfilling historic sites, or any artifacts, no matter how experience. recent, found on public lands. Advance reservations are encouraged. To find out It is illegal to carve into any of the rocks, on or off more about the possibilities on offer, or to create Amangiri property. a custom itinerary, please contact the Amangiri Experience Team, who will be delighted to assist. Enjoy and learn from historical and archaeological sites, but respect these national treasures. Some are sacred to Native Americans, or are important cultural reminders of pioneer heritage. Natural objects of beauty or interest, such as antlers, petrified wood and coloured rocks, enhance the atmosphere of the backcountry and should be left for others to experience too. Quick movements and loud noises are stressful to animals. Travel quietly and do not pursue, feed or force animals to flee. Do not touch, get close to, feed or pick up wild animals. Amangiri thanks guests in advance for joining its effort to protect this fragile environment. 5 SELF-GUIDED ACTIVITIES Amangiri’s property boundary encompasses 600 acres (243 hectares) on the Colorado Plateau – so there is plenty to explore simply by stepping over the threshold and into the wilderness. Experience the freedom of hiking, driving or boating in complete seclusion with Amangiri’s suggestions for self-guided discoveries. Self-Guided Activities A few suggestions for spending quality time while Horseshoe Bend at Amangiri. This self-guided, free-access hike is located 30 minutes from Amangiri. The 0.75-mile Guests are always encouraged to use the expertise (2.1-kilometer) trail is well marked and easy to of Amangiri’s Experience Team, from assistance follow. Hikers will be rewarded by the incredible with self-guided tours of the national parks to thousand-foot-deep (300-meter) gorge of the invaluable insider knowledge of the immediate Colorado River. surroundings. The team is available at any time to sit down and discuss individual requirements. Navajo National Monument Join a ranger-led hike and learn about the Native Slow down and take it in American traditions of the Southwest. The trail Enjoy the Amangiri property, especially early descends 700 feet (213 meters) into a canyon that in the morning or late in the afternoon. Take a is home to well-preserved cliff dwellings. leisurely walk at sunrise or sunset, and allow the long shadows and glow of the sky to envelop you Glen Canyon Dam in comfort and peace. Enjoy the pool; take part in Twenty minutes’ drive from Amangiri, the daily complimentary group hikes; or stretch out at Glen Canyon Dam is a spectacular man-made morning group yoga or afternoon Pilates. landmark and can be toured with a Natural History Association guide. National Park tours Guests who are comfortable driving to and from Lake Powell the nearby national parks are encouraged to seek Guests who are comfortable driving their own advice on how to best self-tour these magnificent boats are encouraged to seek advice from the areas. Members of the Amangiri Experience Team Experience Team, who will advise on the most have excellent local knowledge and can point suitable marina. The team can also assist with self- guests to the best places to park, catch the shuttle guided kayaking, fishing and paddle-boarding. and beat some of the crowds, as well as advise on entrance fees. Lake Powell National Golf Course With views of Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell Wahweap Overlook and the Vermillion Cliffs, Lake Powell National A perfect way to wrap up a peaceful day in the Golf Course provides an unparalleled golfing desert is to take a short drive to the Wahweap experience. The 18-hole championship facility Overlook. This hilltop vantage point offers a offers multiple tee boxes and accommodates all spectacular place to view and photograph Lake levels of play. Powell. 7 PRIVATE AIR TOURS Flying this incredible landscape – by plane, helicopter, or on a sunrise balloon trip – is an inspiring way to discover the breadth of the backcountry. Working closely with the area’s best pilots, Amangiri enables guests to grasp the scale of the terrain with an experience of Canyon Country from on high. Private Air-Touring Options Helicopter tours Hot-air balloon Guests can depart directly from Amangiri’s private Launching from Amangiri at sunrise, hot-air- helipad, discreetly located between picturesque balloon flights offer extraordinary views of the sandstone towers. property’s 600 acres (242 hectares). Because launches are subject to weather conditions, Fixed-wing air tours Amangiri typically schedules balloon flights Amangiri’s airstrip offers guests unparalleled only in the cooler fall and winter months when convenience, enabling both scenic and charter the cancellation is less likely, though spring and flights with select carriers to depart from the summer flights are available by special request. property’s doorstep. Weather permitting, this Please contact a member of the Amangiri experience dramatically minimizes travel times to Experience Team to speak about the logistics of the national parks. ‘off-season’ flying. 9 Horseshoe Bend NATIONAL PARKS With the highest concentration of national parks in America, the breathtaking Colorado Plateau offers endless opportunity for discovery. Whether touring by air, car or on foot, Amangiri guests have access to expert in-house and local guides offering custom itineraries. Grand Canyon National Park With two billion years of history hidden in its requirements. Transportation between Amangiri striking erosional forms and layers of geologic and Grand Canyon Airport is included. color, the Grand Canyon – one of the deepest Journey time: 45 minutes each way by fixed wing or gorges on Earth – never fails to overwhelm the helicopter senses. Amangiri’s proximity to the canyon’s South Rim offers guests lots of flexibility in viewing this Amangiri private tour wonder of the world. The North Rim is open only Amangiri’s in-house guides provide private half the year, typically from mid-May to mid- transportation between Amangiri and the South November. With a fraction of the visitor numbers Rim of the Grand Canyon, as well as expert, received at the South Rim, it is a less developed, custom guidance within the park. The drive to more peaceful alternative, with several easily the canyon is almost entirely on the Navajo accessible viewpoints. Its altitude – 1,000 feet Reservation, winding through a stunning high- (304 meters) higher than the South Rim – also desert landscape, arriving at the park via the offers cooling respite from the summer heat. less congested Desert View entrance. The tour includes a breathtaking 23-mile (37-kilometer) journey along the East Rim Drive. SOUTH RIM TOURING OPTIONS Journey time: 2.5 hours by car each way Air and Grand Canyon Association Field Institute tour NORTH RIM TOURING OPTIONS This full-day excursion combines flights to and from the South Rim with a guided tour on the Amangiri private tour ground led by a highly knowledgeable Grand Experience the blissful peace of the North Rim on a Canyon Association Field Institute (GCAFI) private tour with an Amangiri guide. The excursion guide. Affiliated with the country’s National includes private transportation to the North Rim, Park Cooperating Associations, the GCAFI is a entrance fees, and a customized interpretive tour non-profit organization, and Amangiri donates within the park. a portion of the tour fee to support its work. The Journey time: 2.5 hours by car each way tour is unscripted and can be tailored to guests’ 13 Zion National Park Bryce Canyon National Park Smaller in scale than the Grand Canyon, Zion Defined by hundreds of pillars of sandstone known National Park is home to hundreds of species of as hoodoos, Bryce Canyon is an otherworldly plant and animal.