Four Corners Guides FAQs

Anyone who already has backcountry skills can do one of our courses. You must be able set up your own tent, cook for yourself in the backcountry, understand the types of clothing you need to stay safe, warm and dry in a desert or mountain environment, and, in general, you must understand how to comport yourself in the wilderness. You also must have a reasonable level of fitness. And if you are doing a course that involves bicycles, you must know how to ride a bicycle.

We are able to do make some accommodations to do guided trips with people with disabilities, but all guests must still have basic backcountry camping skills. Please email us to discuss.

The only exception to these rules is if you want to spend a half or day packrafting. Then, you only need a basic level of fitness.

Our multi-day bikerafting and packrafting courses are *NOT* for people with zero experience in the backcountry. We do not prepare food for you, set up your tent, teach you how to use camping gear, or cater to your every need. Our goal with our guide service is to provide you with additional skills and tools to accentuate your already-existing backcountry skills and to help you realize you can travel with less in the backcountry (and in life).

Please do not expect a standard big boat river trip with large kitchens, tons of beer, etc. Our courses are low-impact, lightweight adventures where we carry everything we need from start to finish. They are also not easy. We strive to challenge you mentally and physically. While we don’t want to scare you away from doing one of our courses, we want you to be realistic about your abilities. In general, you must have basic backcountry skills and a level of fitness that allows you to:

• Bike from 10-30 miles per day; OR
• Packraft at least six miles of flatwater per day; OR
• Paddle up to 15 miles on a river per day; OR
• Hike five-15 miles per day; OR
• Do a combination of all these things in one day.

To better figure out which level course is appropriate for you, please read through our post, “What Level Packrafting Are You?”

Prices vary based on where courses are held, what level they are and what amenities are included. Please see our Schedule Page for course prices. Kids are half the listed price.

Any person signed up for a coruse may stay at Scullbinder Ranch anytime that we are there. We have comfortable glamping tents, the Ranch Cabin and a new RV Trailer equipped beds with comfy memory foam mattresses, wool blankets, feather pillows and comforters. Campers and glampers may use the bathrooms in the house.

Lodging & Food Prices Per Night:

*Breakfast included

• $25 per person camping (in RV or tent)
• $75 per bed in a shared tent (2-3 people)
• $125 per private glamping tent (1-2 people)
• $125 for the mini-RV (1-2 people)
• $150 for the cabin (2 people). $50 per each additional person. We can fit one person or a couple downstairs
• Lunch $10 (bagged high-quality sandwiches made with veggies hummus, cheese, meat or fake meat, plus chips, bars, electrolyte drinks)
• Dinner is $20 per person, one adult beverage included (homemade with locally-grown produce, and other locally-sourced items).
• Generally BYOB if you want more than one

Email us for details. Check in is after 3. Check out is 11a.m.

No. We do not provide shuttle services or transportation as part of our courses. However, we will work together with you and other course participants to shuttle to and from put ins and take outs. Please plan to rent a car or drive your own vehicle to your course.

Please email us to discuss.

It totally depends on how skilled your child is in the backcountry and how much experience s/he/they has/have riding bicycles. Can she set up her own tent? Can he carry a 30-pound backpack? Can they ride at least six miles on a laden bicycle? Is he comfortable and uncomplaining if he sometimes get cold and wet? If your child has, for example, easily mountain biked 20+ miles in a day or done a triathlon, we’ll assume she can do one of our tours. However, we’ll assess each child’s ability after talking with his parents.

Bikeraft and packraft tours include an open Alpacka Classic, PFD, paddle and helmet. We also provide bikepacking gear. Anyone taking our intermediate to advanced courses should have her/his own boat.

Please note that you will not get a discount if you have your own gear.

Yes. We offer 10% off groups of 10 or more and for Corporate Adventure Retreats. We also have sales throughout the year, including flash sales when people cancel last minute.

We provide all the food you need when you’re in the backcountry, including dehydrated meals and packaged foods for lunches and snacks. We’ll also provide some fresh foods, such as apples and avocados. We are unable to prepare or carry fresh foods such as sandwiches due to food handling requirements that we can’t meet because we travel with such minimal weight (i.e. we can’t carry coolers).

Sure, but you will not get a discount for doing so.

Absolutely not. All ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs are considered by Four Corners Guides to be “do not touch or take anything” areas. You must leave all artifacts exactly where you found them. Human contact can and does degrade these artifacts, structures and paints used to make the pictographs found in these sensitive areas.

All Four Corners Guides guests must sign our “Antiquities Agreement” in advance of your tour. If we catch you stealing artifacts or defacing ancient ruins, petroglyphs or pictographs, we will not hesitate to report you to the authorities, remove you from the trip (at your expense) and ban from all future FCG tours. We have a zero tolerance policy in regards to taking, stealing or defacing antiquities. There will be times, such as on our Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park Tours, that you may be able to pick up and photograph pottery shards and other items, with permission from the Ute Mountain Ute guides.

We run courses in the United States late March through early November, weather permitting. We run international courses throughout the winter. 

Yes. If you sign up for a tour exclusively in either Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (including the Dirty Devil River or Lake Powell) or the Manti-La Sal National Forest, Four Corners Guides is not allowed to ask guests to sign a standard waiver. Instead, those two entities ask that our guests sign a “Visitor’s Statement of Acknowledgement of Risk.” For all other tours, we require you to sign our “Acknowledgement of Risk, Waiver of Liability, & Indemnification Agreement.” If guests sign up for courses that cross into both of these territories (unlikely), you may have to sign both the Statement of Acknowledgement of Risk and our standard legal waiver.

You will carry all your garbage out, including your toilet paper, baby wipes, extra food scraps and sometimes your poop. We will recycle as much as we can post course. We likely won’t be washing dishes, as we’re exclusively using dehydrated foods. But, if you do end up using pots or dirty your cup with oatmeal, for example, you must wash these items no less than 300 feet from any water source, using biodegradable soap, and burying the waste water at least 6 inches deep.

We follow strict principles of leaving nothing behind. When camping in group sites we will use pit toilets when provided. On all dispersed backcountry bikepacking and packrafting trips, guests must dig six-inch deep cat holes no less than 300 feet away from any water source, campsite or trail, unless regulated otherwise, in which case approved wag bags will be used and all solid (fecal) matter will be carried out. On the river we will follow all regulations regarding human waste. I.e. we will use wag bags and hard-sided containers. No guest or guide will ever burn toilet paper or garbage. All toilet paper and hygiene products will be packed out.

To avoid getting sick or spreading illness, we encourage guests to regularly utilize hand sanitizer after going to the bathroom and regularly throughout the day before meals.

Yes, but all body washing will be done with biodegradable soaps no less than 200 feet from any water source.

We aspire to run a low-waste business (with the exception of wag bags, which we will have to use at times). We currently utilize both dehydrated foods in non-recyclable packaged bags and others using omidegradable packaging. As we grow, we will increase the amount of meals we purchase that utilize omnidegradable bags. We recycle all plastic bottles and cans that are brought on trips.

We inspect and maintain if necessary all our packrafts, PFDs, and paddles after each course.

No. There no public Wifi at the Ranch, and you will not get cell reception. We have an Inreach device and very limited Wifi for emergency use only. If you need wifi, you’ll have to drive to town, which is half hour away. One of our goals at Four Corners Guides is to provide guests, staff and ourselves with the opportunity to unplug from the outside world. We strictly adhere to this policy.

We recommend that you take this opportunity to unplug and play hard. You may want to take photos, of course, but most of the places we visit will not have cell reception. Be prepared to disconnect. In case of emergencies, your guides will have an In-Reach device.

We may book a course with a minimum of two people. However, we reserve the right to add additional people to those small courses if all have similar abilities, skills and fitness levels. Our margins are tight. We don’t make money on courses with only two people. If you wish to have a private, one- or two-person course, please let us know in advance, as the price is higher.

We have been approved to run backpacking-packrafting and bikerafting tours in:

All our guides have Swiftwater Safety Certification and are certified Wilderness First Responders. Head guides Steve Fassbinder and Thad Ferrell have additional advanced swiftwater and Level 3 Packraft Instruction certification through the American Canoe Association.

Guides will always bring a comprehensive first aid kit(s), appropriate for the length of trip and number of people. We have a Comprehensive Risk Management Plan that includes an Emergency Evacuation Plan. Plus, our guides will teach you about and regularly remind you to consider the following hazards:

1. Heatstroke and dehydration can easily shut down your tour and ruin your experience. We encourage you and will remind you to both bring and drink plenty of water, to eat snacks throughout the day, and to wear hats and sunscreen to minimize sun exposure. We will make plenty of water available to you, and our water sources will be scouted in advance.
2. You may also experience dramatic weather events. For this reason, we require that you bring sufficient warm, synthetic or wool clothing and waterproof rain layers.
3. Rattle snake bites are rare, but can happen.
4. You will be traveling over rough, uneven terrain; roots, rocks and sand are inherent to biking and hiking to and from the water’s edge to camp. You must always wear helmets (and gloves season/weather dependent) while riding.
5. For all packrafting and bikerafting courses, you must respect the power of both flat and running water. Strainers, rocks and swims in cold rivers can make your trip go bad quickly, as can swims in cold lakes due to powerful winds tipping boats over. You must always wear your PFD on the water, a helmet if there are rapids, and weather/season dependent, a dry or wet suit.

Not at the moment, but we are growing fast so keep in touch.