Tour Host Pick of the Month

Off The Beaten Path

By Leigh Posted on Nature

In this month’s lead story, “Are you a Buffet Traveler” we discuss how tour hosts are increasingly developing alliances that benefit from joint marketing and cross-selling functions. As a founding member of the Adventure Collection, a group of eight active travel companies, Off The Beaten Path (OBP) is a perfect example of such a company.

Offering more than 50 guided and custom-tailored independent journeys throughout the western states, covering such themes as Wildlife/Nature, Historical/Cultural, Hiking/Walking and Family Adventures, OBP is a natural for Pick of the Month.

Its historical trips include “The Lewis and Clark Trail,” “The Old and New West” and “Exploring Southwest Indian Country.” Each of these trips include visits with local tribesmen for their interpretation of events and local history.

Wildlife/Nature tours cover more than 20 national parks, including “Canyon Parks of the Southwest,” “Yellowstone Wildlife Safari” and “Alaska for Extraordinary Wildlife.” .

Additional travel themes include family trips. Hiking, walking and sporting adventures round out OBP’s offerings for the active traveler.

Bios of OBP’s guides are available from its website. The company’s guides cover a wide range of specialties. I was most intrigued by Brian Bates, who specializes in archaeoastronomy (the branch of archaeology that studies how ancient people used the heavens to mark the seasons) and guides OBP’s southern Utah trips. Other guides are noted storytellers, authors, artists, naturalists and Indian experts. The one unifying characteristic is their love and dedication to the land they work and live upon.

For the widest selection of travel options for the western states, Off The Beaten Path is diverse enough to handle many of the itineraries people might desire.

Keep in mind when visiting OBP’s web site:
# It has lots of detailed trip itineraries and information in an easy-to-read and printable format (but no pdfs)
# The company philosophy, staff and guide pages really educate about OBP and its values
# Many outstanding photos (they can be slow to load – be patient)
# The main pages, with their black background, may be hard to read. But hang in there – the itinerary pages are worth it