Red Rock, Open Sky, and the Man Who Wrote the Book on 4-Wheeling
There are places in America that stop you in your tracks — that make you put the camera down and just stare. Moab, Utah, is one of them. For those seeking adventure, a guided Jeep tour Moab Utah offers one of the best ways to experience the area’s breathtaking landscape.
Perched on the Colorado Plateau in the canyon country of the American Southwest, Moab is the gateway to two of the most dramatic landscapes on earth: Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Towering red sandstone formations, slot canyons carved over millions of years, river-sculpted mesas dropping thousands of feet to the valley floor — this is terrain that no airplane window does justice. You have to be in it, on it, and moving through it to understand it.
Which is exactly what we had in mind when we designed our Jeep Moab Utah tour.
America’s Off-Road Capital
Moab has earned its reputation as America’s off-road capital honestly. The trails here run the full spectrum — from scenic desert two-tracks accessible to almost any SUV, to legendary technical routes like Hell’s Revenge and the Shafer Trail that demand real skill and a capable rig. The slickrock that defines so much of the landscape is one of the unique phenomena of 4-wheeling here: a surface that looks smooth and treacherous but actually grips your tires like sandpaper, allowing vehicles to crawl angles that seem impossible until you’ve done it.
Beyond the trails, Moab’s surrounding landscape offers something most visitors never fully access: the BLM land surrounding the national parks opens up thousands of square miles of backcountry — canyons, ridgelines, high desert plateaus — that the average tourist in a rental car simply never sees. Our tour is built to get you there.
The Guide: Bill Burke
When Blue Strada designs a tour, finding the right local specialist is everything. In Italy, it’s the roads. In Morocco, it’s the mountain passes. In Moab, it’s the terrain — and the person who knows it best.
That person is Bill Burke of 4-Wheeling America, and his credentials are, frankly, extraordinary.
Bill has been teaching 4-wheel drive techniques professionally since 1986 — nearly four decades of guiding individuals, families, clubs, government agencies, vehicle manufacturers, and military units across some of the most demanding off-road terrain in North America and beyond. He is a permitted outfitter guide through both the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, an ASE-certified Master Heavy Duty Truck Technician, a Certified Wilderness EMT, and a U.S. Army veteran (101st Airborne Division) who trained in vehicle recovery and extrication.
He is also, notably, the founder of the International 4-Wheel Drive Trainers Association (I4WDTA) — the professional body that sets the standard for 4WD instruction across the industry. When other instructors want to know how to teach, they come to Bill.
His crowning adventure credential: in 1991, he was one of two Americans selected to compete in the Camel Trophy — a grueling 1,200-mile expedition across Africa that was, for a generation of off-road enthusiasts, the Mount Everest of 4-wheeling. He completed the Land Rover International Driver Training Program in Off-Road Techniques at Eastnor Castle, England, as part of his preparation.
Bill has been featured in National Geographic, Men’s Journal, AutoWeek, Four Wheeler, Sports Afield, AutoMobile Magazine, The Denver Post, and dozens of other publications. He has produced training materials for the Bureau of Land Management, instituted Toyota’s worldwide in-house 4WD certification program, and trained U.S. State Department personnel. You can get a sense of him in this YouTube interview, or watch him lead a trail run during Moab’s Easter Jeep Safari — one of the biggest 4WD events in the world, held right in Bill’s backyard. A 4WD Mechanix profile gives more technical depth on his approach to recovery and environmental awareness.
What strikes people most, though, isn’t the resume. It’s the teaching. Bill brings a naturalist’s curiosity, a historian’s perspective, and genuine patience to every trail. As the Cruise Moab Coordinator put it after one of Bill’s events: “Everyone is still talking about the experience… my driving and leadership skills jumped by leaps and bounds.”
A note worth making: this tour is not simply a booking through Bill Burke’s 4-Wheeling America. What Blue Strada has done is partner with Bill to wrap our full hospitality experience around his unmatched trail expertise — the character lodging, the carefully chosen restaurants, the airport transfers, and the attention to detail that our guests know from our European tours. Bill handles the terrain. We handle everything else. Together it’s a different proposition than either of us could offer alone.
The Route: Six Days Across Utah and Colorado Canyon Country
Our Moab tour runs September 13–19, 2026 — seven days including arrival, five full days on the trail, and a final transfer day. The routing is a masterclass in high-desert variety, covering terrain that ranges from canyon-floor river roads to high-elevation forest plateaus.
Arrival — Arrive in Moab. Guests collect their Jeeps late afternoon, then gather for a “Meet & Greet” on the hotel patio at 5:30 p.m., followed by a welcome dinner at 6:45.
Tour Day 1 — River Road and the Kokopelli Trail. Departing Moab, the group heads out on River Road following the Colorado River canyon into Colorado — one of the most scenic corridors in the Southwest — before climbing to around 6,000 feet via the legendary Kokopelli Trail. Packed lunches on the trail. Arrival in Grand Junction in the late afternoon.
Tour Day 2 — Tabeguache and Bangs Canyon. A full day on a technical high-desert route averaging 7,000 feet of elevation, through some of the most remote canyon country in western Colorado. This is where 4WD technique really comes into its own.
Tour Day 3 — Grand Mesa. Up to 10,000 feet on one of the largest flat-top mountains in the world. The route climbs the face of Grand Mesa via Lands End Road, crosses the national forest, and descends to the town of Colbran before a dinner in Palisade — Colorado’s wine country — before returning to Grand Junction.
Tour Day 4 — Gateway Canyon, La Sal, Dolores Canyon. A spectacular paved and unpaved run through Gateway Canyon, then south toward La Sal country, with an overnight at La Sal Country Inn in genuine canyon-country isolation.
Tour Day 5 — La Sal Mountains Return. A scenic drive back over the La Sal Mountains via Geyser Pass and the La Sal Loop Road, returning to Moab. Classic Utah scenery bookending the whole adventure.
Departure — Breakfast at the hotel and transfers to Canyonlands Regional Airport (CNY) or Grand Junction Airport (GJT).
What’s Included
The tour covers a lot more than the driving:
- Upgraded Jeep 4×4 with primary insurance
- 6 nights in comfortable, character lodging
- All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
- Expert professional guiding (Bill Burke and team)
- Airport transfers
- Tour commemorative
You’ll need to arrange your own flights, fuel, adult beverages, personal expenses, and travel insurance — and of course bring your enthusiasm, which is the only real prerequisite.
Who This Tour Is For
You don’t need to be an experienced off-roader. Bill teaches — that’s the whole point. This is a guided, instructional experience as much as it is an adventure, and first-time 4-wheelers have thrived on it. What you do need is a sense of adventure, a willingness to be a little dusty by lunchtime, and an appreciation for landscapes that most people only see in photographs.
Pricing starts at $3,250 per person, with spots limited. As of now, 7 slots remain for the September 2026 date.
Book your spot or get a personalized quote →
More Blue Strada Adventures
The Moab Jeep tour is Blue Strada’s first venture into North America — but if you’re also drawn to exploring the world from behind the wheel or on two wheels, we have you covered:
Motorcycle Tours — Two-wheeled adventures from the Italian Apennines to the Himalayas to Morocco.
Miata Driving Tours — Guided sports car tours through the roads of Europe, from Tuscany and the Alps to Portugal and Sardinia.
Questions? Contact us — we’re happy to talk through the details.