Meet Our Guides!
We think they are the best in the business and our guests agree. Take a look at some of their reviews on TripAdvisor.
William Warner
Will has been exploring the Western United States for nearly 25 years. Originally from a small town in Alaska, backpacking trips to the SouthWest, during his college years, nurtured a love for the desert. After graduating from Utah State University Will had the opportunity to return to the areas he loved exploring. He has called St. George, UT home for the last 10 years.
Will‘s knowledge of the local geology and history of the surrounding areas combines with his time as a firefighter, and time spent in the Alaska Oil fields to provide a unique tour perspective that you won’t find anywhere else.
Although his number of extended backpacking trips have declined since college, he still takes every opportunity to find new and exciting places to experience both with his guests and his wife Jaime and their 3 children. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, camping, canyoneering, climbing and is attempting to enjoy mountain biking once again (currently it involves a lot of crashing).
Kiley Bice
When you grow up with Zion practically in your backyard and a scorching jungle of red rock for a playground, there is simply no avoiding falling head over heels for the outdoors and more specifically the immensely diverse beauty of the desert. And so it was is with Kiley.
Already never to be seen indoors, she took up rock climbing at the age of 14 and has been tightly knit into the outdoor community ever since, spending multiple seasons as an Adventure Specialist and Outfitter in Zion National Park, leading summer camps for little climbers, and enjoying about as much outdoor adventure as she can pack into her busy life. Surfing, climbing, hiking, canyoneering, and more recently snowboarding--you name it she probably has or wants to try it.
Kiley recently returned home from living in Germany (to all the fellow German speakers out there: Sie freut sich euch kennenzulernen!!), and is currently studying at University. She‘s bubbly and couldn’t be more excited explore some of the Southwest’s crown jewels with you.
Charles Garcia
Born and raised in Northern California, I have always had a love for the outdoors and exploring. After raising a family and a 32 year career with AT&T, I decided to pursue my love for photography and focused on becoming a landscape professional as I traveled throughout the country. Most of my travels have been in the states, with the National Parks system as my main destinations. I enjoy sharing my experiences with family, friends, and other travelers. I look forward to each years new experiences and destinations.
Bob Grove
Bob got his start in tourism while working his way through college in Cedar City Utah. From night auditor at a Best Western to station manager at Skywest Airlines, travel became the passion that guided his path through school.
Bob has escorted motor coach tours as well as small group tours and has more than 20 years experience taking groups to the national parks and recreation areas of the west. He has been a frequent guide and consultant for Southern Utah Scenic Tours since the beginning. Bob continues to freelance as a tourism consultant, tour guide, and travel writer, and is a frequent guest on local TV and radio to share his knowledge and experience on places to visit and explore in the Mountain West. He currently cohosts Inside the Outdoors radio show on 97.5FM in Salt Lake City with Steve Brown on Saturday mornings and does a monthly “Family Friendly Adventures” segment on KSL TV Studio 5 in Salt Lake City.
Bob enjoys running, cycling, skiing, golfing, hiking; well pretty much anything thatkeeps him active and outdoors. He loves his home state of Utah and currently lives in St. George, Utah with his wife Susan.
Alan Gudmundsonn
Alan and his wife Elizabeth have lived and played in Utah for most of their adult life. As an educator for over 30 years, Alan holds a great love of sharing knowledge with others and his excitement for the topics and the areas we visit is infectious.
After retiring in Southern Utah he has spent a great deal of his time getting out into the outdoors with morning bike rides, volunteering with his local church, and sharing his love of nature with people from all over the world. He is also an avid canyoneer and spends many weekends a year teaching people about the activity which is a mix of hiking, climbing, and rappelling.
Ron Helquist
Ron and Linda Helquist started Southern Utah Scenic Tours in 1998 and sold the company to Will and Jamie Warner. Ron is a native of Utah and has always enjoyed touring America’s National Parks especially in the West and Alaska.
Ron and our other excellent guides have been privileged to host hundreds of tour participants through the years and love introducing them to the beauty and wonder of our national and State parks. Many have become our friends and have returned to participate in the various tours that we offer.
Ron is semi-retired but still happily leads a number of tours annually and will hopefully continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
John Kasberg
John Kasberg born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana (a Hoosier!). He and his wife of over thirty five years sold a medical company they owned in the summer of 2014. From there they disposed of pretty much all of their possessions taking up full time "RV-ing" and working "fun" jobs for National Park concessionaires. Ultimately they built a winter home in July of 2018 in beautiful Sun City Mesquite, Nevada primarily because it is within a day’s drive of twenty national parks.
John spent two winter seasons working as a bartender at the legendary Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley National Park, three summer seasons driving the iconic Red Busses on Glacier National Park’s scenic Going to the Sun Road, and over two seasons giving tours of Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks.
John is an avid day hiker, history buff, and voracious reader of books on America‘s wild west. He is an enthusiastic guide who can’t wait to share your western adventure with you.
He speaks a southern dialect of German poorly after having lived outside of Munich for three years in his twenties. Currently he is attempting to revive his college level Spanish via a language app on his cell phone.
"Kirk" Kirkpatrick
Kirk’s been guiding in the western U.S. for almost a decade. As a 40-year veteran in television production, Kirk has traveled through Central America, The Caribbean, and Canada; lived in Miami, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles; and then chose Saint George, Utah as his permanent home in 2004.
Kirk transitioned from TV production by writing for the tourism industry, thus learning a great deal about the area through his research. Leading live tours was a natural next step.
“Kirk” radiates a love for the rich history of Utah and the artistry of Southwestern topography. He likes to meet all kinds of people and finds joy in sharing information about these beautiful sites with them. Seeing tour guests enjoy the scenery renews a fresh sense of discovery within Kirk himself which is a testament to the grandeur of the Southwest.
Carol Morris
Carol has spent many years traveling in the Southwest by motor coach. As she traveled she would often set up a base camp and then take her jeep out to explore the areas in more depth.
After spending 15 years traveling in the western states she decided to become a tour guide and graduated from the ITMI school of tour directing. She began leading tours in the Pacific Northwest and eventually throughout the Western United States. Carol has traveled extensively to the National Parks and abroad. She has a wealth of knowledge taken from history and personal experience. Her energy is infectious and you will surely enjoy your time with her!
Eugene Swalberg
Eugene spent 30 years as an outdoor professional with Utah State Parks working as a park ranger, park manager and as a statewide public relations specialist.
Eugene and his wife Laurie raised their family of 5 girls in rural Utah traveling off the beaten path enjoying the natural splendor of Utah and the mountain west.
Eugenes Love for exploring the great outdoors, navigating the Grand Canyon, Cataract Canyon, Middle Fork of the Salmon and other rivers as a private boatman; mountain biking the White rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park and kayaking hidden canyons on Lake Powell have provided him a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with our guests.
Tom Wagner
With multiple degrees from the University of Cincinnati, Tom served as a police officer in his native Ohio for twenty-six years. From the beginning he had a passion for discovery, history and photography (the latter discovered by accident while taking crime scene photography courses as a police officer) and the American Southwest became his go to for vacations. A lifelong love affair with the desert began and continues today. Retiring from law enforcement in early 2016 Tom and his wife Carol followed their dreams and moved west making St. George their new home. Drawing on extensive training in public speaking and a background in crime prevention and security, Tom expanded his knowledge of area history, geology and geography. To this he adds his passion for photography and the beauty of the American southwest and brings the whole package along for the ride on each and every tour. Tom is an avid photographer with works currently on display at the St. George Art Museum and a second exhibit to be opened in August of 2017 at a private gallery.