Summit Climbing Guides — Attraction in Joshua Tree

Before: Stephen led our party of 4, two dads and two daughters (aged 6 and 7), on a rock climbing, caves, and corridors adventure in Joshua Tree NP. Before the trip, I was nervous about filling 4h of activity given our novice to advanced beginner level of expertise. I contacted Stephen and he patiently addressed all my questions over the phone, offering solutions (hence the mixture of activities) and flexibility (possibility of starting slightly later if the temperature was cold). Feeling reassured, I went ahead and finalized our reservation.

Day of: The actual day went far beyond my expectations. If I had to describe Stephen with three words, I would choose professional, encouraging, and engaging. We felt 100% safe while taking on adventures/challenges outside the realm of our daily lives. Safety was of paramount importance to me given we had young ones in our party. Stephen clearly knew how to keep our party safe: anchors, harnesses, and helmets whenever the course was even remotely dangerous for the kids; offering to go up to the kids and repel down with them when they felt scared to descend on their own. With the kids and adults, Stephen was constantly encouraging, praising, and engaging with us during our adventure. The kids responded well, growing in confidence throughout the morning and having a blast the whole way. My friend and I were surprised how our girls just wanted to keep going and how quickly 4h flew by.

Conclusion: If you're thinking of doing something different at Joshua Tree NP apart from hikes, look no further! Stephen can cater to the needs of your party and lead you on an unforgettable adventure! Thanks Stephen for an awesome day of fun!

Tip: I took my daughter to a rock climbing gym in advance of our guided tour. It was a simple 1-2h introduction with her taking her time to learn the basics, but I'd like to think this gave my daughter the confidence to try out rock climbing at Joshua Tree. Day of, she was ready to go and volunteered to go first! I would recommend other parents to do the same if they're unsure how their kids will respond as...

We had an amazing time with Summit Climbing Guides. Stephen and Nick were our guides for our family of 5 and it was our kid's favorite activity on our entire week long trip. Communication was great from the start, with Stephen being responsive right after I booked the visit to confirm our guide and where to meet. He met us at our campsite and led us to our climbing destination. He had tons of gear so we got the perfect fit for all the equipment, and Nick set up ropes in advance so we could start climbing right away. The ropes were a variety of types of climbing and challenges, which the kids and adults loved. I expected it to be too easy since we were beginner climbers but it was the perfect level of difficulty (even a little tough sometimes for mom:) . Both guides were extremely encouraging and enthusiastic, especially with the kids, and they gave us guidance on technique, including teaching my husband and I how to belay. Our time was spent 3 hours rock climbing and 1 hour doing "caves" which was scrambling between and over cool rock caves. The kids LOVED both, but especially the caves, and it was clear that Stephen knew how to design a trip that was the most fun for our kids ages. Their only complaint was that I didn't book it for longer:) Also, the price was more affordable than some of the other guides I looked at, plus I was super excited to know that we had 2 guides for our group of 5, so we were never waiting to climb. Some of the other tours make you pay extra for a second guide, but it was included in our base price. A bonus was that Stephen knew a lot about the history of the park, geology, the plant life and was a great teacher on those subjects. I highly recommend this tour as a truly...

We couldn't have been happier with our 4 hour morning experience with Summit Climbing Guides. We were met by Stephen and Sydney. Sydney was so sweet and encouraging and Stephen won the hearts of our kids. He obviously had plenty of experience with kids. They continued to ask for him for our whole entire stay at Joshua tree. They had all the gear including stuff for our newly turned 2 year old and 3.5 year old. He led us out to a super cool location that didn't need much of a hike at all to get too Excellent for the little ones. There were two ropes set out. A 100 ft one that had tons of hand and foot holds and a slightly more challenging 80ft one. Our 3.5 year old took to it immediately. Our son also made it to the top with a little encouragement and even when he was scared of zip lining down Stephen was steady and calm with him and even got a few grins by the time his feet touched the ground. Our youngest got a little fussy so we ended our adventure with a little trek. We scrambled over boulders, walked through corridors, crawled through tunnels and found caves with Stephen as our guide. It was awesome having the flexibility to pivot to that and not be solidly climbing with the little ones attention spans. The spots he led us too was perfect for our family. His communication setting everything up was fabulous. I would not hesitate to recommend Summit...