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By: Robert Janis
Outdoor Adventurer
Creates ATV Tours in Arizona
You could say that Charles Lutz is a
daredevil. He has been an outdoor adventurer for
more than 30 years. His first steps into the
world as a tour operator was in 1966 when he was
president of the University of Arizona Ski Club.
That is when he discovered you could charge more
than the trip costs and make money running
tours. He served in Vietnam from 1968 through
1971 when he received a commission as a second
lieutenant. He returned to Tucson after the war,
and in 1972 he started building and flying hang
gliders and taught people with the same sense of
adventure how to build and fly them too. His
desire for more thrills led him into snow skiing
then whitewater rafting. As in the case of the
hang gliders, Lutz shared his knowledge with
other adventure enthusiasts. “For the bulk of my
business career I ran whitewater rafting trips
in the spring and summer, snow skiing trips in
the winter, and then I took October off,” he
said.
All that changed when the state in which he did
and taught these endeavors, Arizona, suffered a
major drought in the 1990s. “It didn’t rain or
snow,” Lutz lamented. Out of work and not
certain what the future would bring, Lutz
stepped into the garage of his home one day and
saw his old three-wheelers just gathering dust
in a corner. He stared at the machines and then
thought, “Why not?” You can say that at that
moment Lutz Adventure Tours LLC was born.
Lutz decided that he would organize ATV
adventure tours around Tucson and Sedona,
Arizona. The areas in which the tours would
travel are managed by the Federal Bureau of Land
Management and the United States Forest Service.
So, he went out and got a federal permit to run
the tours; he sold his three-wheelers and
acquired several four-wheelers and he and his
business were off and running. It was 2002.
Arizona ATV Adventures
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Today Lutz is manager of a company that runs two
adventure tours under the name Arizona ATV
Adventures. The Florence Tour traverses land
that is halfway between Tucson and Phoenix. The
journey is 38 miles long and takes about three
and one quarter hours. The terrain is rugged and
has an elevation gain and descent of about 1500
vertical feet. Moreover, the canyon walls are
about 900-feet high on both sides and the river
bed you can drive down is only 10 feet to
15-feet wide. “We climb up and over the front
range of the Pinal Mountains and drop down into
what is known as the Box Canyon,” explained
Lutz. “Box Canyon was the shortcut between
Grove, Arizona and Florence, which was the first
county seat of the state in the 1800s. It was a
part of the Butterfield Stage Coach route
between St. Louis and San Francisco, and it was
also used by the Pony Express. In addition, the
Anasazi Indians inhabited the area going back
1200 years and there are Indian petroglyphs that
the tourists can see. We stop the tour so that
the riders can observe the art, and our guides
give a brief history. However, the tours are
designed to concentrate on the fun and
excitement of driving an ATV in absolutely
beautiful country.”
The other tour covers the west Sedona canyon.
“Travel magazines and writers identify it as one
of the most beautiful places on Earth,”
continued Lutz. “It is a valley that is about 15
miles square and once was an ocean floor. So
there are great big rolling hills there with red
rock formations on two sides. Over the last 50
years portions of 43 major motion pictures have
been filmed there.” This tour is about 30 miles
long and takes about three hours.
There are two tours to each location every day
including holidays. One starts at 8 a.m. and
goes to 1 p.m. The other runs from 1 p.m. until
5 p.m. During the summer months there is also a
“Sunset” Tour of the Sedona Canyon that runs
from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
There are 15 ATVs for each location and each
trip includes guides who have knowledge of the
area and can answer most questions. Some guides
have the skills to fix ATVs that may break down
during the tours. Commonly, there is one guide
for every seven machines. In May there are
usually about three or four ATVs that go out in
a tour. The peak times for both tours are the
summer months, holidays and the spring (March
through April). At those times, there are as
many as 15 ATVs in a single group. “When we have
a large tour we have a guide in front,
frequently a guide in the middle, and a guide in
the back,” said Lutz. “This allows the group to
spread out so we can get as much as a hundred
yards between machines so the riders don’t have
to breathe the dust from other ATVs.”
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Each tour has strict passenger and driver
guidelines. For example, riders must be no less
than 5-years old or weigh at least 50 pounds and
drivers have to be 15-years old or older. Before
each tour begins everyone has to participate in,
and pass, a driving test. In addition, Lutz, who
is a certified ATV safety instructor, has
created a curriculum to teach people how to
drive ATVs, and he has taught the guides safety
procedures. Moreover, Lutz frequently
accompanies a tour to observe the guides to
assure that they are sticking to safety
regulations. “I check ride each guide every two
years,” said Lutz. The National Forest Service
also sends representatives out with each tour
periodically to do their own check rides.
Arizona ATV Adventure Tours uses Yamaha ATVs.
“In 2002, when we started, Yamaha was the only
manufacturer who offered ATVs with a
fully-automatic transmission and regressive or
engine braking,” said Lutz. “When you take your
thumb off the throttle, the engine slows the ATV
to a walking speed. The other ATVs that were
available featured free wheel.”
The company has a total of 43 ATVs for customers
and six guide bikes. “The guide ATVs are larger
so they can carry stuff,” said Lutz. All the
ATVs have been purchased from local Arizona
Yamaha dealers.
Lutz revealed that the company still uses some
of the original machines. “My son is
mechanically inclined. When we bought our first
ATVs, the dealer was unusually pleasant. When a
machine needed repair, the dealer would do it,
but would let my son watch. So, my son received
a free education on how to fix Yamaha ATVs. He
has subsequently become really good at it. For
example, he can tear down and fully rebuild an
engine. So, we’ve been able to keep some of the
original machines. My son keeps them in tip-top
shape and has rebuilt the engines,
transmissions, and brakes. We’ve put fresh
plastic on them and painted the racks so they’re
like brand new. Some of our ATVs have traveled
more than 50,000 miles but you wouldn’t know
it.”
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Each tourist receives bottled water and candy
bars to serve as sustenance and the Adventure
does not offer lodging. However, Lutz recommends
that riders in the Florence tour stay at the
Holiday Inn Express. “It’s a brand new hotel.
Just about everything else in Florence is
150-years old, but there are several nice B&Bs,”
he said. He suggested that riders check the
Internet for more details.
Lutz added that participants in the Sedona tour
have a large selection of accommodations from
which to choose. He noted that the town is a
tourist Mecca and has upwards of 50 hotels and
B&Bs in the area. He recommends the Best Western
because it is right across the street from the
Tours’ offices.
As far as dining is concerned, Lutz pointed out
that there is not much in Florence. “It is a
very small town with two stop lights. But there
is a McDonalds, Burger King, a Subway, and a
couple of ma and pa cafes,” he said. “In Sedona,
you name it, they got it.”
Participants in the tours pay only for the
rental of the ATV. Each ATV, which is designed
to carry two people, rent for $119.
For more information and to book a tour, visit
the company’s website at:
www.azatvfun.com. Or call (800)
242-6335.
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