05/22/2026
✨ GUIDE SPOTLIGHT FRIDAY ✨
Meet Riley James 📸🌄
Originally from Ventura, CA, Riley brings a super unique mix of creativity, adventure, and positive energy to the Zion Guide Hub team. Before joining us, she worked as a photographer and content creator for some huge companies and she still runs her own photography business on the side shooting weddings, portraits, music, events, and more.
When she’s not out guiding in Zion, you can usually find her hiking, practicing yoga, road tripping, cooking, gardening, reading, or chasing sunsets with a camera in hand 📷
A few fun facts about Riley 👇
🏔 Favorite Zion hike: The Narrows
🌍 Visited 30 countries before turning 30
🦙 Once owned a llama named Windy and won a costume contest dressed as Santa while the llama dressed as a reindeer
📚 Currently reading: Braiding Sweetgrass
🍪 Favorite desserts: Tiramisu + cookies
🐈 Team Cats
Riley says one of her favorite parts about Zion is “all the hiking and the sunsets in the canyon,” and honestly… we get it.
If you see Riley out on trail this season, be sure to say hey 👋