Las Vegas Show Packages
I have questions about visiting the Grand Canyon West Rim.?
I am planning a trip to Las Vegas in a couple weeks and we are driving. We plan to stop at the Grand Canyon on the way home. I am interested in an inexpensive tour while we are there but everything I find online is tours departing and returning to Vegas. I do not want a helicopter tour. Can I just show up at the Grand Canyon and walk around on my own or must I purchase some sort of tour package? I would ideally like a walking tour. Thanks.
Please so comments about the South Rim. I am planning on seeing the West Rim and the Skywalk. I only plan on being there a couple hours, just stopping on my way home.
Please NO comments about the South Rim.
I have been to Grand Canyon West (where the Skywalk is) and here is the scoop…
If you are driving, you can just drive to Grand Canyon West on your own. It is about a 2 hour drive from Kingman, AZ and about 2.5 to 3 hours from Las Vegas. Most of the drive is on a two-lane paved road, but there is one 12 mile stretch near the end that is gravel and – depending on how recently a grader has been over it – can be quite washboardy. It takes about 45 minutes to cover this stretch and even if you have an SUV, you will likely get stuck behind somebody who does not.
The road ends at the little Grand Canyon West airport and here you must park and sign up for one of the package tours. You are not allowed to just wander around or hike (like you can in the National Park), you must get a tour package and then be taken to each stop via a shuttle bus. The cheapest package that includes going on the Skywalk runs about $80. In addition to the Skywalk, you visit one other overlook (Guano Point) and a fake ‘old west’ town and petting zoo. That and a low-end buffet lunch is about it.
As for the overall Grand Canyon West and Skywalk experience… as others have noted above Grand Canyon West is NOT the same thing as Grand Canyon National Park. GC West is a money-making venture on the Hualapai Indian reservation located in a very different part of the canyon system over a 100 miles downstream of the park and in an area that looks very different than the park. Contrary to marketing promotions, the Skywalk itself is not located over the river nor is it a 4000 foot drop below. It is located on the side of a minor dry side-canyon and like everywhere else, the canyon wall has numerous slopes and ledges rather than being a straight drop. While it is sort of weird to stand on a glass platform and see empty space below, the novelty of it wears off pretty quick and the view looking down (just a motionless pile of rubble) is not very interesting – I found the experience to be less interesting or exciting than expected (which I believe is probably one reason they don’t want people taking cameras on it). While some people enjoy their trip to GC West, many people consider it an outright tourist trap.
If you really want to experience the classic Grand Canyon that you have seen in books, movies and postcards, than I would definitely recommend the national park instead. The canyon at GC West is scenic, but it is not the same thing as at the park, and the over-hyped and over-promoted money-making emphasis of GC West undermines what is there rather than enhances it (IMHO anyways).
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