Grand Canyon West Rim

The West rim of The Grand Canyon is about a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas.

 

The area is part of the Hualapai Indian Nation and has a different feel and look from the South Rim of the canyon (near Flagstaff).

 

Driving to the west rim from the city you pass through the magical Joshua Tree Forest.

These trees seem to almost have individual personalities and look like they are waving to you as you drive past them.

At The West Rim of The Grand Canyon, you cannot drive through the park, like you can on the south rim. Instead you enter through the Welcome Center and are given a variety of options for your visit.

Buses bring you through the area. I like this as it cuts down on the stop and go traffic you find at other state parks.

We chose the Legacy Gold Tour for $89.00 this level included parking, hop on, hop off bus through the park, entrance to the Skywalk, and a meal voucher. We also purchased (for and additional amount) a helicopter ride into the Canyon and a Pontoon Boat ride down the Colorado River.

The helicopter ride was amazing, Tom from Sundance was great and very helpful with information of what to expect.

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I was in the middle seat but still had good views of the canyon, we were in the air for about 20 minutes on our approach to the river. Plenty of time to get an awesome view of the canyon walls.

We landed on the floor of the Canyon then boarded the Pontoon boat for our river adventure. Phyna was our guide, and she was a wealth of knowledge about the Canyon and the River.

If you go on the on any of the sightseeing tours, make sure to sunscreen up before and wear a hat, the sun is very hot in the summer.

Our helicopter picked us at the river and and brought us up and out of the Canyon back to The welcome center. The flight gave us a thrilling view of the sheer cliffs. We were so close you felt you could reach out and touch them.

Once back at the welcome center, we boarded a bus and started the first of our 3 stops at the West Rim.
The first stop was a to the Hualapai ranch, a small western village with bull riding, wagon rides, gun shows and great Canyon Views.

We chose this stop for our meal that came with the ticket package we chose. The meal was baked chicken or barbecued pork ribs, a hearty meal.

We had entertainment from a singer guitar player as we ate.

Our second stop on the bus was the Skywalk at Eagle Point. This was the reason we had come to the West Rim. And it did not disappoint! .

The views were breathtaking. We spent about 45 minutes on the Skywalk taking in the beautiful views, moonwalking and flying hundreds of feet above the canyon floor.

One of the employees Tyler came out and talked to us about working on the Skywalk. He had stories of how at least once a day, someone would freeze, faint or get sick once out on the bridge, and how on occasion people would crawl across the walk, to frightened to stand. The bottom as well as the side are glass, so walking across you get an ethereal out of body sensation as you gaze upon the Canyon depths below. Tyler recommended that early in the day or late in the afternoon were best times to visit to avoid the crowds
Sadly, you are not allowed to bring anything out on the sky bridge (including no cameras or cell phones). But there are photographers that will take photos’ for you out on the bridge.

Our final stop on the bus was Guano Point, there was a flat path here, or you could chose to climb the hills for better viewpoints. We stayed in this area until Lynne the security guard came to get us to let us know it was time to leave. But she allowed us to dawdle slowly along with her so we could get additional photos and hear about her experiences over the years being a park ranger.

The West Rim was a unique Grand Canyon Experience due to the skywalk.
Given the choice in the future I would go back to the south rim, where you can arrive early and enjoy the sunrise or stay late and watch the magnificent sunsets and moon rises over The Canyon.

The price to enter is also higher, the lowest priced package was $49.00 per person and that did not even include entrance to the skywalk. Entrance into the South Rim is $30.00 per carload of people.
But this was a fabulous experience that I will always remember, we drove away with the sunset behind us and a lightening storm in front of us

But no matter what part of the Grand Canyon you visit, you cannot leave without being touched by the amazing tapestry and colors of this natural wonder.

Tonight I will fall asleep dreaming of the majestic sights and scenes in what must be one of God and The Angels favorite playgrounds, The Grand Canyon.