visitors board a grand canyon helicopter’s flight for south rim sightseeing.

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View of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado river from Desert View Point in the south rim. 1st June 2009.

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going to a part of the grand canyon

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Can anyone help me with detailed directions to Grand Canyon West from Orange County, CA? Thanks!

Grand Canyon West is the promotional name for the western end of the canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation just before the river empties into Lake Mead. It is sometimes also referred to as the ‘West Rim’ though there really is no west rim (it is technically on the South Rim of the canyon).

Note that Grand Canyon West is NOT a part of Grand Canyon National Park and is over a hundred miles from the park (which is far to the east). Grand Canyon West is an area largely developed by Las Vegas promoters because it is closer to Las Vegas. This is where the ‘Sky Walk’ glass bridge that recently opened is located. While canyon around GC West is big and dramatic, it is not as deep, wide or has the number of formations as is found in the National Park.

To reach Grand Canyon West from California, take I-10 to Kingman, AZ. From Kingman, take Stockton Hill road northeast out of town to Pearce Ferry road. Follow Pearce Ferry road east until it turns north toward Mead View. At this point, a gravel road branches off to the east (right) to Grand Canyon West. There is a sign at this turn-off, but you won’t see any signs before then and it is a good idea to have a map of the area.

From the turn-off, it is 21 miles to Grand Canyon West, most of it over a rough road – OK for passenger cars in good weather, but very slow going. From Kingman, it takes about 2 hours to reach GC West.

Having just been to the Sky Walk at GC West myself this weekend, I do feel obligated to caution people that it is not really the way it is displayed in the artist renditions on the officials promotions and website. The artist renditions show the bridge being on top of a sheer cliff directly over the Colorado River – this is not the case. It is built on the edge of a smaller side-canyon about a half mile back from the main gorge and the river. Even in the side canyon, the walls have the same ledges and talus slopes found elsewhere, so it is not a straight drop to the bottom.

What you see when you look down through the glass floor is a pile of rubble probably less than 1500 feet directly below. Because the heavy support beams holding the bridge partially block the view through the floor, the effect is more like looking down through a glass-covered trap door. Standing on it IS a bit weird and un-nerving to be sure, but I personally was a little let down by the experience. People should also be warned that it costs $75 per person ($50 to access the area and another $25 to actually go on the bridge).

I am not saying that you should not go to GC West, just do a little research and make sure you know what you will be getting. There has been a lot of misleading and over-hyped info about the bridge, particularly from Las Vegas promoters.

A few of us are heading off to Phoenix in a few weeks for a winter getaway. The trip will only be 3 days long and of course one of those days we’d like to head up north for the Canyon. But there’s so much to do along the way!! We really want to stop by Sedona and Montezuma Castle as well. So that really only leaves us a half-day (6-8 hours) at the Canyon…

So what would be the must see at the Canyon? Any stops that we should definitely make at the South Rim? I’m reading this one-day guide on Fodor’s (http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=grand_canyon@215&cur_section=fea&feature=30002) and it seems to recommend a shuttle tour. We’re not keen on tours, especially with the limited time we have. Anything interesting that we can do on our own without joining tours? Could we drive to all of these points without joining tours?

Thanks for your help!!

You do NOT have to take the shuttle at the canyon and I would NOT recommend doing so for such a short visit. You DO have to take the shuttle (or walk) to visit the overlooks to the west of the main lodges (toward Hermit’s Rest), but there are plenty of other overlooks and interesting things that you can drive to directly.

Note that from Phoenix to the canyon is about 3-4 hour trip one way, so even with short stops at Sedona and/or Montezuma Castle, you would be hard pressed to have much more than a few hours from the canyon. Here is what I would recommend seeing while you are there:

Mather and Yavapai Point overlooks – You can park at them and they are near the entrance – hard to find a spot in summer, but should be OK in winter. Probably two of the best South Rim views. Walk over to the nearby visitor center if you have the inclination, there are a few good panel displays and a nice bookstore / gift shop.

Grand Canyon Village Historic District – More nice views and also some great historic buildings (you can drive here). Check out the 1905 Hopi House gift shop (built like an indian pueblo), the grand lobby of the nearby 1905 El Tovar Hotel, Lookout Studio and Kolb’s Studio (both along the rim – the studio often has interesting exhibits).

From the lodge area, you could take a short walk along the Rim Trail to the west (past the Bright Angel Cabins and mule corrals) to get a sense of quiet and solitude away from the more developed overlooks.

If you have the time, you could also drive about 30 minutes to Desertview Watch Tower near the East entrance of the park. This is a historic 3 story tower with excellent views of the east end of the canyon.

As an alternative route back, you could continue east from the tower to 89A at Cameron (which is a neat trading post by the historic Little Colorado River bridge) and then head back south toward Flagstaff (and Pheonix) with a stop at Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument along the way back to Flagstaff. Wupatki is a prehistoric indian pueblo (more interesting than Montezuma Castle, in my opinion) and Sunset Crater is an old lava field. Much of the monument can be enjoyed just by driving through it (it parallels the highway toward Flagstaff).

Flagstaff itself is an interesting historic old lumber and railroad town well worth a short stop if you need to stretch your legs. The historic downtown has many old Route 66-era buildings now filled with little cafes, shops, and art galleries and a great historic train depot. On the hill overlooking downtown is Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered in 1930 (they have a nice museum). Good cafes in town include Kathy’s on San Francisco and Beaver Street Brewery or Macy’s Coffee Shop on Beaver Street, south of the railroad tracks.

Sedona is a very nice place to visit, but the shops and galleries are spread over a big area making a quick visit difficult. The backroad drive from Sedona to Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon is very scenic, but also much slower than the direct route along I-17.

Have fun!

i need to know what kind of clothing and other miscellaneous stuff i should bring please i need help! =>

So many wrong answers on this one
The S.Rim of the Canyon is at 7000′ in a Ponderosa Pine forest The North Rim [ which you can hike into from Jacob Lake AZ But you can't drive into] sits about 1000′ higher and is a mixture of Ponderosa Pines+ Aspens
The numbers for April are:
S.Rim :
Max 60
Min 32
Precip-0.93"
Inner Gorge:
Average Max-82
Min-48
Precip-0.47"
N.Rim:
Max 53
Min 29
Precip-1.73 "
By May you can add 10 degrees to each of those temp numbers
There is always a consistent 25 degree temperature difference between the temp at the Rio >2400′ > and the temp on the S.Rim >7000′
So some quicky math tells us that it will get 5 degrees warmer for every 1000′ vertical feet that you descend.. and of course the opposite is true
I’m not sure what you intend to do there But if you’re limiting yourself to day hikes below the Rim [hint]
you should be aware of the fact that while it’s really easy to lose vertical altitude when hiking the Canyon it’s very hard to get it back .
You should allow at least twice as long for your uphill trip as your downhill and vertically you should not get below the Hermit /Supai contact .
As far as clothing goes dress like a hiker and use layers which end with a good cover- your -butt wind-proof shell garment
The sun at altitude can be intense so good sunglasses are must .
Since water in the form of precip is not issue you can use a down ,either as a vest or a light jacket >pile works too
Enjoy the Canyon

Want to see Grand Canyon out of Las Vegas. Is there anywhere else besides paying $50 on the West Rim, or driving 5 hours to the North or South Rims. There are 6 of us, helicopter is out of the question – short on money and on time, but want to say been there, done that. The Grand Canyon is big- can’t you see it from the highway or something?

The only highway near the Grand Canyon is the one leading to it. There are no bridges across it, so no major highway near it. If you want to see it fast, helicopter is the ONLY way. If you want to see it cheap, drive. Leave early in the morning and you make it back to Las Vegas in time to party.

I’m going to Las Vegas the first week of August and want to take a bus tour to the Grand Canyon or any other place of interest.

What bus tour would you recommend?

I want to be back to Vegas by 5PM.

The return time will be a problem for you. Nearly all coach tours of the Grand Canyon are about 15 hours long so that mean a return around 11 PM, You would have to take a air tour to complete in your time frame. You can go to this page and click on Grand Canyon Tours on the right side of the page to view all the different tours.

Question: how was the grand canyon invented?
Answer: A Jew dropped two pennies dwon a hole.

ummm ok I dont understand that one

Family runs a Flintstones theme park near the Grand Canyon
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