Grand Canyon West

We hadn’t been to the Hualapai land on the Colorado River since we first moved to Vegas in 1995. So, we picked a slow day and headed out there on a 2 ½ hour drive. Unlike 20 years ago when we went, the Hualapai have taken business advantage of their location and made it a major attraction, with a major attraction price. When we arrived, we learned you could no longer get near the canyon rim by car as we used to – you had to park, buy a $50 entrance ticket, and ride shuttle buses to any of the overlooks. Luckily, they had a kennel where you could park the puppy for a while or we would have had to just turn around and leave!

Despite the massive development, the gift shops, the restaurants, and all sorts of gimmicks to part you with your dough, we enjoyed the visit. The shuttles got us easily and quickly to everywhere we needed to go. The overlook views were still stunning, and we managed to spend an appropriate amount of time enjoying the canyon. It’s not quite as spectacular as the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park, but it’s still awesome!

The only surprise was that with all the people crawling all over the canyon rims, there is not a single railing or barrier to prevent folk from casually slipping over the edge. It must not happen or there certainly would be some, although suing a tribal nation might not be that easy to do. We got pretty close to the edge in a few spots, but pretty much kept a few feet from the edge just out of a sense of caution – or fear! I know I will wake up having height dreams for the next few nights.

I couldn’t make the hefty drive out here and not take in the Hualapai’s new Skywalk. They built a horseshoe shaped unsupported walkway out over they have dubbed Grand Canyon West. The surface of the walkway is clear plexiglass. They would not allow you to take any cameras or cell phones out on the Skywalk as they wanted to use it as another way to part you with your dough – sell you some photos. I know its really hard to pick out on this photo the Woman took on her phone, but the dude in the bright green shirt is me on the Skywalk. I thought it would be scary and I might have to force myself out onto it, but it was actually quite pleasant, and the views of the canyon between my feet were breathtaking.

The road to and from Grand Canyon West travels through a Joshua Tree forest that easily rivals Joshua Tree National Park. I actually think that the Joshua Trees are denser here, and maybe greener than I remember them being in the National Park. However, that may be because it is April, and both the spring rains and cooler spring temperatures may be the cause.

Talk to you soon!