Grand Canyon Resort

Grand Canyon Resort Review

Hualapai Tourism, run by the Hualapai Tribe, offers the basic Hualapai Legacy tour package ($43.05 per person, including taxes and fees), which includes a Hualapai visitation permit and "hop-on, hop-off" shuttle transportation. Local Hualapai guides add a Native American perspective to a canyon trip that you won't find on North and South Rim tours.

The shuttle will take you to Eagle Point, where the Indian Village walking tour visits authentic dwellings. Educational displays there uncover the culture of five different Native American tribes (Havasupai, Plains, Hopi, Hualapai, and Navajo), and intertribal, powwow-style dance performances entertain visitors at the nearby amphitheater. The shuttle also goes to Hualapai Ranch, site of Western performances, cookouts, and horseback and wagon rides; and Guano Point, where the "High Point Hike" offers panoramic views of the Colorado River.

For an extra fee you can add a helicopter trip into the canyon, a boat trip on the Colorado, an off-road Hummer adventure, a horseback or wagon ride to the canyon rim, or a walk on the Skywalk.

The Skywalk, which opened in 2007, is a cantilevered glass terrace suspended nearly 4,000 feet above the Colorado River and extends 70 feet from the edge of the Grand Canyon. Approximately 10 feet wide, the bridge's deck, made of tempered glass several inches thick, has 5-foot glass railings on each side creating an unobstructed open-air platform. Visitors must store personal items, including cameras, cell phones, and video cameras, in lockers before entering. A professional photographer takes photographs of visitors, which can be purchased from the gift shop.

At this writing, a three-level, 6,000-square-foot visitor center was under construction at the site. The date of completion is currently uncertain, but eventually this complex is expected to include a museum, movie theater, gift shop, and at least two restaurants.