Grand Canyon Skywalk - any more recent comments?
 

Is there anybody out there who liked it and thought it was worth the drive and the price? I'm also wondering if it is open and reachable (what is the road like?) in late January? Oops, sorry, I guess I can check the website to see if it is open in January.

<b>"Is there anybody out there who liked it and thought it was worth the drive and the price?"</b>

I'm sure there are <del>thousands</del> <del>hundreds</del> dozens who thought it was "worth the drive and the price" since the tourist satisfaction surveys showed only 90% of the people who go there think it is a rip-off. So you still have the 10% ...

<b>I'm also wondering if it is open and reachable (what is the road like?) in late January? </b>

Unless there's a snowstorm the road is not bad in winter, at least the time I drove to Meadview and Pearce Ferry in winter it was OK.

The whole concept is a big mess and doing poor financially, with Las Vegas developer David Jin, who put up the money, suing the Hualapai Indians in Federal court, then getting this tossed into a local Hualapai court last summer (guess who lost that battle? new spin on "home court advantage"). More lawsuits are likely in the future as this ill-conceived project fails to pay off as originally projected and both sides squabble over who is to blame.

If you have seen the South Rim, the North Rim(facilities aren't open in Jan), rafted the canyon, hiked the canyon, flown over the canyon, etc. Then you might want to see the Walk.

If this is your first trip to GC, just head to the south rim. It is best if you can spend at least one night. Do hike down into the canyon for a bit. Remember, it will take you twice as long to hike out and the out is much harder going back up than the coming down part. Have water.

I must say that I have not seen it. Well, I have seen the bottom of it while we were rafting.

If you have time consider a stop at Hoover Dam.

In and of itself, I think the Grand Canyon Skywalk is pretty freaky, I'm not afraid of heights but nonetheless found myself letting out a *gasp* the first time I stepped on it. And yes, I even jumped up and down on it - the thing is solid as a rock! But.... can't escape the fact that everything about getting on it, including the $$$, is still a turn off to a lot of people. I don't particularly care for self-driving to Grand Canyon West. That last 10 miles of road have been recently graded, so it's in better shape than years past. But once you get to the Tribal Park Gate, it feels like they nickel and dime you to death before you get to have any fun. And yes, it's open in January, Grand Canyon West is open year-round.

If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, I agree with spirobulldog in that you should try and make it to the South Rim. That is the National Park and generally regarded to be the "true" Grand Canyon. But, it's about a 5 hour drive from Las Vegas, so it's best seen/done as an overnight trip. Doable in a day, but a very LONG day, most of it spent in the car.

If you feel as though you MUST see the Grand Canyon Skywalk, you might have a better time taking part in a package tour by bus or airplane such as this one http://tinyurl.com/bn9ns28
Yes, they cost a bit more, but at least all your fees are (usually) taken care of in one transaction, plus you don't risk voiding out your rental car insurance policy by driving "off-road."

Over 40% of those who posted on TripAdvisor, rated the experience "Terrible." Spend your money on a room in one of the lodges on the rim on the canyon and a nice dinner at El Tovar.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...s_Arizona.html

HTTY

<b><i>If you have seen the South Rim, the North Rim(facilities aren't open in Jan), rafted the canyon, hiked the canyon, flown over the canyon, etc. Then you might want to see the Walk</i></b>

I think you've got it exactly backwards.

If you've done ANY of these things (south rim, north rim, especially a hike or a rafting trip), then the Skywalk will seem like an especially cheesy and over-commercialized rip-off.

If you've done ALL of them, as I have several times over, then it will seem like a sacrilege that it was even built.

Most of the visitors seem to come from Vegas, usually foreign tourists without a clue who are snared by pitches from touts getting 10% to herd 'em up. It's a shame this is their only exposure to the canyon.

Here's a link in the Phoenix newspaper to the story behind the lawsuit, basically two untrustworthy groups (developer vs the tribe) ripping each other off, the developer charging the tribe with embezzlement, the tribe counter-charging him for incompetence (because he didn't finish -- porta-potties, anyone?) and wanting to use eminent-domain in Hualapai tribal court to take over the project and keep all the money:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...k-dispute.html

I probably do have it backwards. I just meant I wouldn't do it unless I had seen it from all the other angles first. I never plan on seeing it actually. Just the fact that you can't take your own picture really would make me mad.

I certainly wasn't advocating seeing it, in other words.

We did the Skywalk yesterday. What a disappointment. The first indication of trouble was when we hit the 11 miles of dirt road. The dust was thick and covering the car, the way out was even worse with dust so thick it was like fog and into the sun it was hard to see in front of you which was an actual safety issue. We wondered what would happen to those who would be returning after dark.
Once at the park, we learned that in addition to the $29.95 skywalk fee, there was almost $10 in taxes,etc., plus a $45 dollar fee to take a bus to the site about 3 miles away. It did make an additional stop at another lookout point on the way back to the parking lot for those looking for the 'full' experience. After more than 2 hours standing in ticket lines, entrance lines, bus lines, and food lines, we opted to stay on the bus and avoid another line.
The major disappointment was the skywalk itself. Since you could see the panoramic views from everywhere, the skywalk was going to be my thrill ride. Unfortunately between the scuff marks and dirt on the glass (most of the dirt was underneath the glass) there was not much of a feeling of floating on air. Also, forget about taking pictures while on the skywalk. You must put your belongings in a locker before you enter the skywalk and there is security personnel that wand your person to make sure you are complying. There are staff photographers taking pictures of your experience, for a fee of course. Its hard not to use the word ripoff. This adventure is no longer in my bucket list and I would not recommend it to be in the bucket list of anyone else either.

Something positive did come from the trip. Shortly before getting to the dirt road there is a Joshua tree forest that is one of the finest I've seen anywhere.

Interesting about the Joshua Tree forest. Something real instead of the plastic huckery of the Skywalk

Thanks for all the comments. They pretty much confirm what I have since read about it. We have been to the GCNP south rim, so we were just wondering about the skywalk. When I read the "no cameras" thing on their website, that was enough for me already.