Las Vegas - Day Two: the Glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West

A review with pictures. In short, it was huge rip-off. At every single stage of the trip to the Hualapai glass skywalk (and thus, Grand Canyon West), the operators charged the most eye-popping, exorbitant fees that tested the very limits of shamelessness. If you go, prepare to feel violated!

The trip began with a drive down US-93 (passing the Hoover Dam) for 70 miles from Las Vegas. Then Pierce Ferry Road for 30 miles, and then finally onto the mostly-unpaved Diamond Bar Road for the remainder, 20 or so miles. The directions were easy enough, but we nearly missed both turns because the roads were not really marked until we reached the very intersection we had to turn in to.

As always, click the image to see it full-size.


I hope you like driving through dust clouds.

This dirt "road" spanned 14 miles. It's raked, but it's still just gravel and sand, and is quite bumpy. There are winding, very sharp turns, and two-way traffic. Thankfully, there wasn't much traffic, but at points, tour buses zoomed passed us and at one particularly sharp downhill turn, a speeding bus nearly smashed into us, despite the fact that we had pre-emptively pulled into the ditch on the side. When following cars, as in the above picture, we were enveloped in a thick dust cloud and had lots of little rocks striking our car (I'm glad we got a rental!). In some spots, the gravel was a little looser than usual, which made for moments when my sister-in-law lost control of the rear wheels - a 4x4 would have been good for this drive. This path lasted about 40 minutes.


Joshua Tree Forest on the way.

However, the rest of the drive was scenic, and the 2.5 hours from Vegas passed quickly.

When we got to the visitor's center/helipad/landing strip, we paid $20 to park our car. We also had to pay $29.95 per person (25% off for kids) for the 5 minute bus ride (the driver also expected gratuities!) to the first point of the canyon. This was the spot with the Glass Skywalk, which cost another $29.95 per person (children ages 4 and up have to pay full price) to enter. We had to place all our bags - and cameras - in lockers.


The Skywalk is not really that impressive.

Cameras are prohibited on the Glass Skywalk, ostensibly to prevent damage to the glass floor. This was obviously BS because the skywalk is advertised to be able to withstand the weight of 71 Million Pounds; to demonstrate the strength of the glass to skeptical visitors, one of the attendants jumped up and down on the glass! If you think that I'm merely whining, consider this: would you really be allowed to walk on a structure that would be damaged from the tiny force of a .5 pound camera falling 2-3 feet? Would you want to walk on such a weak thing? I suspect the real reason that cameras are forbidden is so they can sell their own pictures, for the bargain price of $30 for one single print, or $99 for six prints and the pictures on a flash drive. Alas, we gave in and bought one print.

The glass skywalk itself was unremarkable. After slipping on a pair of disposable shoe slippers, we walked onto the glass. It was a weekday afternoon, so there were only about two dozen visitors, and generally, people fell into one of two categories: those who walked on the clear glass (it's clear, but even at one year old, the glass is already slightly scuffed), and those who clung onto the railing and walked along the sides. I was unimpressed by the view, which was not any better than the view from the edge of the cliffs. As for the glass floor, it was also unimpressive. The skywalk itself cast a shadow on the canyon, and in any case, there was nothing particularly interesting to see below the glass - no, the experience didn't make me feel like I was "walking where the eagles soar". The skywalk is also a lot smaller and narrower than you might imagine - I could walk from one end to the other in about 15 seconds at a normal pace. It is also advertised as being able to hold 120 visitors at once - this is extraordinarily unrealistic; the 24 visitors on the bridge with me were already causing some trouble in moving around the bridge. What's more, the attendants trying to take group pictures frequently asked people to stop or to move out of the view of the camera - so I really don't know how 120 people could be on the bridge at once.

After getting off the glass skywalk, my sister-in-law really wanted pictures (besides the few that the "pros" took for us), so she suggested that she and the kids might get back on the glass while I stepped outside to take some pictures. One of the cashiers told us that would not be possible unless we were going to pay for those pictures...so we just plonked down $30 for one of the ones they took: my sister-in-law figured that since she had already paid so much that she might as well pay some more for the memory.


Walk where the eagles soar...

So really, the Hualapai glass skywalk is mostly a tourist trap and the tagline of "walk the sky" is a fluffy marketing gimmick.

We took the next bus to the second point on the canyon, Guano Point, where the views were much better. Seriously, don't waste your money on the glass skywalk, just skip it, and take the bus right to Guano Point - it doesn't cost extra and the view is gorgeous. Well, you still have to pay for parking and that outrageous bus ride, but I guess after the skywalk, I couldn't complain for someone that wasn't extra. It really is lovely, and the experience of standing atop the mound at Guano Point was, as a fellow visitor uttered, majestic.


Save your money; go directly to Guano Point.

see also:
Flickr Album - Las Vegas Shenanigans
Las Vegas - A Guide
Las Vegas - Day One: Lake Mead and Hoover Dam
Las Vegas - Day Two: Glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West
Las Vegas - Day Three: Red Rock Canyon

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