Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!

When we were staying in Las Vegas for a couple of nights, we took a bus trip to the Western Rim of the Grand Canyon. The tour first stopped at the Hoover Dam then traveled through Joshua Tree National Forest to get to Grand Canyon West.

Grand Canyon West is on Hualapai land and is not part of the National Park. Hualapai means ‘People of the Tall Pines.’ President Chester Arthur established the Hualapai reservation in 1883 via executive order.

Once in Grand Canyon West, we left the tour bus and used the Hualapai operated shuttles to get around the park. There are three stops: The Skywalk at Eagle Point, Guano Point and a wild west city. We opted to explore the first two.

We made a beeline for the Skywalk and were able to get on line before it was too long. The queue wound around museum displays on  Hualapai culture. So even though it didn’t move very fast, it seemed like it was our turn to go out on the skywalk in just a few minutes.

The Skywalk stretches out in a horseshoe-shaped curve, a glass bridge suspended 4,000 feet above the Grand Canyon. Through an impressive feat of engineering, the Hualapai Nation gives visitors a one-of-a-kind view of the canyon that they can’t experience anywhere else.

The designers frosted the glass panels along the edge for those with a fear of heights. Visitors can step onto these panels and hold the railing if vertigo suddenly sets in and makes it hard to continue.

Engineers designed the Skywalk to support an extreme amount of weight. They state it could hold the equivalent of seventy 747 airplanes. Because of that strength, families do not need to worry about the structure collapsing, whether they walk on the clear glass or the frosted sections.

You are not allowed to bring personal belongings on the walk. Photographers on site capture the moment for you. The walk then ends in the gift shop. There, you can purchase the photos and have the files emailed to you.

Yes, the experience functions as something of a tourist trap. You can choose admission without the Skywalk and still enjoy the more traditional canyon views. Even so, we were glad we tried the Skywalk at least once.

Afterwards, we stood by the rim and took some photos of Eagle Point before moving on to the next stop. Eagle Point gets its name from a rock formation on the opposite canyon wall. The formation resembles an eagle with its wings outstretched.

Grand Canyon posts➤

• Bright Angel
• Hermit’s Rest
• South Kaibab
• Yavapai
• Grandview
• Desert View
• Western Rim Skywalk
• Western Rim Guano Point

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Location: Peach Springs, Arizona
Designation: Hualapai Reservation
Date designated/established: 1883
Date of my visit: April 9, 2017