Any rental car deals ?Drive from vegas to grand canyon west skywalk?
I drove to Grand Canyon West a little over a month ago. The directions on the Grand Canyon West webpage are pretty good (see link below). You certainly don't need a GPS, but a decent Arizona roadmap would not be a bad idea. Driving to GC West from Vegas and back would be about 5-6 hours total drive time and it is not a single long road to the canyon - coming from Vegas there are going to be several places where you need to know where to turn (again, the directions on the GC West page are pretty good and easy to follow).
Most of the way to GC West is on two-lane paved roads. There is one 12-14 mile stretch of dirt road near the end that crosses BLM land. The worst part about this section is that it is very washboardy (ie: many little ripples) which makes for a bumpy ride and forces non-SUVs to go very slow. Even if you don't need to go slow, you will probably get stuck behind somebody who does so this 12-14 miles can take close to an hour.
As for what type of car to rent... unless there has been bad weather recently, you don't need an SUV, but you should get something with decent clearance. Make sure it has a good spare and do bring plenty of water because once you leave US93 there are not a lot of facilities.
Once you reach GC West, there are no fees specifically for parking your car (there is basically just a big dirt lot beside the little GC West airport). Note however that you can't just drive up to the SkyWalk or any of the overlooks - you must park at the airport and buy a package tour that includes shuttle service to these spots. Even with the package tours (minimum is $50 per person), you still have to pay another $25 to actually walk on the SkyWalk ($75 per person total).
Beware too that the SkyWalk does not look anything like the 'artist rendition' on their webpage and promotions. It is NOT over the Colorado River on the main gorge, but rather in a dry side canyon with the river only slightly visible in the distance. And it is no where near a 4000 foot drop directly below the SkyWalk as claimed (maybe around 1000 feet). While the canyon itself is very scenic and there is a slight thrill to walking on a glass platform, I found the whole experience to be over-hyped and over-priced.
As for other things to see along the way, if you are planning on doing this as a day trip, you will probably have little time to see much else. Just the drive to GC West and back is 4-5 hours and because you are sort of at the mercy of the lines and shuttle schedule there, it would be hard to get away with less than 2-3 hours at the GC West.
Hoover Dam, as you mention, is a popular spot and a very interesting sight. You can take tours inside the dam. Be warned though that it can be quite crowded, especially on weekends.
There are not a whole lot of other attractions between Vegas and GC West (you will see lots of Joshua trees along the road), but here are a couple of possibilities if you have the time and inclination:
At the place where you turn off on the dirt road to GC West, you can also continue on the paved road to the little community of Mead View. If you continue north from Mead View there is the old abandoned site of Pierce Ferry which is in a pretty spot and still has a few ruins from the 1930s when it was boat dock (silting and drought have left it high and dry now). The last few miles to Pierce Ferry are dirt road, but it is a better one than the GC West one.
Also, back on US93, if you were to continue further south (toward Kingman), there is a left-side turn off to the old mining town of Chloride located up in the hills. The town still has quite a few historic buildings from the early 20th century. There are also a number of artists in town, some of whom have their metal artworks out in the yards. Not a major tourist attraction, but a neat little place.
As for taking a bus tour from Vegas. There is something to be said for letting somebody else do the driving, since there really is not that much to see or stop at along the way and many of the bus tours stop at Hoover Dam. While it might be more relaxing, it probably would not save you much money for three people compared to renting a car.
Most of the Vegas bus tours to GC West that include a SkyWalk ticket run about $150 per person. If a tour is much less than that, read the details and see if it really is going to GC West (as opposed to the South Rim of the National Park) and if it really includes all the GC West tour fees including the $25 SkyWalk ticket - many of the cheaper Vegas-GC West bus tours do NOT include the SkyWalk ticket in their listed price.Drive from vegas to grand canyon west skywalk?
youre best bet is to sign up for a bus tour, it will end up costing you much less and you will be much more comfortable. for approx $99 maybe a bit more you can board a very nice travel bus at your hotel, breakfast is provided, you will go to lake meade and hoover dam and settle in for a long drive in the desert to the canyon, they have different trip depending on the rim you want to see.
please know that should you rent a car, make sure its dependable, the ac works well, you get good gas mileage, and you carry a cooler with you with plenty of water and some snacks because, there is nothing to stop at or see going to the canyon except desert.
a round trip drive doing it yourself plan on 10 to 11 hours on the road plus your fees to tour the dam and enter the canyon, on a bus tour plan on 14 hours and your entry fees are usually included in your tour fee.
gps is not neccessary, its only one road that if you follow it you will end up at the grand canyon, and yes some of the roadway is less that perfect, and you will experience dirt road at the canyon.
i would never drive it myself again, i would take a bus tour again and the helicopter tour was more that i could ever describe to you.
do be careful, go in the internet to lasvegas.com and follow the prompts to the info you are interested in. there are alot of choices and believe me, driving in vegas on the strip is not worth the hassel. take the trolley for $.50 of the monorail for $2.00 or buy a day pass and ride as much as you want. you'll be able to see more, enjoy the comfort of not driving, not having to pay parking, or getting lost or in an area you are not familiar with.
no matter what you do, you'll have a blast. every casino as something to do thats free or affordable.
happy travels! jackie bDrive from vegas to grand canyon west skywalk?
Yesterday's New York Times had a feature on it that answers all your questions or gets you to answers by website. Google the Times, and you can see the article free. Good luck. By the way, the article is critical of the whole thing.
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