Has anyone done one? Or visited independently? We'll be in Las Vegas in December and we'd like to also see the Grand Canyon but there are so many ways to do it, there are lots of choices of trips, with coach trips coming in at about the same price as short airtrips and there is no way I'll want to spend 15 hours on a coach. The other alternative is to hire a car and drive one day, stay over, do our own visiting, either drive back that evening or stay another night and drive back the next.
Personally I'm inclined towards the shorter air tours, but we'll have kids with us who are 3 and 5 and some people have suggested they might find it too noisy.
Hi Anne. Never done a "tour" for the Grand Canyon. But have been there a few times. It will be cold. Could be snowy in December. Personally I think you need to be on the ground to really understand the grandeur and size of the canyon. From the air I don't think you really get the true perspective/proportion. Please check before you go and make sure things are open in December. The Grand Canyon is truly awe-some in the total meaning of the word.
Pati, > Has anyone done one? Or visited independently? We'll be in Las Vegas in
DH and I went to the Grand Canyon in late April/ early May a couple of years ago. We rented a car, and made reservations at the Bright Angel Lodge, right on the rim of the canyon. We plan to return in March this year, to see it during a slightly different season. It is truly awe inspiring. Plan for winter weather - it is at a high elevation.
I've flown over the Grand Canyon in a small plane and it was wonderful. However, walking the trail along the rim is also wonderful. I had already been to the Canyon several times and walked the rim trail before flying over. I think I appreciated the flight more because I had already been there close up and personal. Can't even count how many times I've been to the South Rim, but only once to the North Rim.
BTW, the first time I was there was on Christmas day. Not as many people. But, that was almost 40 years ago. There are more people there year round than there was 40 years ago!
Personally, I would do the rent a car, drive over, spend the night, and drive back route if I were you. You can also take flights from the airport just south of the Canyon while you're there. I don't think flights are allowed anymore right in the area where all the hotels, etc., are at Grand Canyon village.
Dearest Anne, what brave souls we are. In 1992, just a couple of months after DH and I got married, we packed 3 kids and a ton of camping gear into a van and drove from Illinois to Nebraska, where we picked up two more kids. Now these kids ages were girl 1 1/2, girl 4 1/2, girl 6 1/2, boy 8 1/2, boy
11 1/2. We spent the first night in a hotel in Nebraska. The next 2 1/2 weeks we spent sleeping in the van and tents traveling throughout the southwest. When we got to GC we stayed at the Grand Canyon KOA Campground. The night we arrived there it was raining. DH and I attempted to set up the tent and finally gave up. All 7 of us spent that night in the van with DH and I sleeping in the front seats. We stayed there for a couple more nights and had a wonderful time. We toured the GC and had a blast. The girls were really too young to appreciate it but the boys sure did.
My suggestion with kids that young is to rent a car, drive it yourself that way you can stop for sight seeing and potty breaks along the way and spend the night. From Vegas I think it's about a 5 to 6 hour drive so you might even consider staying over two nights so that you have a whole day to see the Grand Canyon. It is an experience you'll never forget. And be sure to take LOTS of pictures. If you take the trails down into the canyon, trust me you will need to be alert in order to keep up with the kids. The trail we went down was kind of narrow and there were no rails/fences to prevent a person from stepping off the edge. It would be really easy for a child to get excited and get to close to the edge. Ask me how I know. On second thought, don't ask. LOL. Of course it could be a lot different now than it was almost 17 years ago when we were there. They may have installed fence rails now. I don't know. The most important thing though is to just have fun and feel the awe and beauty of the place. It's amazing.
I was there 2 years ago and no rails or fences on the trails. There are railings at the lookout spots. We listened to a park ranger talk about the canyon, and he said that it was extremely rare for a child to fall. The daredevil age range is 18-25 males!
I was there a year ago in October and the day before we arrived a child did fall over near Mather Point, South Rim. I believe she was 4 yrs old . . I did notice many children too far away from their parents --too far away from them in case they got near an edge. Apparently they hadn't heard of the prior accident or even thought of the dangers there. Even though there are railings ..they are not everywhere.
I walked part way down the Bright Angel Trail and had to turn back --just couldn't take being so close to the edge and I wasn't even near the edge where the mules walk !! The park ranger talks are great !!!
Lol I agree about the daredevil age. Our problem wasn't with the kids being daredevils but getting excited and not watchcing where they were going or just getting to close to the edge when people coming back up the trail passed by. It was mostly the 4 & 6 y/o girls. I don't know how we made it as far down, and back up, as we did with 5 kids that young. Whew!!! I think it took about 10 years off my life. But we had so much fun during that cross country trip. I would love to go back now and see more of it and actually go down to the river.
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