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Hualapai Nation Gets Into Grand Canyon Tourism Big Time
STORY AND PHOTO BY BOB LINDSEY
Five years ago, I had never hard of Grand Canyon West. With the addition of Skywalk it’s fast becoming one of the spectacular scenic destinations for visitors to America’s most panoramic site. The location is on the land owned by the Hualapai.
The Hualapai (pronounced Wallipi) nation consist of slightly over 2,000 members accompanying nearly one million acres in northwest Arizona, about 120 miles from Las Vegas. The U.S. government granted the Hualapai the land in the 1800s after they helped kill Geronimo, the leader of their archenemy Apache tribe.
The Hualapai nation once numbered in the thousands, but was down to a few hundred a few decades ago. Leaders in this self-contained reservation decided they needed to take advantage of the spectacular setting of the western part of the Grand Canyon, which is a big part of Hualapai land.
For the past 18 years they have opened the reservation for tourists mostly who were staying in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Sedona. The Hualapai market this new destination as Grand Canyon West and envision it to be on par someday with the south rim of the Grand Canyon, especially with the new Skywalk overhanging 4,000 feet above the Colorado River. A walk on the horseshoe-shaped Skywalk, which officially opened March 27, is $25. It was in the construction stage when we visited last September.
When you arrive at the visitors center at Grand Canyon West, there are several options including hummer rides along the canyon wall, helicopter rides through the canyon and calm floats down the Colorado (only accessible via helicopter). The basic tour of the area includes three stops and a buffet barbecue lunch cooked by the Hualapai at Guano Point or a lunch at the Hualapai Ranch.
The first stop is the Hualapai Ranch, a work-in-progress western town complete with gunfights, a wagon ride and horseback riding. Next stop on the van trip is at Eagle’s Point where Skywalk will be located. From here you can gaze across the canyon to a sacred Indian site that looks like a giant eagle in the canyon wall. There’s also an Indian village, an amphitheater and cultural performances daily.
The last stop is by far the most spectacular. Called Guano Point, you can view the canyon from three sides, walk the trails and rock ledges offering wonderful photo opportunities and have lunch on open-air picnic tables that appear to be right on the edge of the rim when you take photos . The lunch buffet— most days some type of barbecue with all the sides— is cooked by the Hualapai and part of your ticket package at Grand Canyon West.
Getting to Grand Canyon West from Las Vegas is easy via Highway 93, past Hoover Dam to the Dolar/Springs exit. There are 14 miles of unpaved roadway, so be prepared if you are drinving it yourself, specially with a rental car. There are several tour operators that you can book from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon West with complete packages for a great outdoor experience away from the glitter of Las Vegas. The web site: destinationgrandcanyonwest contains all the information and options on tours, overnights and Skywalk.
Lunch is served by the Hualapai as part of their visitor’s package at Grand Canyon West. You can have lunch overlooking the canyon. This photo can be a big deceiving, as it appears the picnic table is right on the canyon edge.
It’s actually 20-25 feet from the drop-off. However, Grand Canyon West is not part of the national park system and there are no railings at the canyon edge! Walkers beware, but photo buffs can get some great people pictures that make it seem they are on the rim.
