While in Las Vegas last week with the family, we decided to make the short 2 1/2 hour drive southeast to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon since none of us have ever seen any part of the Seventh Wonder of the World. It's an easy trip for those staying on the Vegas strip or nearby, now that all roads to the Hualapai Indian reservation, where the west rim is located, have been paved with asphalt. We stopped on the way that morning for breakfast at a delightful little diner in White Hills, AZ called Rosie's Den Cafe for an excellent meal that provides down home service with a smile at a decent price. We recommend the omelets, biscuits and gravy, and french toast. The over sized pancakes that draped over the plates looked very good as well. It's like going back in time with it's western motif flavor except they provide the modern convenience of a free wireless network.
It's about a halfway point stop and the perfect place to get out and stretch your legs before driving the last hour or so through the cactus covered desert to the canyon. Once you arrive at the the Hualapai Tribe's reservation, you are directed to the welcome center where they have an airplane landing strip and helicopter pads for the many fly over tours that are also available there. You can either purchase tickets in advance online for the canyon tour, or buy them there at the welcome center. We purchased ours in advance and saved the wait time through the long lines of folks buying them. You are then taken by shuttle bus to the first stop- the Hualapai Ranch which is a working little cowboy ranch town where you can experience life in the old west and take pictures with all of the cowboys/horses/buildings. The second stop is at Eagle Point where the famous glass skywalk bridge is located. For an extra $30, you can purchase a ticket to walk out over the canyon over a glass walkway that gives you the illusion that you are literally walking on air. A gift shop is also inside.
From there you are taken to the final stop at the west rim of the canyon that was actually my favorite of the three called Guano Point. Here you can have lunch as well as see a Native American village up close and interact with the Hualapai people. I believe you also get the prettiest views of the west rim of the canyon and even get the only vantage point of the Colorado River racing through the west rim.
From there you board the shuttle for the trip back to the visitor center. Expect to spend a good 3 hours here if you make all three stops and have lunch overlooking Guano Point. Once on the road back to Las Vegas we also made the short stop at the Hoover Dam which is located along the Arizona/Nevada border only about 30 miles from Vegas. There isn't much parking here and since we didn't want to take the official tour we decided to just drive over it a couple of times and take it in visually from the car. It is nestled between some extremely high mountains and very curvy roads that you have to take quite slow but it is well worth the stop. Also worth mentioning is the gorgeous views of Lake Mead that the drive coming and going provide. If you leave Las Vegas between 7-8am, you can take in this day trip and all it has to offer and be back on the strip easily in time to grab a shower before taking in a show that evening like we did...which I will cover in my next installment.
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