Grand Canyon West Rim article

It has been on my list for 17 years to visit the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. I put it off because I've already been to most of the best parts and had always heard the West Rim was a tourist trap. However, I finally made it there and it was better than I was expecting. I just did my first article in quite a while for this site on the experience. So please visit my new article on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The question for the poll is what did you think of it?

Good article
I've done the South Rim
Was in Phoenix for business 2 weeks so spent the weekend at the Grand Canyon
I did the Mule ride one day trip.
About 1/2 way to the bottom on the Bright Angel trail
Morning ride down , lunch, ride back up afternoon
A lot of fun and a bit scary as the Mule you are on navigates the switchbacks.

I went to west rim when I was in Vegas last year and lived it. When I get back to my PC I’ll post some photos and give a more detailed opinion.

Wiz, even if you just passed through, what did you think of Doland Springs AZ?

Thanks Mr. Wiz. I have never been to the GC but would love to go. It seems this is a good option for a day trip. The article addressed all of my questions. Thanks for the insight.

Quote: gamerfreak

Wiz, even if you just passed through, what did you think of Doland Springs AZ?

Lots of churches there is the biggest impression. I've heard it is a strange community of anti-government types, like the kind that rallied around the Bundy family near Mesquite. However, we never even stopped. There used to be a good ice cream place there, but it went out of business. A Family Dollar store seemed the only sign of normality.

Quote: IndyJeffrey

Thanks Mr. Wiz. I have never been to the GC but would love to go. It seems this is a good option for a day trip. The article addressed all of my questions. Thanks for the insight.

Thanks! I hope I conveyed that to do the GC properly you should go to the South or North rim, but the West Rim is better than nothing.

It's a good article, way better than actually
having to endure the GC itself. As with most
things in life, it was another giant letdown
when when I was there. Way too touristy
for me, like Mt Rushmore. Never seen so
many Japanese people with cameras in
both those places.

When I lived in Santa Barbara, I loved
looking at the mountains and the ocean.
After a few years I realized that's all a view
is good for, looking. That's all you can
do with it.

Ever since then I'd much rather see a
travel video than go there myself.
I'm not disappointed or inconvenienced
and it costs nothing. I have a huge pic
of the Santa Barbara mountains and
harbor on my office wall and it's a
much better view than if I was there.

I've now added a West Rim visit to my trip bucket list when I head out that way in September. Very cool Wiz.

Enjoyed the article, and reading about some of your other hikes like Jacinto and Charleston.

I’m thinking about doing the R2R hike at Grand Canyon in September but doubtful I’m in shape enough for the 1 day while enjoying it and didn’t do the advance planning needed for a 2-3 day. Maybe next year. 13-15 miles of mild-moderate elevation change hiking in a day or 25 whatever elevation in 3 days have been about the limit for me on my national park trips to date.

Quote: gamerfreak

I went to west rim when I was in Vegas last year and lived it. When I get back to my PC I’ll post some photos and give a more detailed opinion.

Wiz, even if you just passed through, what did you think of Doland Springs AZ?

I've been looking at a spot in Dolan Springs. Right on the road to the GC. It's not nearly as remote as it seems if you are coming from Vegas. It's only about twenty minutes from Kingman if you head south.

Quote: billryan

I've been looking at a spot in Dolan Springs. Right on the road to the GC. It's not nearly as remote as it seems if you are coming from Vegas. It's only about twenty minutes from Kingman if you head south.

My guide mentioned some people who live there commute to Kingman for work.

Quote: mcallister3200

Enjoyed the article, and reading about some of your other hikes like Jacinto and Charleston.

I’m thinking about doing the R2R hike at Grand Canyon in September but doubtful I’m in shape enough for the 1 day while enjoying it and didn’t do the advance planning needed for a 2-3 day. Maybe next year. 13-15 miles of mild-moderate elevation change hiking in a day or 25 whatever elevation in 3 days have been about the limit for me on my national park trips to date.

Thank you. I am doing the R2R hike on Oct 5. A friend is going the other direction and we'll trade car keys whenever we pass at the bottom. If you feel you'll be in shape for a 25-mile hike and are interested, let me know. I'm planning to do Charleston at least once a month until then to train. If you follow my Facebook page, you'll know I did Charleston last Saturday.

Here are my photos from my West Rim trip last year. Aside from going to Vegas once 10 years earlier, neither me or my girlfriend have ever spent any time on the West Coast. Driving through the desert was an absolute blast. The landscape is so different than the east that even the 2hr drive from Vegas was a real experience from us. Contrary to what some people here told me, the road from Vegas to the West Rim was 100% paved and a very pleasant drive.


Once you pull into the Hualapai reservation, you hit a security gate out of nowhere and they ask if you have any drugs, alcohol, or weapons in the car. There are ZERO signs before you hit the checkpoint and no way to turn around before you get to it. I am really really glad I removed the case of beer and legal weed we had in the car before the trip. I honestly think the tribal police do this to entrap unsuspecting tourists - really really unfair....but that is tribal law for you. Other than that, all of the tribal employees were beyond friendly. The price of admission was $50 per person without the sky walk, which we opted out of. After your purchase a ticket, there is a shuttle to three different areas Hualapai Ranch, Eagle Point, and Guano Point. We skipped the Hualapai Ranch and went strait to Eagle Point, followed by Guano Point. The bus ride was a little scary. The drivers go FAST and whip the bus around tight curves near the edge of the canyon with no guardrails. If the driver passed out, you would go right off the edge. Here are several photos I took of the views from each point:



My favorite part of the trek was the "ant hill" at Guano point which we were surprisingly allowed to climb. Very fun making your way to the top.



Here is a really good view of the Skywalk from our table at the restaurant. The food was not very good, but it was very inexpensive. For god knows what reason I ordered shrimp tacos in the middle of the desert. As I've mentioned several times, both me and my girlfriend got terrible food poisoning as we were leaving Vegas. So bad that my girlfriend was actually hospitalized. I got sick first, and blamed the desert shrimp until my girlfriend got sick - at which point I am convinced it was Chipoltle because they had a Norvirus outbreak yet again around the time that we ate.



Overall, I HIGHLY recommend visiting the West Rim if you are in Vegas and do not want to make the 4hr (each way) drive to the South Rim.

"Here are my photos"

I enjoyed the photos much more than
I would have enjoyed actually being
there.

Quote: gamerfreak

Here are my photos from my West Rim trip last year.

Thank you very much for the pictures and trip report! I happily included a couple of the pictures in my article and put a link to your post at the bottom. Glad you liked it.

Quote: Wizard

Thank you very much for the pictures and trip report! I happily included a couple of the pictures in my article and put a link to your post at the bottom. Glad you liked it.

Thanks for including them.

Did you climb that hill at Guano point?

Quote: gamerfreak

Did you climb that hill at Guano point?

Of course!

I have been a very vocal critic of the Western Rim since I was totally ripped off right after it opened.
It seems like many of my biggest complaints have been addressed and it isn't the tourist trap it once was.
The paved road all the way does cut the trip down quite a bit. When I did it, the last 90 miles or so was unpaved so you were lucky to hit 30MPH most of the time.

Quote: billryan

I have been a very vocal critic of the Western Rim since I was totally ripped off right after it opened.

That's a major reason it took so long for me to visit. I also heard stories about being charged right and left as well as standing in long lines. My guide, Chris, has done that tour for several years. He says the experience has improved significantly since he started. They are also building a whole new visitor center. The current one is in a glorified tent.

Are there discount coupons commonly available? $50 a person seems steep for a family of four, or cheap bastiches like myself.

Quote: billryan

Are there discount coupons commonly available? $50 a person seems steep for a family of four, or cheap bastiches like myself.

I've never seen any. $50 seems reasonable to me.

While it may be reasonable, $80 for an annual NP pass if you’re using it multiple times, or the lifetime pass for seniors are great deals in comparison.

Quote: Wizard

I've never seen any. $50 seems reasonable to me.

That's because you are rich enough to own a unicycle and multiple Rubiks cubes. I don't know anyone else that can say that.