St. Patrick’s Day is a great day for having fun and what could be better than touring the Grand Canyon by helicopter? You might not find the infamous pot of gold, but you will definitely see some awesome sights.
Grand Canyon choppers leave from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (in Arizona, just outside the Park’s main gates at the South Rim) and Las Vegas, Nevada. The tour schedule for the holiday is the same as usual. Personally, I think mornings are the best time to fly.
South Rim
At the South Rim, you get to choose between a 50-minute or 30-minute flight. The shorter version flies from the South Rim to the North Rim and then back. One of the notable landmarks you fly over is the Dragoon Corridor, which is the widest and deepest portion of the canyon.
The longer flight covers almost 3/4 of the National Park. It covers the same region as the shorter flight but also takes you over to the eastern region of the park. You will see many amazing sights on one of these tours and they are highly recommended.
Chopper Tours To The West Rim
The West Rim is fairly close to Vegas at only 120 miles away. All chopper flights outbound from Vegas fly to the West Rim. Your flight takes around 45 to 60 minutes and in addition to viewing the canyon, you get to see Lake Mead, the Colorado River, and the Hoover Dam.
The Glass Skywalk
A great thing about going to the West Rim is it is the only place where choppers are permitted to fly down to the bottom of the canyon and land. That means you can add on fun adventures to West Rim air tours such as taking a boat ride on the river, enjoying a picnic on the canyon floor, and walking out on the glass Skywalk.
If you opt for visiting the Skywalk, your chopper will land at the nearby helipad at the top of the West Rim. Each one of the glass panels in the bridge costs around $250,000 and the whole thing cost about $30 million to construct. The structure can be intimidating but it is extremely sturdy and was designed to survive an 8.0 earthquake and winds of 100 miles an hour.
Book Online And Book Early
Air tours out of Las Vegas are very popular especially on holidays. Because of that, you should book your tour about a week ahead of time. There is always a chance you can get a last minute tour, but there is also a great risk the tours will be sold out. It is nearly impossible to get same-day seats for a spur-of-the-moment tour.
Want to save some money on your seats? Who wouldn’t, right?
Book your flight online, and do it directly with the tour operator. Since the company controls the tours and the prices, they are the only ones who can offer low rates. You might be able to save up to 35% that way.
All you have to do is choose your tour and pay for it online. That is how you get the low Internet rate direct from the company.
