How do I go to the South Rim from Las Vegas by Helicopter?
You can't. It's impossible. No can do. I wish I had better news. Fact of the matter is: The South Rim is too far from Las Vegas, and no helicopter has a fuel tank that will let it fly that far.
Most people don't know this. When they do, it's a total shock. But fear not. You can still take a heli to the Grand Canyon, but you're going to go to the West Rim.
Is the West Rim different from the South Rim? Yes. It's a 45-minute flight from Vegas, whereas the South Rim is about an hour by plane and 5.5-hours by car or bus.
Dry Heat
The West Rim is more arid because it's situation in the high desert. The South Rim is parked at an elevation of 7000-feet and there are pine trees and guaranteed snow in the winter (it's also cooler in the summer).
The West Rim sits adjacent, not in, but adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park. It's located entirely on tribal lands owned by the Hualapai Indians and is subject to tribal laws.
Does that make it any less of a "canyon" experience. Absolutely not! The West Rim is spectacular and offers several key lookouts that will give you vertigo. It's also home to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
Also known as the Glass Bridge, the Skywalk is a cantilevered all-glass horseshoe-shaped platform that lets you walk 75 feet over the edge until you are standing appx. 4K feet over the bottom.
"Bottom Floor, Please!"
But the GREAT thing I like about the West Rim is that helicopters are allowed to fly to the bottom. You can't do this at the South Rim because it's banned by the National Park Service (NPS). Tours that go to the bottom typically include a Champagne picnic alongside the Colorado River.
However, if you are determined to get to the South Rim from Vegas by air, I recommend you take this airplane tour. It takes 1-hour to get there and includes a lot of add-ons, including a helicopter ride (South Rim to North Rim and back), bus tour or a Jeep tour. It's a great air-ground combo that has become a favorite with daytrippers.
Will there come a day when helicopters will fly from Vegas to the South Rim? Maybe. But probably not. You'd have to equip them with monster-sized fuel tanks and entirely re-imagined cabins. Costs would be horrendous. But don't count out ingenuity in the 21st century. There's always some breakthrough on the horizon.
Just not in the near foreseeable future.
Tours Mentioned in This Article:
Have a great flight!
Keith Kravitz
Grand Canyon Helicopters (702) 530-8687 grandcanyonkeith@gmail.com
