Extra day in Las Vegas... advice on Grand Canyon?

[Momo]

I will be going to Las Vegas for the second time in mid-November. My meetings end at noon one day, and I have booked the 8:10 PM BA flight back to Europe the following day. I am thinking of heading out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and spending the night at the Bright Angel lodge. I want to do something like a four to six hour hike the second day, then head back to LV. I have never seen the Grand Canyon.

Have any of you had any experience with doing this sort of thing? If so, how should I get to and from LV, assuming no real budget limit.

Also open to other ideas for enjoying nature or national parks as well or instead, within those time constraints.

[TSR2]

The Grand Canyon is well worth a visit. Personally I would recommend that you drive there. It is approx. 120 miles and should not take much longer than 3 hours so plenty of time for your hike. Enjoy.

[Iain Wilson]

Lucky you!
We were in Las Vegas this year. We "did" The Grand Canyon as a day trip, to the South Rim. My wife will not countenance light aircraft / helicopters, so we did a bus tour that also took in Hoover Dam and Route 66. It was a LONG day , ( Left at 7am, Hoover Dam about 10:00am, Canyon about 2pm , couple of hours there at 2 different stops and home about 10pm) but in my view worth every minute. Buses aren`t everyones thing so probably best to drive it.
I can only say, DO NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY to see the Canyon, however you do it.
Enjoy!
Iain

[HKPAX]

Check at Bright Angel Lodge Momo: you can prolly hike down to a place called Indian Garden halfway down where the scenery is quite surreal, with glimpses of the Colorado river below you, and hike back up within your six hours.

Me my brer and a friend hiked down, stayed overnight at the national park lodge by the river and hiked back up the next day. (In theory you can do it in a day but definately not advisable cos of the heat-bowl effect). Can you add the extra day? Apparently only 1% of visitors to the GC actually make it down to the river under their own steam. Too many of them burgers methinks...

[Hartington]

Water!

Hiking the Canyon is a real treat. However, you do need to be prepared. You may be experienced and if you are I apologise but you MUST take water with you AND DRINK IT even in November.

I learned the hard way. I took the water, but didn't drink it (how stupid is that). You simply don't appreciate how much fluid you lose. Three days later I had salt round my lips and felt a bit weird.

As for how to get there I would probably fly which probably means Grand Canyon Airlines. However, before you phone them I'd call the lodges to see if you can get a room - it can be difficult at short notice (yes I know November is at least 5 weeks away but...) Grand Canyon: In-Park Lodging, Tours, Mule-rides - WELCOME TO GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK and the only "in-park" lodging! . You could even enquire about a bed in the bunkhouse at Phantom Ranch (in the bottom of the Canyon). Meeting finishes noon, flight at 1300 arrive 1400 you should just make the bottom by nightfall if you go down Bright Angel Trail (but you won't have spare time) but take a torch in case! Coming out is slower but lets see, flight departs 2010, check in by 1810 means need to be back by 1700 = depart GCN 1600meaning nedd to be back at the top by 1400 to be safe (depending on where you've left your business luggage so maybe earlier) but that gives you time to get out so long as you're reasonably fit and leave early (like 0700). Unless it's changed a lot the trail is good; you're not having to do any map reading.

[radeng]

Don't bother with the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams. Very disappointed, especially with the steam being accompanied by diesel. The story that the steam loco isn't powerful enough for 900 tons doesn't add up with what British steam was handling with smaller locos.

Remember the south rim is 7000ft asl, and the air is thinner: it was warm enough a week ago last Saturday that it was at times uncomfortable with the thin air.

[Bushfiva]

If no real budget limit, why not a custom tour by helicopter to the bottom via Papillon? There's a lot to see if you don't need to be on the tourist paths, and you have the money to move quickly. North Rim is probably too far for you, and it closes around this time of year anyway. If you can rent the helicopter, Valley of Fire is a nice detour, as is Bryce.

[gdiphil]

30 years ago when visiting the south rim of the GC I decided I had to go down into it. Well, this year myself and Mrs gdi rafted it from the start to the end, all 280 miles of over 8 days. Fantastic trip does not begin to express the experience. Clearly you won't have time for that but one day make time for it. You won't regret it. And I feel sure if you do what you plan you will take up my suggestion. There are considerable restrictions on the numbers overnighting in the Canyon and I had the impression the restrictions were tighter in the winter months, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention to that part of the briefing we received. Sorry to hear you are in LV, awful place but for the micro brewery we discovered called Beirisch (I think).

[Momo]

278 miles

Google Earth tells me it is a 278-mile 5-hour drive, so I think that won't pass my timing test. I will look at the flight options. People seem pretty negative on the west rim experience with the Skywalk or whatever it is called.

Thanks for the great advice so far.

[Hotel Tango]

I'm not familiar with the GC climate in mid November. I was once there in mid April though. We drove out of Vegas in sunny 25C conditions only to hit snow and icy road conditions some 3/4 of the way to GC. We didn't have any winter clothes either! Check the weather forecast before you leave. Take care and enjoy.

[Pax Vobiscum]

I enjoyed my sight-seeing flight with Air Grand Canyon. If you're lucky you might get to sit in the co-pilot's seat, as I did (they use 8-seater Cessna 207s).

[Load Toad]

advice on Grand Canyon?

Don't fall in.

[Saintsman]

I'm not familiar with the GC climate in mid November. I was once there in mid April though. We drove out of Vegas in sunny 25C conditions only to hit snow and icy road conditions some 3/4 of the way to GC. We didn't have any winter clothes either! Check the weather forecast before you leave. Take care and enjoy.

I had a similar experience. Snow at Williams and when we got to the Canyon, the cloudbase was below the ridge so we couldn't see anything. There was a bitter wind so we just got back in the car and drove to Pheonix where we could sunbath by the hotel pool.

Unfortunately for us, the Grand Canyon is just a big hole in the ground.

[ex-XL-in-exile]

If you can at all avoid it, don't rush yourself. I was there in September with a couple of old XL training pals (we were in Arizona training back in 2006) and drove from Henderson on the Boulder Highway (so as near as damn it Vegas) to the GC via the Hoover Damn (awesome, well worth a good long look) and stayed the evening in Williams - which, again, I thoroughly enjoyed.

I'd leave yourself four hours, not taking into account stop offs in places such as the Hoover Damn which you can't really just drive past. An incredible specticle.

And good advise on checking weather / taking water. You're in thin air and I was surprised by just how breathless I got scrambling around up and down vantage points off the beaten track!

[Otto Throttle]

The Grand Canyon is well worth a visit, but mid-November is well into the time when winter descends on the canyon and snow (highly likley to be heavy snow) is a real possibility. Be prepared for temps much colder than you might expect, and pack winter hiking kit. I strongly recommend taking advice from the canyon rangers with regard to hiking at this time of year and make good use of their local knowledge.

[cats_five]

I thought it looked disapointing in the middle of the day, but come the evening and the colours before sunset it was stunning. Suspect that from a plane it would look diminished unless you actually fly into it rather than above it, I have no idea if the tourist trips do that, and if they do I would get scared flying in it.

It is awful easy to misjudge walking down into it as unlike normal walks you go down first and then up - it's easy to find you have overreached yourself. As someone else said, take water - there isn't any on the way down. You could instead take a mule ride into it.

There were lots of free talks on when I was there including ones about the condors, and the fossils exposed in some of the rocks. Recomended.

However it is a bit of a tourist trap!

[Iain Wilson]

In support of Otto`s comment, the South rim of the canyon at Tusayan and Bright Angel Lodge (The main tourist point from Route 66) is at 7000 feet altitude and is likely to experiece cold conditions at that time of year.
Iain

[Carvair66]

Hoover Dam rather more impressive in my view

[Hotel Tango]

Hoover Dam rather more impressive in my view

Well, you get to see the Hoover Dam as a bonus on the way from LAS to GC. As already mentioned, to see the GC at its most glorious it's best late afternoon when the Sun is low. The colours are amazing.

[teddybear44]

Went there years ago. Did a helicopter tour from the airport at GC. They give you a number equating to where you sit in the machine. I think they might even weigh you Mostly OK but if you are middle seat at the back then a bit dissapointing. Was good to see and say that we'd done it. I think there is also some sort of old prop driven aircraft relic down the main road near it for anyone who is into these things, at least there was back in 2003. Have a good one!

PS Agree Hoover Dam is pretty spectacular too!