There is an issue about touring the Grand Canyon that has developed over the past few years, and it is increasingly becoming a problem for thousands of tourists. Visitors to Las Vegas will often book an excursion that will visit the Grand Canyon during their vacation, due to the fact that Las Vegas is within driving distance of the natural phenomenon. While this would seem to not pose any issue and the thousands of people who Google “Grand Canyon tours” every month (more than 14,000) would be presented with options from different tour companies going to the same place, instead what we find is that many tourists are accidentally booking tour that take them to a different area. While this is still technically the Grand Canyon, it is not the national park area that you have seen in books and magazines. Instead, it is a lesser developed area on Hualapai land about 2 hours from Las Vegas. It seems beneficial that the drive is only half the distance, and that there is a large glass bridge there known as the “Skywalk,” but in reality many are disappointed. The area is far less developed and has less rich foliage and animals than the national park area, and ultimately presents visitors with little more to do there than take a few pictures and walk on the bridge. Many have actually complained that the large manmade structure spoils the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, which is the purpose for touring the area in the first place. When booking your tour through any tour company that offers a trip to the Grand Canyon, it is important to verify where you are going, if you are going for the reason of hiking or sightseeing. If you end up at the wrong area, you will probably never have another chance to see the right one.
The Grand Canyon National Park is located in the South Rim area of the Grand Canyon, and is federally protected from encroachment and development through the federal parks system. Through this system, funding is provided every year to maintain operations and protection of the area, providing tourists with many amenities that are not available outside it. Clearly marked hiking trails, mule rides and whitewater rafting, helicopter tours and nature watching are all available in the area. The West Rim is the Navajo portion of the Grand Canyon and it has traditionally suffered trying to get tourism to visit it when the actual national park is only a few hours further. The Skywalk bridge was constructed to appeal to the tourist mentality instead of the outdoors enthusiast, and while it is also spectacular many feel that it is not as good as the actual national park area. In addition to there being less to do there, it is simply browner and less beautiful than the protected space. It is important to ask your tour company if they tour the South Rim or the West Rim before booking your tour, because once you are out there you will probably not make the trip a second time.
This article uses information from https://www.bindlestifftours.com/package/grand-canyon-overnight/