Grand Canyon South Rim National Park is a sight to see. Covering more than 1 million acres of pristine forests, this playground is divided into the North Rim and South Rim by the Colorado River, which courses through its vains for 278 miles. It is just huge, majestic scenery. The very best way to experience it, is by getting a South Rim helicopter tour of the Canyon.

The South Rim

The South Rim is located in Upper Arizona near the Utah border. Its nearest major cities include Williams (Which is also the terminus for the Grand Canyon Railway) and Flagstaff. Outside the main entrance is Tusayan, which has the Grand Canyon Airport, from which all air tours arrive and depart. There is also an IMAX Theatre – but who comes to the Grand Canyon to watch a movie?

The Grand Canyon gets about 6 million visitors a year, and lots of these come from Las Vegas, Sedona and Phoenix. Most Central Arizona travelers will choose to drive themselves, while visitors from Las Vegas will come by either coach or by airplane, the latter is what  I advocate the most.

Unlike the West Rim of the canyon, which will be located just east of Las Vegas, the South Rim prohibits helicopters from flying beneath the rim and landing at the bottom. This law of limitation is a National one at all Major parks with deep canyons. There aren’t any flights from the South Rim to the West Rim, when you want to visit that destination, you’ll need to drive.

Departures

South Rim flights depart everyday from GCA. There are a number of air tour operators located here, and flight prices range from cheap to extravagance. As all flights follow the same flight route, another major difference is time. There are 30-minute excursions and ones that remain up in the air for almost 1 hour.

The half-hour flights basically go from the South Rim to the North Rim and back. In between, you’ll soar over Kaibab National Forest and through the Dragoon Hallway, that is the Canyon’s most heavy and broadest part. This specific excursion is a great choice for people who plan to spend a trip to the canyon and who desire to see as much of it as possible.

The 45-minute tours include everything the half-hour flight does, except start out eastward, flying past the Desert Watchtower, the Zuni Hallway, the Co River confluence and the more attractively desolated stretches of the North Rim. My suggestion is opt for this tour because more airtime is always better.

Limited Seating

Choppers hold up to 6 individuals in addition to the pilot. Seldom will you travel alone or in a practically empty craft. Seating assignments are decided on the tarmac at the pilot’s discretion. The reason behind this is that total pounds of all people should be spread equally about the plane and this is always worked out just before the time of the trip.

I urge you to book your South Rim heli tour as quickly as possible. Attempting to get it done a week beforehand could leave you without seats. Buying a same-day flight is uncertain as there generally won’t be any seats of course, if there is it’s possibly only one chair. Furthermore, if you obtain your excursion at the heliport, you may likely spend more as if you were to buy a ticket form a commercial airline like American Airlines, Delta or United Air .

Purchase your canyon heli excursion on the Web. That’s where you’ll discover the best bargains. Particularly, buy it direct from a broker, who may post specials and discounts that other on-line brokerages like Expedia, Priceline and Viator can not touch.  Rarely buy directly from the operator themselves.  They rarely offer discounts and all specials are always handed to their list of brokers for selling and reaching out to the masses. Lastly, make sure to complete your deal on line to obtain that special web offer. If you bypass this step, you’ll likely wind up paying full retail.

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