After weeks of media events and invitation-only ceremonies, the general public gets its first chance to see, and see through, the Grand Canyon Skywalk at 10 a.m. this morning.
But if you want to step out onto the glass-bottomed walkway, you better bring your wallet. The least you can expect to pay is about $75.
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The cantilevered walkway extends 70 feet out over the west rim of the Grand Canyon, 120 miles east of Las Vegas, and provides panoramas of the Colorado River and nearby Eagle Point.
Its deck of layered glass reveals the view straight down to the canyon floor thousands of feet below.
The Hualapai Indian Tribe, which owns the Skywalk and nearly one million acres surrounding it, is requiring visitors to buy a tour package to its other Grand Canyon West attractions to gain access to the walkway.
The tour packages range in price from $49.95 to $199 per person and include lunch. A Skywalk ticket is another $25.
Getting to the site is no picnic, either. The drive from Las Vegas takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours and includes 14 miles of dirt road best suited for four-wheel-drive and high-clearance vehicles.
Several Las Vegas tour companies are offering trips by air and ground that now include the Skywalk.
A valley company called Grand Canyon West Express is now taking reservations for a park-and-ride service from the end of the pavement to the Grand Canyon West visitor center, which doubles as the airport for tour helicopters and small airplanes.
The privately funded $30 million Skywalk is expected to become a major revenue source for the 2,000-member Hualapai tribe, which has already opened its section of the Grand Canyon to jeep, helicopter and boat tours.
By next year, the tribe hopes to construct a Skywalk visitor center with a museum, a theater, a gift shop, several restaurants and bars, and facilities for weddings and other events.
Plans are also in the works to pave the road leading to the area, said Leslie Thuet, spokeswoman for Grand Canyon West.
Within its first year of operation, the Skywalk is expected to double the number of people who access the Grand Canyon through the Hualapai reservation, Thuet said.
That surge of tourists begins this morning, when a few dozen people lucky enough to win select tickets through a variety of promotions will be allowed out onto the walkway starting at 8 a.m.
For those who can't wait until 10 a.m., 100 tickets for a special pre-opening walk at 9 a.m. today were made available on the Internet auction site eBay.
The starting bid for each ticket was $250, but it was unclear whether any of them sold before the auction ended Tuesday afternoon.
After today, the Skywalk will be open from dawn to dusk seven days a week.
Thuet said there is no time limit, but most visitors are expected to spend about 15-20 minutes out on the walkway. No more than 120 people will be permitted on the structure at any one time.
In order to avoid scratches on the glass, visitors will be issued shoe covers and required to leave behind all their personal items, including cameras, before stepping out onto the Skywalk.
More information, including a complete list of activities at Grand Canyon West, is available on the Web at www.destinationgrandcanyon.com or by calling 1-877-716-WEST (9378).
IF YOU GO
Cost: $25 each, plus another $49.95 to $199 per person for a Grand Canyon West tour package.
Hours of operation: 10 a.m. to dusk today, dawn to dusk seven days a week after that.
Directions from Las Vegas: Go 70 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 93 to Pierce Ferry Road (also known as the Dolan Springs exit or Arizona Route 25). Go 28 miles northeast on Pierce Ferry Road to Diamond Bar Road. Go 21 miles east on Diamond Bar Road, the first 14 miles of which is unpaved, to the Grand Canyon West visitor center and airport.
