Scenic Airlines - Grand Canyon - Things To Do Reviews

Scenic Airlines offers several tours of the Grand Canyon. We chose the deluxe model, The Colorado River Adventure. This particular tour encompasses both a fixed wing flight and a helicopter tour (and a boat portion, too), which are the same modes of transportation on the other tours, so you can probably get a feel for then as well.

The people at Scenic Airlines were very easy to work with. We began planning our trip months in advance and I sent them an e-mail asking a lot to dumb questions (Have you ever had a plane crash?) and they answered everyone promptly and completely. In 2004 they did not require a deposit. That may have changed. The cost for this trip in 2004 was $239 per person. It has gone up to $319 per their website. For that price you got a 45 minute plane ride from the south end to the west end, a helicopter ride down to the bottom of the canyon (about 10 minutes), and short pontoon boat ride (20 minutes or so), another helicopter ride back up top, a bus ride to Guano Point for lunch, souvenirs, and great photo ops. Then another plane ride back to the South Side.

No one in our party really enjoyed the airplane portion of the trip. It was too long, too cramped, and the scenery was not that good. You were technically flying over the Grand Canyon, but not the “good” part. Still if you have never been on a small plane before, that in itself could be enough. The helicopter ride is great! The views are awesome and the feeling of going down into the canyon and having it swallow you up it special. It is very hot at the bottom!! At the bottom of the canyon a guide quickly gets you onto a pontoon boat, for a leisurely, but short ride on the Colorado River. This is a whole new perspective on the canyon and one only a small fraction of visitors will ever see. Our only gripe here was the boat ride was too short. But the guide was very friendly and informative. Then back into the helicopter. More Great!! Up top a bus took us to Guano Point. The views were better than the South Side. Lunch was a Mexican meal, served buffet style, and eaten outside under a covered area on tables. It was actually pretty good. Local Indians had set up tables to sell various things they had made. The final leg reversed the plane ride back home.

I would do it again, even knowing that I wouldn’t like the plane rides. The rest of the trip more than makes up for it. It was a great experience.