Grand Canyon Skywalk One Year Old

In just one year the Skywalk at Grand Canyon West has brought many benefits to the Hualapai Nation in this remote corner of Arizona, paving the way to a better future.

It hardly seems a year has passed since the Grand Canyon Skywalk opened to the public. On March 28, 2007, visitors took their first steps onto the great glass bridge that extends out over the cliff edge, 4000 feet above the Grand Canyon floor.

A lucky couple from Baltimore, Maryland were the first members of the public to walk on the Skywalk. They had been in Las Vegas on a business trip and couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Grand Canyon West for the opening day. After his walk Benson Rice told reporters, "It was definitely worth the trip."

The number of Skywalk visitors has grown steadily since opening day. Rising from around 500 per day to more than 2000 daily visitors, numbers have quadrupled in only a year's time.

The Skywalk at Grand Canyon West is located on land belonging to the Hualapai Nation. Life is rugged in this beautiful but remote corner of northwest Arizona, and the success of the Skywalk has brought job opportunities and hope for a better future for members of the tribe.

"The Hualapai Nation has been plagued by poverty and unemployment for decades," said Wilfred Whatoname, a tribe member who handles Guest Relations at Grand Canyon West.

When I interviewed him recently at World Travel Market, he cited several benefits the Skywalk is bringing to the tribe, including jobs and a new program at the University of Hospitality in Las Vegas which will be based around Grand Canyon West.

Read my interview with Wilfred Whatoname.

Read more about the Grand Canyon Skywalk and how to visit.

To read my review of Lonely Planet's new guidebook to the Grand Canyon National Park, click here.