Papillon Helicopters is renowned for it\’s Grand Canyon National Park trips. I was responsible for the family\’s canyon trip this holiday season. Obviously, I booked with Papillon. Here is a fast write-up on my trip:

There was six among us. We stayed at El Tovar in Grand Canyon Village, which is located in the boundaries of the National Park. I highly recommend this hotel. It can be expensive, but it\’s worth it since you are seconds from the rim\’s edge.

I believe you can make plans with Papillon to be picked up. If not, you can set up a pick up at the transportation desk within the Bright Angel Lodge. I leased a Chevy Tahoe for the trip. I loaded the gang inside and made the 10-minute drive to Grand Canyon Airport.

The airport is situated just outside Tusayan. It\’s hard to miss it. There\’s lots of activity. Helicopters and airplanes arrive and depart from it often. The Papillon air terminal is the biggest. I parked the SUV and got us checked in (by the way, the coffee there is terrific!).

The atmosphere is quite friendly. I met plenty of passengers from Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The lobby is comfortable. We had been up late yesterday evening so I snuck in a power nap. I woke up to my sister yanking on my coat and telling me it was time to fly.

Helicopters hold up to six people (should you weigh in excess of 275 pounds you might be asked to buy what they call a \”comfort seat.\”). As this was family, I upgraded all of us to the EcoStar 130, which has 25% more cabin room, theater-style seating, and a 180-degree wraparound windshield for better views.

Furthermore, I booked us on the extended flight. Papillon Helicopter\’s standard South Rim heli flight is half an hour. That\’s plenty for lots of people. I estimate that what you see 30 minutes would take several days on the ground. But I wanted more (it\’s not every day someone flies the canyon), so I went with a tour that gave us between 45-50 minutes of airtime.

Take off was amazing. Our helicopter, nose forward, blasted off the runway and made a low-altitude flight over Kaibab National Forest, which hosts the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine in the world. In ten minutes, we said good-bye to the edge and discovered ourselves front and center in the Dragoon Corridor, the broadest ,deepest section of the Grand Canyon.

It was a wonderful sight. The Colorado River was beneath us. So was the Temple of Ra. The buttes and spires were surreal. There was no clouds on the horizon. Our pilot said that the visibility was about 140 miles compared to 30 for individuals on the ground! The chopper powered on to the stately North Rim. Here we turned back, enjoying Hopi Point and Grand Canyon Village while we made our descent.

Papillon records all flights using cameras on the exterior and interior of the helicopter. Make sure you purchase a copy of your trip on DVD. I did. The quality was great. I made duplicates for all of us. They loved it. Definitely a great memento of our heli tour.

Papillon Helicopters Grand Canyon South Rim tour gets two thumbs up from us. This was a tour of the South Rim. I\’m happy we did the prolonged flight. The extra airtime was worth it. Our pilot was fantastic and entertained us with facts and anecdotes of the area. He made the canyon come alive for us. This was definitely a trip highlight for my clan and me. We\’ll undoubtedly be doing this air tour again.

Author Bio: Mr. Kravitz is a travel writer who reviews Grand Canyon tours. Go here for his latest review of Papillon Helicopters and his Top 3 air tour operators.

Category: Travel
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