When you're standing on the ground, it's hard to grasp just how immense Arizona's Grand Canyon truly is. It is actually 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and an amazing one mile deep. The only way to appreciate the size of the canyon is to tour it by helicopter.

No matter which direction you look, you'll see breathtaking vistas that are far beyond your imagination. Some of the region's plateaus are 9,000 feet above sea level! You can take in all this grandeur when you tour the canyon from the air.

Erosion caused by the Arizona River carved out this remarkable place over the course of 17,000,000 years. History is recorded in the colorful rock layers that make up the canyon walls. Not only that, the vibrant colors of the rock formations are astonishingly beautiful to behold.

Choose A West Rim Air Tour

Helicopters are the ideal aircraft for taking an air tour of the Grand Canyon. This spectacular place is so immense that it can even be seen from outer space. Of course, you will have a much better and more up-close view from a chopper.

The flight to the West Rim is enjoyable too since you pass over the Hoover Dam, an extinct volcano, and Lake Mead. Then once you get to the canyon itself, the sight of it will completely amaze you.

You can even choose a chopper flight that descends 3500 feet to the canyon floor. While you're there, you'll enjoy a champagne lunch. Your pilot also acts as a fun tour guide that keeps you entertained with interesting tidbits of information during your trip.

Photography Heaven

Be sure to take your camera because you will have the opportunity to take some amazing shots. Plus, if you choose the tour that goes to the canyon floor, you can take pictures of land features not visible from the top of the canyon. The landing tour is amazing because you get the awesome view of the river from the air, but you also get to see it in person from the land and take a wide array of photos.

The Grand Canyon Skywalk

A different West Rim helicopter tour flies over the area and then lands near the fabulous Grand Canyon Skywalk. The Skywalk is called a glass bridge because it is made of glass and extends 70 feet beyond the rim of the canyon. If you are brave enough, you can walk on the glass bride and look down beneath you 4000 feet to the canyon floor.

South Rim Helicopter Tours

Flights originating at Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Tusayan, AZ take you to the South Rim. In this part of the canyon, the Little Colorado River snakes through, changing color from red to blue, but you can only see it from the air since landing is not permitted at the South Rim. The color of the river varies and changes with the seasons and with the changing mineral content.

You'll also see the almost-untouched North Rim, blanketed in trees and other vegetation. It is a very different view than the barren rock walls that make up other parts of the canyon. On the way back to the South Rim, your chopper takes you over the striking Dragoon Corridor, which is a spectacular sight being the deepest part of the entire canyon.