Skywalk over the Grand Canyon

It’s called “Skywalk” glass platform built over the Grand Canyon to 1.3 km above the bed of the Colorado River in Arizona, USA, built in the territory of the Indian reservation of the Hualapai tribe, whose reservation is located 144 kilometers west of Grand Canyon National Park.

For the presentation of this viewpoint we chose two astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, one of the crew of Apollo 11 astronaut John Herrington first native owned by the Chickasaw tribe, they were the first to enjoy this experience. The ideologue of this platform is the construction businessman David Jin, who in 1996 reached agreement with the Hualapai tribal chief, for the construction of this platform, which costs $ 30 million, the deal was simple, he builds in his territory and then transfers ownership to them, to use the platform as a source of income and Jin receives 25 percent of the profits from tourism.

The walk along the platform costs $ 25, to which there is the parking and the obligatory visit to the souvenir shop. Attraction is expected to receive more than half a million tourists each year.

The controversy has erupted regarding the safety and architectural work and its location in Indian Territory. But the architect Mark Johnson came forward and ensures that the viewpoint is designed to support the weight of several hundred people and dealing with winds of 160 kilometers per hour, is therefore a miracle of architecture and not of nature, But some criticize the inclusion of a foreign element to the landscape.

Travelers wishing to take a walk through this platform, should muster courage to face up to the heights and the feeling of emptiness, because the platform is constructed of glass from which you can see the canyon floor from a height much higher than the tallest buildings in the world.

Tribal leaders expect the Skywalk to become the centerpiece of a tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, rafting on the rapids of the Colorado River, a cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica homes. It’s worth a walk by it, the views are incredible and the photos that can be done to the memory of an unforgettable trip.