Canyon Floor Landings

Grand Canyon Helicopter Landing Tours

Descend 3,500 feet below the rim, to the Colorado River.

From $279 per person Free cancellation
  • 4.5 / 5 381+ Reviews
  • 40 minutes Duration
  • Canyon Floor Landing Options
  • Instant Confirmation
  • Free Cancellation

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The Experience

Why Book the Papillon Canyon Floor Landing

The most-booked way to get from a Las Vegas hotel lobby to the floor of the Grand Canyon and back in an afternoon.

Highlights

  • Land 3,500 feet below the rim, about 300 feet above the Colorado River
  • 20 minutes on the canyon floor at an exclusive landing site
  • Fly over Hualapai tribal land with exclusive aerial views
  • Premier ECO-Star helicopter with leather seats and wrap-around glass
  • Live narration from your pilot throughout

What's Included

  • 40-minute helicopter tour including a 20-minute canyon-floor landing
  • Aerial views over Hualapai tribal land and the multicoloured canyon walls
  • Descent to a landing site 3,500 feet below the rim
  • Live pilot narration

How Booking a Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour Works

Four steps from choosing a rim to standing on the canyon floor.

  1. Pick Your Rim First

    Grand Canyon West is 120 miles from the national park and the only place helicopters may land in the canyon. The South Rim is the park itself, where flights stay in the air. Choose the experience, then the tour.

  2. Check a Real Date

    Use the availability calendar to see live departures and prices. Morning slots have the clearest air; sunset flights over the Strip sell out first, so book those further ahead.

  3. Decide on Transfers

    Las Vegas tours either include hotel pickup or expect you to drive to Boulder City. Transfers roughly double the elapsed time but remove the parking and the timing risk.

  4. Check In and Fly

    Bring photo ID for every adult passenger. Seats are assigned at check-in on weight and balance, so arrive 30 to 45 minutes early and expect your party may be split across rows.

Helicopter Landing vs Scenic Flight vs Coach Tour

Three ways to see the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas or the South Rim — and what you actually get for the money.

FeatureRECOMMENDED Canyon Floor Landing FlightScenic Flight, No LandingCoach Day Trip
Where You End UpOn the canyon floor, beside the Colorado RiverIn the air above the canyon, start to finishAt a rim viewpoint with the rest of the coach
Which Grand CanyonGrand Canyon West — Hualapai land, the only place landings are allowedEither rim; South Rim flights cross the national park itselfUsually the West Rim, occasionally the South Rim
Time From Las Vegas2–4.5 hours door to door45 minutes flying, once you are at the rim12–15 hours, most of it on the road
Typical Price$279–$609 per person$269–$359 per person$120–$200 per person
Time at the Canyon20–30 minutes standing on the canyon floorNone — you never leave the aircraft1–3 hours at viewpoints, plus long transfers
Aerial Views En Route✓ Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Colorado River✓ The canyon itself from the air✗ Desert highway
Best ForThe single most memorable day of a Las Vegas tripAnyone already at the rim who wants the aerial viewTravellers on a tight budget with a spare full day
Free Cancellation✓ Up to 24 hours before✓ Up to 24 hours before✓ Up to 24 hours before
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Canyon Floor Landings

Which Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours Actually Land

Only one rim allows it, four tours do it, and the price gap between them is transfers rather than experience.

Most Grand Canyon helicopter tours never touch down. The ones that do all fly to the same place for the same reason: Grand Canyon West sits on Hualapai tribal land, outside Grand Canyon National Park, and is therefore the only part of the canyon where a commercial helicopter is permitted to descend below the rim and land.

Flights over the national park — every South Rim departure — are scenic flights and always will be. If a tour page is vague about which canyon it flies to, that is the question to ask.

What the Landing Is Actually Like

The aircraft drops below the rim and settles onto a private plateau roughly 3,500 feet down, a few hundred feet above the Colorado River. You get 20 to 30 minutes on the ground depending on the operator, usually with a champagne toast and light refreshments at a shaded picnic area.

It is not the bottom of the canyon in the hiking sense and you are not at the water’s edge. What you get is the thing photographs cannot carry: standing underneath walls a mile high, somewhere reachable only by air or by a multi-day expedition, in near silence. Read the reviews on any of these tours and this is the twenty minutes people are describing.

The Four Landing Tours

The Grand Canyon West canyon floor landing is the value pick at $279. Forty minutes total: ten down, 20 on the canyon floor, ten back, in a premier ECO-Star with leather seats and wrap-around glass. It departs from Grand Canyon West Airport, so you need to get yourself there, and a West Rim entry ticket is required and not included.

The Papillon landing tour with Las Vegas transfers at $489 is the one most Las Vegas visitors should book. Round-trip hotel pickup from the Strip, the flight over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, about 30 minutes on the canyon floor with champagne, and the ride home — 4.5 hours door to door, 1,746 ratings at 4.8.

The Maverick landing tour with champagne at $499 lands in the same area but skips the transfers, so it takes only 2 to 2.5 hours. It is also the only tour here with a sunset option, which flies home over the lit Las Vegas Strip.

And the one that is not a landing tour despite what people assume: the Skywalk Express lands at the West Rim, at the top, and includes VIP admission to the glass bridge. Book it for the Skywalk, not for the canyon floor — no single flight offers both.

The Price Gap Is Transport, Not Experience

$279 and $489 buy you the same twenty-odd minutes in the same part of the canyon. The difference is that the higher price absorbs a 250-mile round trip, the hotel pickups, check-in and the catering.

Which is better value depends entirely on whether you have a car. For a couple with a rental and a free morning, the $279 flight is comfortably the best deal on this site. For a family of four staying on the Strip without transport, a private transfer to Grand Canyon West and back would cost more than the $210 per-person difference, and the Papillon tour wins. We work the numbers through in is a landing tour worth it.

Practical Notes

Every adult passenger needs government-issued photo ID. Seats are assigned at check-in on legal weight-and-balance limits, so groups are sometimes split across rows, and passengers over roughly 275 to 300 lb are required to purchase a second seat. Most flights need four passengers minimum to operate.

Fly in the morning if you can. The canyon floor is a rock bowl with no shade, and West Rim summer temperatures regularly exceed 100°F — those 20 minutes are far better at 8am than at 2pm. Afternoon thermals also make for a bumpier ride, and between July and September afternoon storms are the main cause of cancellation. See the best time to fly and what to expect on the day.

Guest Reviews

What Guests Say

4.5/5 from 381 verified guests

Ratings and review counts are the tour operators' live figures on GetYourGuide and may shift slightly day to day.

"Very good things to do, but very expensive for a 20-minute flight in total"

Serge France

"Amazing experience! Everything was well organized, the helicopter landing in the Grand Canyon was unforgettable, and the staff was fantastic. I highly recommend this tour, it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!"

Burak Can Turkey

"No observation deck will make as much of an impression as a helicopter flight through the Canyon"

Andrzej Poland

"Very impressive experience. Nice pilot. Whether the whole thing is worth just under €500 for 2 people is for everyone to decide for themselves. However, we were very impressed by the canyon from the inside"

Benjamin Germany

"We really liked our pilot, very friendly and talked a lot about the canyon. Helped everyone with pictures, very smooth flight. I will recommend to others"

Guest photo from review
Patrick United States

"Simply fantastic. Just a small clarification for those hoping to put their feet in the water: the spot is about ten meters above the river. There are picnic tables with umbrellas where you can sit for about 15 minutes."

Guest photo from review Guest photo from review
Benjamin France

"Two super important tips for anyone driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon West to take the helicopter tour there! 1- Be careful with the tour time and when you leave Las Vegas. On the border between Nevada and Arizona (Roover Dam), you lose 1 hour because of the time zone, so you actually lose 1 hour, so leave early. 2- If you go to the Grand Canyon by car and don't want to enter the national park (99 USD), you don't need to pay the fee. The helicopter airport is in front of the park's general parking lot. The helicopter ride is worth every penny!!!! Going into the park after the helicopter ride was a waste of money, in my opinion."

Guest photo from review Guest photo from review
Rodrigo Brazil

"It was a great trip. Out pilot Allan was personable and a great guide. A smooth ride to the base of the canyon and a great trip out of the canyon."

Patricia United States

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Stand on the Floor of the Grand Canyon

Papillon's EcoStar landing tour flies from Las Vegas over the Hoover Dam and sets down beside the Colorado River, with about 30 minutes on the canyon floor, a champagne toast and hotel transfers included. Starting from $279 per person.

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Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour FAQ

The questions worth answering before you pick a flight.