Two half-days, the same desert, opposite jobs for you to do. One puts you in a helicopter seat for an hour over the Grand Canyon while somebody else flies. The other puts you behind the wheel of an off-road buggy in the Mojave and expects you to drive it. Same escape from the Strip, completely different kind of day, and the axis is simply how much work you want. Taking the passive one first.
Golden Eagle Air Tour: an hour in the air, none of it yours to steer
The Golden Eagle Air Tour is the efficient way to see the Grand Canyon when your trip is short. The part that separates it from a rim overlook is that the helicopter flies both above and below the rim, so you get the canyon from inside rather than only looking down into it. The route also takes in Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and the Grand Wash Cliffs, with the whole flight choreographed to music and narration. Best suited to travelers who want maximum scenery for minimum effort. For other operators and routes, see our helicopter tour comparison.
Air time: 60 minutes. Route: Grand Canyon, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Transport: helicopter throughout. Worth knowing: any guest over 300 pounds needs an adjacent empty seat to balance the aircraft, charged at a reduced rate at check-in.
Check Golden Eagle Air Tour times
Hidden Valley RZR Tour: you drive, and you will get dusty
The Hidden Valley RZR Tour is the opposite proposition. After a safety briefing and a gear fitting you take the wheel yourself for a two-hour run through Hidden Valley and the McCullough Mountain range, deep in the Mojave southwest of the city. A guide leads the convoy, so you're never navigating alone, but the driving is genuinely yours. The right call when your group would rather do something than watch something, and nobody minds finishing the afternoon covered in desert.
Run time: about four hours, including roughly two hours of driving. Where: Hidden Valley and the Mojave Desert, with pickup from Luxor and South Point. Ages: 18 and over with a valid driver's license to drive, 16 and over to ride as a passenger. Included: water and a light snack.
Check Hidden Valley RZR Tour availability
Picking one
Short trip, big scenery, no effort, and anyone in the group with mobility limits: Golden Eagle. Group that gets bored watching, has a licensed driver and wants a story: Hidden Valley. The practical note that decides plenty of these is timing, since the RZR tour collects you mid-morning and runs into the afternoon, which makes it hard to stack with anything else that day. The air tour is far easier to fit around a dinner reservation or an evening show.
