January 30-31, 2023

By Tim Briese

Antelope Canyon X: 1.1 miles roundtrip, 100’ elevation gain

Lower Antelope Canyon: 0.7 miles roundtrip, 100’ elevation gain

Upper Antelope Canyon: 0.9 miles roundtrip, 100’ elevation gain

Antelope Canyon is a world famous slot canyon a few miles outside Page, Arizona. It is located on Navajo Nation land and can only be accessed via a paid guided tour with a Navajo guide. It is one of the most photographed destinations in the Southwest, and commercial images of it are everywhere, from Apple and Microsoft screensavers and advertising, to calendars, books, posters, and more. The Navajo Nation is a very poor land, and the tribe leverages this scenic treasure to the best financial benefit it can, charging $50-$150 or so per person per tour. It is an extremely popular destination, and tours book up months in advance in popular seasons. Incredibly, as many as 10,000 people per day may visit during peak times. We visited on chilly weekdays in late January though and were able to join tours on a walk-up basis without reservations. Even so there were probably several hundred visitors on the days we were there.

There are different sections of Antelope Canyon, each serviced by various tour companies. Upper Antelope Canyon is the most famous section, located a couple of miles up a wash south of Hwy. 98 east of town. Lower Antelope Canyon is located just north of the highway and is probably a little less popular but is also very scenic. Antelope Canyon X is a lesser cousin a few miles to the southeast. We resolved to see them all while we were in the area.

It was chilly and breezy with snow showers as we drove into the Page area on Highway 98 and pulled into the parking area along the highway for Antelope Canyon X by Taadidiin Tours. They weren’t very busy at all today and we immediately embarked on what turned out to be a private tour. A driver took us on a shuttle bus down a dirt road a couple of miles to the entrance of the canyon and then Navajo guide Darlene took us down into the canyon.

this sloping descent leads into antelope canyon x

Darlene first took us up the canyon through narrows a short distance to the head of the canyon at a tall cliff. 

Then she took us down the canyon the other direction, through a wider section and then into more twisted and winding narrows.

a wider stretch of the canyon between two areas of narrows

Darlene was very good at explaining the canyon and pointing out various features in the sandstone that resembled animals, physical shapes, etc. She was also very good with tips for getting good photos in the canyon with our smartphones.

The tour lasted around an hour and then we headed into Page for the evening.

The next day dawned clear and cold. It had snowed about an inch in town overnight. After a leisurely start we drove a couple miles out of town to Dixie’s Lower Antelope Canyon Tours, having read excellent reviews about this tour company online. Again we were able to join a tour almost immediately and were very fortunate to get wonderful tour guide Lydell. He was extremely knowledgeable and shared about the Navajo Nation and culture, and countless things about the canyon itself. Above all he was a photo expert and extremely helpful with settings on our cameras and with taking photos of us in prime locations. There were five of us visitors in his tour group this morning, and he told us the maximum group size is ten per covid protocols. There were other tour groups just before and after us.

we went on a short walk down a wash from the tour guide building to the canyon entrance

Lower Antelope Canyon is about a quarter mile long and is recessed into a wash so one has to enter it by descending on ladders and then leave the other end by ascending more ladders. The ladders give the canyon an adventurous feel. It can be a very dangerous place to be during summer flash floods and a number of visitors perished here back in the 90's before better precautions were taken.

stairs to enter the canyon

Lydell pointed out numerous interesting things in the canyon, like spots where famous photos were taken, such as the screensaver photo on an I-pad, and where a flood had washed out an arch, and the fact that occasionally snakes fall into the canyon in the summer and have to be carried out in a bucket.

teresa and i in lower antelope canyon

lydell guiding us up a ladder to another section of the canyon

the stairs to climb up out of the canyon

teresa emerging from the canyon

After we climbed the stairs out of the fascinating canyon Lydell pointed out some dinosaur tracks in the sandstone nearby.

dinosaur tracks in the sandstone

Lower Antelope Canyon was magnificent, but we saved the best for last.  We sought a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon and found that Antelope Slot Canyon Tours in Page could take us on a tour leaving in about an hour. We boarded a tour bus in town with about seven or eight other visitors, including a group of Asians and a Dutch airline pilot. Navajo guide Lateisha drove us like a race car driver down the highway and down a sandy wash to the entrance of the canyon. She too was an excellent and knowledgeable guide and very helpful with photography.

the entrance to upper antelope canyon

This section of the canyon is about 700 feet long and is the most famous of them all. It was early afternoon and sunlight on the upper canyon walls was a bonus that added a special grandeur to the beauty.

Lateisha pointed out spots where famous photos had been taken, including a place with a sand "waterfall" that was once featured on a cover of National Geographic Magazine. She threw some sand on a sloping ledge and then took photos of each of us standing beside it as the sand flowed off.

the sand "waterfall"

this is a photo made famous by a tech company on one of its products

a log lodged high above is a reminder how dangerous flash floods can be in the canyon

Lateisha was very descriptive of the canyon but also cognizant of a schedule as our time was allotted because other tour groups were ahead of us and behind us. Tours used to go into and then back out of the canyon but overcrowding and covid created the need for a one-way return loop outside of the canyon, so a trail with some metal walkways and stairs has been built up and around back to the parking area.

the exit point from the canyon

back at the parking area, with the entrance to the canyon visible to the left

What an awesome day exploring magnificent Antelope Canyon! We looked forward to sorting through a lot of beautiful photos!