Antelope Canyon is located in Page, AZ right on the Utah border, it is one of those places where photos speak louder than words. In order to tour this stunningly beautiful slot canyon, the Navajo Nation requires that you book a tour through a certified Native American tour company. To see Upper Antelope Canyon, book a tour with Adventurous Antelope Canyon.
The majority of Antelope Canyon is broken down into 2 main parts: Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. It is important to note that Adventurous Antelope Canyon ONLY offers tours for Upper Antelope Canyon (NOT Lower). To book a Lower Antelope Canyon tour, you would have to go through a different tour company.
Adventurous Antelope Canyon’s tour headquarters are located at Highway 98 Road & Milepost 302, Page, AZ 86040.
The following are tips and advice that will help make the most out of your Adventurous Antelope Canyon tour experience:
- Book your tour in advance, especially if it is during a busy time of year. Many people try and go between late March – early October, as these are the best months to see the light beams in Upper Antelope Canyon.
- If you are wanting to tour Upper Antelope Canyon and want to ensure you see the light beams, book your tour between 11:00am-1:30pm. This is the most popular time slot and will sell out the quickest!
- Avoid booking during a holiday weekend, as it gets super crowded! My tour guide said that both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons get a combined grand total of over 10,000 visitors during holidays!
After booking your tour online with Adventurous Antelope Canyon, you will receive an email with detailed instructions going over when to arrive, what to bring, suggestions on what to wear, and how to get to the tour headquarters. The email also discusses how the location of the canyons can mess with your phone’s time zone, so make sure you follow these instructions in order to show up on time!
Know When To Arrive
You will be expected to arrive to your tour at least 30 minutes prior to the start time and check in. The start time of most tours are based off of when you enter the canyons, so you will be departing for the canyons earlier than your tour is scheduled to begin. This ensures you will have the maximum amount of time to walk through the canyons.
After Check-In/Before Your Tour Begins
After arriving and checking in to your tour, you and your group will be assigned a number. This is because there will be a large group of people signed up for the time-slot on your tour, and after everyone has checked in, they break the large group down into smaller groups. Each smaller group is then assigned a tour guide who will direct them to a company vehicle to depart for Upper Antelope Canyon.
here are plenty of porta-potties on site to use the restroom before your tour begins, but once you leave, there are no restrooms at the actual canyon.
During The Tour
The entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon is about 3 miles away from the tour headquarters. You will be driving on the main road, and once you turn off towards the canyon entrance, you will be driving through an area with sand. (Note: the sand is NOT deep, but it does blow around, especially if it’s a windy day!) From here, your tour guide will lead you inside. Upper Antelope Canyon is on ground level, so there are no ladders to climb up or down!
As soon as we walked into Upper Antelope Canyon, I saw the light beams! My tour guide, was fantastic at not only taking photos of us, but helping us know where to stand to get the best shots. He was also great at pointing out the best spots for photos throughout the entire tour.
Because of the layout of Upper Antelope Canyon as well as the amount of people inside, it was sometimes hard to hear the tour guides as they were leading groups through. I’m sure I missed some of the factual information about the canyon, as well as some of the Navajo traditions, beliefs, and customs. If you were deeply into the history of the canyon or Native American culture, this could be a downside for you.
I had also read on other Antelope Canyon tour websites that people felt “rushed” through their tour, and afterwards, I would have to say I agree with this statement. While it is understandable due to the popularity of Antelope Canyon and the amount of visitors, it would have been nice to be able to walk through it at a slower pace.
As previously mentioned, Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon, meaning that it is deeper than it is wide. With its upside-down V shape, I found Upper Antelope Canyon easy to walk through.
After The Tour
As you finish your tour, you will exit through the back of the canyon and have a bit of a walk to get back to your tour vehicle. It is not a strenuous walk, but you will need to walk up some steps, through a sandy path overtop of the canyon, and down another set of steps. This is the longest amount of time that you will be out in the sun.
During this walk, I encourage you to take a moment to really take in the landscape around you. The top of Antelope Canyon looks like desert rock mixed with some sand and a few desert plants here and there. It gives no indication to the wondrous canyon that lies beneath it. I like to think of this desert landscape as a metaphor for life in the sense that sometimes you stumble upon things you didn’t even know existed when you least expect it.
In terms of time, I felt that the tour went by rather quickly. Upper Antelope Canyon is so fascinating inside that I wouldn’t have minded if it was a mile long. It seemed like it didn’t take us long to walk through all of it. The amount of time allotted for each tour is an hour and 20 minutes.
After you get back to your vehicle, your tour guide will drive you back to Adventurous Antelope Canyon headquarters, where your tour will end. It is customary, but not required, to bring cash to tip your tour guide!
