Many travelers visit Antelope Canyon on photography tours to capture the colors and shapes of the canyon's sinuous walls or to spot local wildlife, such as the pronghorn antelope. Often, Antelope Canyon tours also visit Lake Powell or nearby Horseshoe Bend, a scenic viewpoint overlooking a curve in the Colorado River. Slot canyon tours from Flagstaff and Sedona typically include round-trip transportation. Other more comprehensive multi-day tours of the southwest depart from Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon National Park.
This Navajo nation landmark can only be seen with an authorized tour guide.
Bring your camera and a tripod for long exposure shots—photography enthusiasts travel from all over to snap photos of Antelope Canyon.
The more popular of the two, Upper Canyon is easily walkable thanks to a level sandy surface but not easily accessible for wheelchair users.
Lower Canyon involves a longer walk that requires climbing metal staircases and is therefore totally inaccessible to wheelchair users.
Antelope Canyon is set 7.6 miles (12.2 kilometers) from the city of Page, near the Arizona-Utah border. By road, Flagstaff and Sedona are two hours and three hours away, respectively. Although you must have a guide upon arrival, it's also easy to drive right to Lower Antelope Canyon from Flagstaff, Sedona, and even Phoenix by heading north along Arizona State Route 98.
Although the canyon is open year-round, many travelers consider March through October to be the best time to visit, mainly because of the favorable lighting conditions at that time of year. This lighting makes for a stellar display in the dark canyons, with the sun illuminating the cracks and crevices of the colorful canyon's red rock walls. Expect temperatures near 100°F (38°C) in summer.
Alongside Antelope Canyon, there's lots more to see and do in Navajo Nation, which occupies much of the Four Corners region in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Monument Valley Tribal Park is a particular highlight, as is the Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Meanwhile, the Explore Navajo Interactive Museum provides an excellent overview of the Navajo people's journey.