Lower Antelope Canyon, Page – Arizona

Before heading back home to Vegas, we (Luke and I) made a trip down to Antelope Canyon since it was only a few hours away from Zion National Park. We almost bailed out on the idea since we saw so many slot canyons in Utah already… but I’m glad we didn’t.

Antelope Canyon is located just outside of Page, Arizona, and within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation. The lower canyon, which we visited, was just north of highway 98 and next to the Navajo Generating Station.

Immediately upon entering, we descended down several flights of steel staircases.

Some were only a few steps while others were a couple stories high.

Although we had seen narrow canyons at Zion, they were not nearly as narrow as Antelope Canyon

…and the twisted landscape around us were much more vibrant hues hues of red, purple and orange.

One of the native tour guides was playing his flute, which resonated throughout the canyon. He humbly mentioned he was only a beginner, but sounded pretty damn good to me, haha.

Looking up at the canyon ceiling resulted more textures and colors.

And depending on where you stood,

…and what angle you tilted your head,

…could result in a entirely new landscape.

One of the guides in the canyon suggested we sand on specific areas along the canyon walls to create a “waterfall-effect.”

Using a slow shutter and narrow aperture would result in a ribboning effect, similar to how many photographers use to photograph moving water.

One of the more well known phenomena that are photographed at Antelope Canyon are the beams of sunlight that highlight the canyon floor at specific times of day. However, they beams do not occur naturally, and the fine sand on the canyon floor needs to be suspended, as high and evenly as possible to highlight the beams. Without the sand, there would only be a white spot overexposed on the canyon floor.

Fortunate to have been able to purchase “photographer passes,” we were able to navigate through the canyon unguided, for two hours. Regular tours were only one hour, and from what we had seen were a tight squeeze of ~20 people at a time, coming in and out of the narrow canyon… not to mention the 100% chance of capturing other people’s heads and cameras in each other’s photos.

We had few problems with this, since the tours were pretty spaced out… though this was what happened when another group crept up on us, haha.

No problem though, there were plenty of other opportunities to mess around

..and take goofy photos over the two hours in the canyon.

Lower Antelope Canyon was probably one of the coolest places we got to visit on this trip. Although it is not large as some other canyons, the narrow walls and colors of the landscape made it more unique than others we had seen elsewhere. The hike was not very physically demanding either, where stairs and handrails were present for any sections that were steeply graded. I would highly recommend coming here if in the area, and also purchasing photographer passes to make the experience more surreal. NOTE: A DSLR camera and tripod are REQUIRED to purchase the photographer pass, which is ~$10 more than the regular pass… a small price more to pay in my opinion (unless you do not own either of the required items). Luckily I had two sets of DSLRs/Tripods for Luke and I to use while in the canyon. More questions about Lower Antelope Canyon?? Just ask!!!

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!