Antelope Canyons
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Current as of 2020: As of January 2020, photo tours will no longer be offered in Upper Antelope Canyon. There will only be the regular tours.
Entrance fees and opening hours
- from 90$/person (Upper Canyon), from 55$/person (Lower Canyon)
- Several tours daily.
Everything you need to know about a visit can be found on the pages of the commercial providers.
Upper Canyon – www.upperantelope.com, www.antelopecanyon.com
Lower Canyon – www.lowerantelope.com, www.antelopelowercanyon.com
Our visits: So far 4 visits in September 1999, November 2009, October 2014 and February 2016
General information that applies to both canyons
In recent years, the crowds of people who want to visit the canyons has increased enormously. Sometimes several hundred people jostle in the canyons. If you want to take photos without people in an empty canyon, you should either come in winter or book a photo tour (from 2020, however, this will no longer be offered in the Upper Canyon). For this, the lines of people are stopped for a few minutes, so that the photographers get a chance for a photo. However, these tours must be booked in advance and are much more costly. These photo tours are definitely a good idea when there are the beams in Upper Antelope Canyon at midday in the summer months. Without a photo tour you hardly have a chance to take usable pictures.
Our rating: In our opinion, both canyons have their charm. Both are worth a visit, but with the restriction that we know the canyons rather with few people. Crowds can cloud the experience very much.
Upper Antelope Canyon
Description: As the name suggests, this is the upper of the two Antelope Canyons. The Upper Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon. It can be entered at ground level, is about 656ft long and up to 121ft high. Right now, admission costs from $65/person (as of January 2020). Prices and conditions change more frequently. The exact conditions can be found on the pages of the commercial providers on site.
To enter the Upper Canyon, you will drive in an open tour truck, 4mi along a dirt road, to the canyon entrance. Each vehicle has its own tour guide with whom you must stay for the entire tour. Everyone rides back with their guide and the same truck they came in.
Current: Beginning with the July 12, 2021 reopening, there will be an important change in Upper Antelope Canyon. As before, you will be taken by cars to the entrance and then walk through the canyon. Afterwards, instead of walking back in the canyon as before, you walk down a newly constructed set of stairs, above the canyon. Maybe it will help to relax the crowds in the canyon and make the experience a little more enjoyable for everyone.
Here you get a little footage of the new way out of the canyon.
Lower Antelope Canyon
Description: Lower Antelope Canyon is also a slot canyon. In contrast to the Upper Canyon it is not at ground level. You have to climb up and down several ladders. The canyon can be entered from both sides. The entrance is changed from time to time. The canyon is 1335ft long and also up to 121ft deep. At the moment the entrance fee is 40$/person (as of January 2020). Prices and conditions change more often here as well. The exact conditions can be read on the pages of the commercial providers.
We have always done the tours with Ken's Tour, because they are right at the entrance of the canyon. The tours last about an hour, but you may have to wait a while until a tour starts.
Here, too, there are usually a lot of people, but there is not quite as much crowding, because you only ever hike in one direction. So you don't have people coming towards you like in the Upper Canyon.
