Waterholes Canyon
Around Page - Arizona
Everything you need to know about a visit can be found on the official webpage .
Coordinate:
Trailhead: Latitude 36.837879, Longitude -111.508319
Entrance fees and opening hours
- 81$/Person, 157$/Person Fototour
- Several tours daily.
Here is the GPX file of our hike through Waterholes Canyon and to the Great Wall
Our visits: So far 1 visit in February 2016
Waterholes Canyon
Description: In 2018, the conditions for visiting the Waterhole Canyon have changed. As of this date, the visit is only possible with a guide and in a group. You book a tour directly at the trailhead, or online before your visit. Our experience with the hike is based on the time before, when you could explore the canyon on your own. We don't know exactly how the guided tours work, but basically you are driven in pickups to the end of the canyon and then hike back down the canyon about 1mi downstream to the ticket booth.
The regulations are new and in our experience with other locations in Navajo Country, they sometimes change without warning, sometimes hourly. Sometimes it also depends on who is on duty at the ticket booth. So we advise everyone to go there and see what is going on.
For the hiking tour 1,5 hours are estimated, for the photo tour 2 hours.
Trail length: 5.2mi roundtrip
Altitude difference: approx. 656ft
Time needed: 3-4 hours
Difficulty level: moderate - The information here refers to the tour we did without a guide. We hiked back and forth in the canyon.
Our rating: Waterholes Canyon was a slot canyon that could be enjoyed without the crowds. It is not as narrow as the Antelope Canyons. Consequently, the colors are not as pronounced. Nevertheless, the visit was fun and definitely worthwhile. However, we cannot estimate how the conditions have changed.
Great Wall
Description: The Great Wall is located directly above Waterholes Canyon. If you do not go down into the canyon, but hike about a mile east at the top of the Rim, you will reach the Great Wall. Again, in 2018 the conditions for visiting Waterholes Canyon/Great Wall changed. Since then, the visit is only possible with a guide and in a group. You can book a tour directly at the trailhead.
Trail length: 1.6mi roundtrip
Altitude difference: –
Time needed: 1 hour
Difficulty level: easy
Our rating: The Great Wall is a great place to experience the sunset. As far as we could research, the guided tours are currently (as of January 2020) only offered until 5 pm. For the sunset, this is probably still too early. But even that can change, as written. Just drive by and ask.
