• Lower Slot Canyon Page Az
• Antelope Slot Canyon Page Arizona
• Slot Canyon Page Arizona

Over the years, Lower Antelope Canyon has become a favorite gathering place for photographers, tourists, and visitors from around the world. The views in Lower Antelope Canyon change constantly as the sun moves across the sky, filtering lights softly across the stone walls. These ever-moving sun ang. Antelope Lower Canyon in the Navajo Tribal Park next to Page and Lake Powell, Arizona. One of most amazing place on earth. Antelope Lower Canyon (not a slideshow) Slot Canyon next to Page.

×Water Holes is a branched drainage that forms several beautiful slot canyons, cutting through the red Navajo sandstone rocks around Lake Powell. It is only a few miles from Page and flows into the short section of Glen Canyon that remains intact; as with nearby Antelope Canyon, the watercourse extends either side of a main road (US 89) and becomes much deeper downstream, with a number of sheer drops.
Various narrow passageways both west and especially east of the road have exceptionally pretty rock formations with the curved, delicately colored sandstone characteristic of this region, here nicely illuminated as the canyon although often very narrow is in general not too deep for sunlight to be excluded. Also like Antelope, Water Holes becomes a wide sandy wash above the lower narrows but then splits into a number of upper tributaries, some of which also have slot sections, mostly quite short but still narrow, pretty, and varied in character. Major sections are west of US 89, east of US 89, upper west fork and upper middle fork.

Location

Despite being close to Page and the main highway, Water Holes is not too well known and is visited much less often than Antelope Canyon. The drainage runs east-west about 7 miles south of Page, meeting the Colorado River a short distance above Lees Ferry, passing under US 89 at milepost 542 and extending about 5 miles southeast, where it branches into three main forks, then a dozen or so smaller ones.

Access Restrictions

All of Water Holes Canyon lies on Navajo land and for many years the only requirement for entry was to purchase a hiking permit ($5), from the Tribal Parks Office next to the Leche-e Chapter House, 3 miles south of Page along the Copper Mine Road - either at the office on the day of the visit, or in advance by postal applications (see navajonationparks.org/permits). Initially all parts of the canyon were open, but from 2010 only the closest narrows on the east side of US 89 could be visited; all the upper tributaries were henceforth restricted to guests of a local tour company, which currently charges over $100 for escorted tours using 4WD vehicles, in particular to one slot in the middle fork of the upper wash known as Secret Canyon, or Horseshoe Bend Canyon. Then in May 2018 the general closure was extended to the whole canyon, so now even the slot section beside the highway can only be seen via a tour, cost around $70 per person. A notice beside the traditional parking area at the US 89 bridge advises that visiting this area unaccompanied is a violation of federal and tribal law.

Photographs

West and East of US 89
Middle Fork of the Upper Canyon
West Fork of the Upper Canyon

Map

Topographic map of Water Holes Canyon.

Lower Slot Canyon Page Az

Description

Water Holes Canyon has several distinct sections of narrows:

• West of US 89: Between the highway and the junction with Glen Canyon are various vertical drops of up to 50 feet, so following all the way downstream requires use of several ropes, although by a combination of rim walking and use of different entry/exit points to hike along specific sections, a reasonable amount may be seen without rappelling.
  
• East of US 89: The canyon immediately east of US 89 is less deep, but has nicer narrows and is quite easy to follow. From May 2018 this section, like all other parts of the drainage, may only be seen by joining a guided tour.
  
• West Fork of the Upper Canyon: The west, or main fork of Water Holes Canyon itself splits into three branches, all of which have good, short, colorful narrows.
  
• Middle Fork of the Upper Canyon: One branch of the upper drainage, three miles from US 89, has a short, deep slot (previously informally known as 'Secret Canyon', now 'Horseshoe Bend Canyon') that rivals Antelope Canyon for nicely lit, swirling formations, while a little way further upstream is the darkest, narrowest slot of the whole system, though rather more effort is necessary to reach it - or at least this used to be the case, but now the only approach is via a guided tour.

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×Antelope Canyon is located near Page on Navajo Nation land, just outside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and close to AZ 98 a few miles east of town (at milepost 299). Antelope is the most visited slot canyon in the Southwest, partly because it is easily accessible and by far the most publicized, and also since it is extremely beautiful, with just the right combination of depth, width, length, rock color and ambient light; many other slot canyons are deeper, narrower or longer, and some have rock that is even more colorful and sculptured, but here conditions are ideal.

Location

The seasonal stream of Antelope Creek flows into Lake Powell 3 miles east of Page in far north Arizona. Most of the watercourse is wide and sandy, but it forms two sections of accessible slot canyon near the lake (Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon), separated by several miles of flat desert terrain. Both may be approached from AZ 98; the upper canyon (also known as Corkscrew Canyon) is reached at the end of a very sandy 2 mile 4WD track south of the road beginning near milepost 299, and it is this part which is most often visited. Lower Antelope Canyon extends between AZ 98 and the lake, and is reached by a short track northwards leading to a parking area from where the escorted tours depart. This is slightly more demanding to visit, requiring climbing up and down several ladders.

Fees

To visit either part of Antelope Canyon is expensive. There is a fee of $8 for a standard permit required to enter Navajo territory, and an additional charge is due to the families who own the land around the canyons and regulate all access - the cheapest is currently (2020) around $60 for the shorter but more popular upper section and a little more for the longer lower canyon. As of 2018 all visits are only allowed as part of organized tours, preferably booked in advance, though there may be availability on the day during less popular months. The price may be higher for peak time visits, departing 10 am to midday. The fees will doubtless increase as the Navajo continue to exploit the ever-growing popularity of the canyon.

Map

TopoQuest topographic map of Upper Antelope Canyon; the short upper narrows are southwest of point 4657T, while the lower narrows begin just north of AZ 98.

Description

Upper Antelope Canyon

When approaching upper Antelope Canyon, there is no obvious clue as to its location. The trail seems to end at the base of a red sandstone plateau about 20 yards high, but the sight of an Indian jewelry stall soon indicates its position - the entrance is a narrow curved slit in the cliffs only a few feet wide. Once inside, the temperature drops as much as 20 degrees as the visitor enters one of the most beautiful of all natural formations. The sunlight filtering down the curved sandstone walls makes magical, constantly changing patterns and shadows in many subtle shades of color. Some sections of the canyon are wide and bright, while others are narrower and more cave-like, with no light reaching the sandy floor. After only 150 yards or so, the canyon becomes suddenly much shallower near the top of the plateau. It may take only 3 or 4 minutes to walk through, but the canyon is well worth the arduous trek or expensive journey required to get there. Pictures taken here adorn camera shops and photographic manuals throughout the world, and usually there will be many people waiting with tripods and light meters trying to compose the perfect shot, and grumbling when other people walk in front of their two minute exposure. There are other equally short but pretty narrows further upstream, though these are not open to visitors.

Lower Antelope Canyon

The lower canyon is longer and deeper than the upper section, but also slightly more challenging, requiring climbing down ladders in some places to descend several sheer drops. It was here that 11 people were drowned in a flash flood in August 1997, when water 50 feet deep from a thunderstorm 5 miles away swept through the canyon, eventually deepening it by 4 feet. Lower Antelope Canyon was closed for 9 months before reopening with improved safety features, and now all visitors must now be accompanied by a guide. Both parts of the canyon are still beautiful, but any sense of adventure or tranquility is long since gone - best to try one of the hundreds of other Southwest slot canyons for these qualities. The nearest alternatives, only requiring a $6 daily permit, are Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass.

Other Canyons

The short slot of Upper Antelope Canyon is six miles from Lake Powell but only about half way along the drainage, which to the south extends across empty desert land, initially as a sandy wash, then as a rocky gorge as the land gradually rises. Tributaries join from both sides, some also containing slot sections, while the upper end splits into two main forks, both deep and narrow. Several other segments of the drainage system have received semi-official names, and may be visited as part of specialized tours, charged in the range $80 to $250. Closest to Hwy 98 is Owl Canyon, which joins Antelope from the southwest, one mile from the road; this has a 900 foot-long slot near its lower end and much longer narrows 2.5 miles upstream, a section also known as Mountain Sheep Canyon. A little further, the uppermost stretch of the drainage is Ramshead Canyon, in which the walls partly overhang above the streambed. Another short slot known as Ligai Si Anii Canyon is also in this area, accessed from Copper Mine Road. The next major tributary south (0.7 miles before Upper Antelope) is Rattlesnake Canyon, the lower end of which forms a 500 foot slot, with two small arches. Wind Pebble Canyon is a longer tributary with several enclosed, photogenic sections, named for the stones embedded in the walls; it joins Antelope from the west, nearly 6 miles south of the highway. The two upper forks are Canyon X (east) and Cardiac Canyon (west) - both are cliff-lined for around one mile, containing slots alternating with more open passageways. The latter is rather more strenuous to explore.

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