Antelope Slot Canyon question
 

We will be in Page at the end of September. I have been told that the best light in the Lower Canyon is at 8-11am and the best light in the Upper Canyon is from 12-2. I orignally planned on taking a tour from Page to the Upper Canyon but that won't allow us to see the Lower Canyon. We have two options and I don't know which is best. We can drive out to see the Lower Canyon early in the morning (say at 9am), drive back to Page and pick up the 11:30 tour for the Upper Canyon. Or, we can drive out to see the Lower Canyon and then stay there and just go across to pick up a guide at the gate for the Upper Canyon. I wasn't sure whether there were any special benefits to taking the tour from Page. Also, has anyone taken the photography tour to Upper Canyon and was it really better or just one extra hour of time in the Canyon?

Most people go to the Upper Canyon and that's what I did.

There's no reason to take a tour.

You can just drive to the parking lot, pay and the next truck will take you to the Canyon. The driver is the required guide.

The time to go is when the sun is high in the sky so that it bounces off the Canyon walls.

While in the area you can also see "The Best Dam View" and Horseshoe Bend. Both are within 10 minutes of Antelope Canyon directly off Route 89.

Thank you Myer. I want to say that your posts have been very helpful in my planning process especially with regard to your hikes in Sedona. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.

The lower canyon has good light all day, various spots light up as the sun moves across the sky. I have half a dozen or so from lower I can post if you're interested ... but Sept is a dangerous month because of the chance of flash floods, and there might be pools of stagnant water in lower. A number of tourists (11 sounds right but I forgot the exact tally) were killed in a flood in August several years ago, so be careful. I personally only went in from April to June and avoid all slot canyons during the monsoon season.

I would drive out the day before (if possible) and ask the Navajo at the lower canyon what time he'll open the next AM and be there when it opens, then shoot until around 11 AM and cross the road to the parking lot at the upper canyon, go in there for 2-3 hours, which is when it's best (walls are higher and darker in upper, sun needs to be higher). After that go into town and eat, then decide if you want to go back to lower for the last few hours. Be extra careful in the PM, that's when the thunderstorms build up. The sky was clear when the people died in the earlier flash flood, it rained about 15 miles upsteam and raced down to AC.

No need to take a formal tour, in my opinion.

Bill

Thank you so much for the information. This is all very helpful.