Best way to see Antelope Canyon?
 

Is a guided tour necessary to see Antelope Canyon? I've read really good reviews for The Slot Canyon Hummer Tours. Very pricey. Worth it?

You are only allowed into Antelope Canyon with a Navajo guide, but you can just go to the parking lot and pay one there. They will drive you up the wash to the entrance. You do not need to get a tour in Page, just go when it is convenient for you. Having a bright sunny day is most important although many will tell you that noon is best, but there will probably be more people there at noon. I took some pictures in the mid afternoon if you want to check them, go to www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in the 2008 set I think.

As emalloy wrote you do not need a tour.

Just drive east on Rt 98 past the trading post in the direction of the power plant. You'll see a sign on the right side for the parking lot.

Just go into the parking lot (and pay the parking fee of course). Then you pay for the "guide". Thye'll drive you to the entrance and depending upon how knowledgable the guide is he/she will tell you some stories and point out good photographic sights.

You want to be there on a sunny day when the sun is high in the sky so that you get the sun bouncing off the canyon walls to get those amazing colors.

When I was there a fair number of people were also there. Everybody cooperated to get out of the way of others taking photos.

You are also very near a couple of other sights.

If you drive back west on Rt 98 to Rt 89 and turn north (right) and go until you see a sign on the left (west side) that says Scenic Road you'll come to the Best Dam View that gives you a straight on view of the Glen Canyon Dam.

If you go south (left) on Rt 89 about a mile, you'll see a sign on the right (west) for Horseshoe Bend. Parking is free and it's a 3/4 mile hike to Horseshoe Bend. There are no screens, fences or barriers so if you are with kids watch them carefully as it's about 1,000 feet down. Great view of the Colorado River bending like a horshoe.

If you really want to see Antelope - come up to where I grew up in Southern Oregon (Klamath Falls) - and go a little East over to the National Antelope Refuge at Hart Mountain:

http://www.gorp.com/weekend-guide/tr...ev_068699.html

Tomsd,

I don't think the OP is referring to the same Antelope. No live antelope here.

This is Antelope Canyon just outsie of Page, AZ in northern Arizona.

Yup, if the OP is going to Antelope Canyon in hopes of seeing antelope, he or she is going to be extremely disappointed!

I don't have any specific information about Slot Canyon Hummer Tours. But the basic choice that you have to make is whether to just show up in the parking lot and take the tour from there (as described above), versus taking one of the tours that start from downtown Page (like Slot Canyon Hummer tours). You'll pay more for the downtown tour, possibly a lot more. If you take the downtown tour, you may get less time in the canyon, if your tour takes the same amount of time overall, but uses some of it driving to and from the canyon.

When I was at Antelope Canyon, there were many tour guides there, some from the parking lot, some from downtown, and I didn't detect any systematic difference between them. Most of the guides were pretty lame, and some were frankly obnoxious. To the extent that they offered any expertise at all, it was mostly in providing advice about how to take the best photographs. And most of the advice was bad advice, like "set your camera to the highest possible ISO setting."

Therefore, as a general rule, I'd say it's better to save money and time and just go to the parking lot, as described above. But it's possible that Slot Canyon Hummer Tours is better than the rest, so that it might actually be worth paying extra for them.

hawksbill,

Yes, I remember exactly the same thing from our guide about setting the highest ISO.

I have a DSLR camera and I briught with a tripod for this sight.

It worked out great as my shots were anywhere from 1/4 sec all the way up to 7-8 seconds.

Just FYI - last August, mid week at 11:30 the noon, 1 and 2 PM tours were ALL sold out. While there were healthy crowds every where else we went (GCNR, Bryce, Zion) there was nothing like this. Also, the fee is a little over $30 (some of it paid to be on the reservation, the rest to the tour guide, but the total for two people was going to be over $60).

Most of these replies are for the upper section, where the rocks are dark, the slot narrow, the walking easy, and the walls high. Mid-day is best here for sure, that's when the beams of light strike best.

There's also a lower section on the other side of the highway, lighter colored rocks, some sections are much wider (other sections are very narrow), some sections have lower walls ... so all in all you can photograph earlier and later in the day here.

Not nearly as crowded as upper Antelope since the fat and lame can't negotiate the ladders and tight spots. Always felt the lower section was much more interesting, but when I was spending time up there I was often the only person in lower and 20 people was considered a crowd at upper. Just drive up and the Navajo will assign you a <del>'watcher'</del> guide. Ask him to show you the dinosaur footprint near the entrance.

For Upper Antelope canyon there are two ways to tour it. Either with a guide from town, or a guide from the entrance. While in times past there may have been a difference in cost, there was no difference in cost the last time we were there (this fall). Every one charged the same $6 park fee and $25 guide fee. And tips are "appreciated".

I have heard reports that if you go during those crowded July and August noon times (which is when the sunlight shines down and there are shafts of light in the canyon ) and show up without a tour you may be waiting at the entrance up to 2hrs.

Like Bill we thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Lower Antelope Canyon. Just a lot more fun and interesting. For that you just drive to the entrance and pay your fee there.

And if you look real good and are lucky, you may see some of the animal antelope out on the open pastures in the area.