RoadTrip America Arizona & New Mexico by Rick Quinn

Author:Rick Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: travel, road trip, southwest united states
Publisher: Imbrifex Books
Published: 2018-04-08T04:00:00+00:00

Tour group exiting Lower Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon

Even if you’ve never heard of Antelope Canyon, you’ve probably seen pictures of it. Twisting passageways through psychedelic spirals of reddish-orange sandstone, aglow with ethereal beams of light? That’s Antelope Canyon, one of the most photographed locations in the Southwest. Slot canyons like Antelope are formed over the course of many thousands of years. Summer monsoons dump rain on the watershed faster than the ground can absorb it, causing flash floods down the side canyons. Year after year, huge volumes of rainwater sluice through channels and cracks in the soft sandstone; the abrasive, silt-laden torrent carves narrow, twisting channels into the cross-bedded layers of rock, sculpting it into swirling formations that look like petrified waves.

Upper Antelope Canyon is the more popular of the two sections because it’s a bigger, wider space and it’s entirely at ground level, so there’s no climbing or clambering required. Tours leave from downtown Page, or from the small parking lot off AZ 98 just south of town, and include transportation to the canyon entrance, 2 miles or so off the highway. Upper Antelope is small, only 100 yards long, and because there are several tour companies, it can get very crowded. Most visitors don’t mind; the sandstone formations here are jaw-dropping!

The parking area for Lower Antelope Canyon is right by the entrance, so no transportation is needed, but a visit to this section requires a steep climb down metal ladders bolted to the rock. The Lower Canyon is a half mile long, but very narrow, so visitors walk in single file. Because it’s less accessible, Lower Antelope is less visited, and noticeably less crowded.

Tours of the two sections are run by different companies. They’re ticketed separately, and each lasts about an hour. Ask about the photography tours, which give you more time in the canyons for a somewhat higher price.

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