Lower Antelope Canyon
Day Six - Best of the Southwest - 2023
A morning spent exploring Lower Antelope Canyon, a photographer’s dream. This is followed by quick visits to Horseshoe Bend and Lees Ferry.
1. Lower Antelope Canyon #1
Lower Antelope Canyon is called Hazdistazí, or “spiral rock arches”, in Navajo.
After one last Wave Permit disappointment, we made a last-minute booking for an early morning visit to Lower Antelope Canyon. I have visited Upper Antelope Canyon (a travelogue I’d love to get around to posting one day), and figured the Lower section would be a decent consolation prize. It did not disappoint!
While we got lucky (I assume there was a cancellation), I highly recommend booking tours well in advance for both Lower and Upper Antelope Canyons. There’s some disagreement as to which part of the day is best - obviously, booking at midday will allow the sunlight to cascade all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. That said, I think late morning is best as you get excellent contrast from the top to the bottom.
I consider Antelope Canyon as one of the gems of the American Southwest, and a must-visit destination along with the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, and Monument Valley.
Having visited both, you may be curious which one I prefer. Before I answer, it is important to note that when I visited Upper Antelope Canyon they were still running photography tours which allowed small tripods, had limited participation, and was timed to avoid the peak crowds for beautiful people-free shots. For better or worse, these photography tours are no longer offered.
Overall, Upper Antelope Canyon is the prettier of the two - the canyon is wider and taller, and the contrast in colors in the sandstone is more obvious as a result. It is significantly more accessible, as there are no stairs like there are in Lower Antelope Canyon. If you were to twist my arm and only had time for one, I’d pick the Upper.
That said, don’t sleep on Lower Antelope Canyon. Upper Antelope Canyon has two-way traffic and is way, way, way, busier than Lower Antelope Canyon. This means your chance of getting a “perfect” photograph is pretty low, either because someone is in it, or you feel rushed because the photo window is very small. Lower Antelope Canyon, on the other hand, has one-way traffic and smaller tours, meaning you’ll have fewer variables to work around.
Regardless of which one you choose to visit, you’ll have an amazing experience.
40 (!) photos of Lower Antelope Canyon follow.
2. Lower Antelope Canyon #2
3. Lower Antelope Canyon #3
4. Lower Antelope Canyon #4
5. Lower Antelope Canyon #5
6. Lower Antelope Canyon #6
7. Lower Antelope Canyon #7
8. Lower Antelope Canyon #8
9. Lower Antelope Canyon #9
10. Lower Antelope Canyon #10
11. Lower Antelope Canyon #11
12. Lower Antelope Canyon #12
13. Lower Antelope Canyon #13
14. Lower Antelope Canyon #14
15. Lower Antelope Canyon #15
16. Lower Antelope Canyon #16
17. Lower Antelope Canyon #17
18. Lower Antelope Canyon #18
19. Lower Antelope Canyon #19
Enjoying what you’re seeing?
Consider a follow on Instagram.
Now back to the travelogue!
20. Lower Antelope Canyon #20
21. Lower Antelope Canyon #21
22. Lower Antelope Canyon #22
23. Lower Antelope Canyon #23
24. Lower Antelope Canyon #24
25. Lower Antelope Canyon #25
26. Lower Antelope Canyon #26
27. Lower Antelope Canyon #27
28. Lower Antelope Canyon #28
29. Lower Antelope Canyon #29
30. Lower Antelope Canyon #30
31. Lower Antelope Canyon #31
32. Lower Antelope Canyon #32
33. Lower Antelope Canyon #33
34. Lower Antelope Canyon #34
35. Lower Antelope Canyon #35
36. Lower Antelope Canyon #36
37. Lower Antelope Canyon #37
38. Lower Antelope Canyon #38
39. Lower Antelope Canyon #39
40. Lower Antelope Canyon #40
41. Lower Antelope Canyon #41
42. Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend may be the world’s best example of a river meander.
After wrapping up at Lower Antelope Canyon, we made our way to Horseshoe Bend, just south of Page, Arizona. I was honestly confused as I had no recollection of the parking lot or the trailhead from my last visit years earlier, but it turns out they opened a new parking area in 2019 (there’s also a parking fee now. The good news is that the walk down to the overlook is a lot less steep than the old one.
There isn’t much else to see here besides the bend itself, and we were soon on our way again to do some more exploring in the region.
43. Lees Ferry #1
Lees Ferry is the unofficial “start” of the Grand Canyon.
Originally, we decided to head to Vermillion Cliffs National Monument to try and see White Pocket after departing Horseshoe Bend. Unfortunately, the road in Vermillion Cliffs was extremely rutted, muddy in some places and impossibly sandy in others. About halfway to White Pocket, we encountered a 4x4 and asked if our rental SUV was capable of making it the whole way. We were told their purpose-built off-road vehicle couldn’t even make it there, so we turned around and decided to stop at the relatively visitor-free village of Lees Ferry.
I haven’t had much chance to talk about Lake Powell, so I’ll take the opportunity to do so now. When we visited in March 2023, Lake Powell’s water level was at the lowest level recorded since the opening of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1966. The 2022-2023 snow season was significantly above average, and around this time the snowpack in the mountains which feed the Colorado River began to melt. This meant the Colorado River was an epic mix of glacier-blue from the snow melt and dark brown from the sediment now being pulled into the current.
This significant drought period forced extremely difficult conversations in the American Southwest about water usage and conservation, and I am hopeful that I won’t have to come back to this page in the coming years to change the above paragraph to “second-lowest'“, or “third-lowest”, or worse.
Four more photos of Lees Ferry follow.
44. Lees Ferry #2
45. Lees Ferry #3
46. Lees Ferry #4
47. Lees Ferry #5
Navajo Bridge is the last Colorado River crossing until the Hoover Dam, about 300 miles / 500 kilometers away.
After visiting Lees Ferry, we returned back to Page, Arizona, for one last night before heading south.
