Antelope Canyon is a dramatic slot canyon located on Navajo land near Page Arizona. It is enormously popular as a tourism destination, and is a valuable source of revenue to the Navajo tribe in the area. Contrary to popular belief, Antelope Canyon is not a National Park and receives no federal funding the way National Parks do, and instead relies completely upon revenue generated through tourism to be sustained. It was created through erosion of sandstone over the years, which created a deep slot through the rock that has walls so high that in places it is actually difficult to see the sky. This makes photography quite difficult and challenging due to the extremely wide exposure range that will be found when you attempt to photograph a sunbeam hitting the floor of a canyon with little ambient light. None the less, it is one of the most popular areas for photography in the United States.
Private tours of the area have been permitted to professional touring companies since 1987, and it has been generally accessible as a tour since 1997 when Navajo Nation made it a Navajo Tribal Park. The tours are only allowed to happen if guided by a professional tour company who understands the potential dangers and will abide by the strict rules regarding the area. The canyon itself was created by flash flooding, which is still a danger today. As late as 2006, visitors to the park were injured as a result of unexpected flash floods, this phenomenon being difficult to predict as it can happen as a result of rainfall miles away which is not visually apparent to the visitors at the canyon area. This is why Navajo Nation requires the tours to be guided by professionals who not only know the area and understand safety aspects, but who will also abide by a restriction against touring the area if a potential for flash flooding exists.
For these reasons, we can schedule our visits to Antelope Canyon as part of our multiple park tours, but cannot absolutely guarantee that we will be able to visit during the particular tour you book. We can only tell if there is a flash flooding danger on the day of the potential visit, which is why we schedule alternative areas if Antelope Canyon is not accessible that day. While the potential of cancellation of the tour is always possible, it is actually rare.
When you visit Antelope Canyon, you will be lead down into the slot which has been formed by flash flooding over the years, smoothing the sandstone walls and creating winding paths that literally pass through the rock. In areas of difficult climbing, there are stairs installed with railings to make travel a little easier. In addition, there are flash flooding safety components installed into the canyon walls. Your visit will be unlike anything you have ever experienced before, as you will wind down paths that are literally inside of the earth, while still providing sunbeams from above. The best time to see the famous sunbeams is between March 20 and October 7 each year.