Anyone who is coming to Las Vegas for a vacation and who is also an “outdoors type” person should probably plan on allocating at least a few days to visiting some of the national parks and protected spaces of the southwest. For those who have always wanted to tour some of these areas, you will find that the proximity of Las Vegas to many of these areas actually makes your Las Vegas vacation the perfect starting point for a mini-vacation at some great area. Of course, places like Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon are going to come to mind as well as The Grand Canyon, but here is a little tip that can add a lot of benefit to your trip. When you are looking over lists of the best national parks to visit from Las Vegas, you are probably not going to hear about Antelope Canyon. This is because Antelope Canyon is not a national park, and is actually located on Navajo land outside of Page, AZ, Because it is not a national park, it does not get the funding from the government that other areas does, and it also will not benefit from the advertising and marketing that helps to increase tourism rates at southwestern parks. Antelope Canyon is, however, one of the most spectacular and odd places on earth.
Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon that was created by thousands of years of rushing water, the same way that the Grand Canyon was made. What you will notice when you get there is that Antelope Canyon does not have a river running through it that is the obvious source of the erosion. This will confuse people, because without the water how did the erosion take place? Is it from a river that dried up years ago? The answer may startle you. The canyon was caused by flash flooding water and yes, it is still happening every time it rains. This makes Antelope Canyon dangerous, although you can rest assured that they do not allow anyone into it if there is any danger. Yes, people have died in the past when flash flooding from rain that was not even close to the area suddenly appeared inside the canyon. Safety measures were installed, and at this point nobody is allowed to tour on their own. You must be guided by a certified guide who understands that if there is any possibility of rain anywhere in the area, they will not risk going through the canyon. For this reason, we plan on Antelope Canyon being part of our regular tours of multiple parks, but understand that there will be times that we cannot visit it. We have alternative plans that will take the place of Antelope Canyon if any danger is present. This is the only way to actually tour the canyon, because a 4.5 hour drive from Las Vegas only to find out that it is closed would not make anyone happy. Tour Antelope Canyon as part of our multi-day tours the next time you are in Las Vegas.