Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is a group of narrow slot canyons on Navajo Nation land a few miles east of Page, Arizona. Navajo Parks and Recreation runs Upper and Lower Antelope as part of Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, in the LeChee Chapter. The canyon is not a national park, so no national park pass is accepted.

Every visit is a guided tour, and each slot has its own operators, prices and rules. We checked every price, rule and closure below on 26 October 2026, on the operators', the Navajo Nation's and the Park Service's own pages.

Why does every slot tour need a Navajo guide?

Every visit to Antelope Canyon needs a Navajo guide because Navajo Parks and Recreation makes one mandatory at every location in the canyon. The list of authorised operators is published by the Navajo parks department, and only those companies may take visitors in. Entering Navajo land without a permit counts as trespassing.

Operators date the guide rule to the years after a flood killed eleven hikers in 1997; the Navajo pages give no date. Private cars cannot drive to Upper Antelope, so the operators carry visitors in their own trucks and vans. Inside Upper Antelope the Navajo parks allow two hours at most, a limit in place since 1 May 2011.

Upper, Lower, Canyon X or Secret Antelope: which slot?

Antelope Canyon is several slots run by different companies, and none sells Upper and Lower together. Seeing both means two bookings. The prices are each operator's lowest published adult tour on 26 October 2026.

Upper Antelope is A-shaped and wider at the floor, and it is the slot with the famous light beams. Every Upper operator that describes its route now runs it one way: through the canyon, then up and over the top on stairs and walkways. Two Upper operators leave from offices in Page, and two from their own sites on Highway 98 east of town.

Lower Antelope is a V-shaped slot that narrows to shoulder width in places. Visitors drive themselves to it, on Indian Route 222 less than ten minutes east of Page. The Navajo park page says the slot does not suit anyone claustrophobic.

Canyon X lies 12 miles east of Page on Highway 98 and needs no reservation. Secret Antelope leaves from 3 miles south of Page on US 89. Rattlesnake, Owl and Mountain Sheep canyons are smaller private slots sold only by Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours.

What does an Antelope Canyon tour cost in 2026?

An Antelope Canyon tour costs $80.50 to $135 per person on 26 October 2026, depending on the slot and the operator. The part to check is the Navajo fee of $15 per person, per location, per day, because the operators handle it in different ways.

• Lower Antelope: $80.50 at both operators. Dixie's labels its price all-inclusive. Ken's Tours' page says both that its price includes taxes and fees and that it does not.
• Upper Antelope, fee included: Antelope Slot Canyon Tours, $95 for an adult. Tsé Bíghanílíní, $135. Antelope Canyon Tours shows "from $85" on its home page, with card and booking fees of 3 to 8.41 percent added at checkout.
• Upper Antelope, fee extra: Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours, $85 plus $15, so $100 before tax and processing.
• Upper Antelope, not stated: Adventurous, $120.
• Canyon X: $47 for an adult and $37 for ages 8 to 17, plus a $15 hiking permit for ages 8 and over.
• Secret Antelope: $110 plus the $15 fee and taxes.

The fee is charged per day, not per slot visited. Dixie's and one Upper operator both refund it against a receipt from another Antelope location on the same day.

How far ahead do the slot tours sell out, and who takes walk-ins?

Antelope Canyon tours sell out days ahead from March to October, and the midday slots go first. On 26 October Antelope Canyon Tours showed its 11:20 tour sold out on six of the eight days from 1 to 8 November. That company requires reservations and keeps no waitlist. It puts walk-in odds at low from March to October and possible from November to February.

Canyon X needs no reservation, and same-day visits there are walk-in only. Adventurous also takes walk-ins, while Navajo Tours sells online only and takes no bookings by phone. Secret Antelope asks for at least a week's notice.

Cancellation terms differ by operator. One Upper operator refunds in full up to 48 hours before, and Dixie's up to 24 hours before. Every operator that publishes a policy refunds a tour cancelled for the weather.

When do the light beams fall in Upper Antelope?

The light beams in Upper Antelope Canyon fall around midday on clear days, when the sun stands high enough to reach the floor. April to August is the stretch every operator agrees on. Tsé Bíghanílíní stretches it from mid-March to mid-September, while Canyon X gives May to early August for its own slot.

The beam tour is the late-morning slot, around 11 a.m. at most Upper operators, and it is the first to sell out. Lower Antelope works the other way: Dixie's says its best light comes from 7:15 to 10:45 a.m. or after 1:45 p.m. In autumn and winter the early Upper tours are dimmer.

The slot itself stays cooler than the desert, by 10 to 15°F according to two operators. The way out of Upper does not. Page averages a July high of 96.5°F, and the climb over the top is about 20 minutes in full sun. One Upper operator says that at 99°F the Navajo parks have it walk visitors back through the canyon instead.

Which clock, Arizona or Navajo, do the slot tours keep?

Antelope Canyon tours keep Arizona time, which is Mountain Standard Time all year, even though the Navajo land around them moves its clocks. The Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time, from 8 March to 1 November in 2026, and Arizona does not.

At least seven operators state in writing that their tour times are Arizona time, among them five of the six Upper companies, Dixie's for Lower and Canyon X. One operator's booking calendar confirms it: a 9:00 tour is 16:00 UTC in June as well as in November.

The trap is the phone. Near the canyon a phone can pick up a Navajo tower and jump an hour ahead of the tour clock. The Park Service advises setting devices to Arizona time for Upper and Lower Antelope. Antelope Canyon Tours gives the seat away seven minutes before the tour time, so read the time on the booking confirmation.

Which bags, tripods and cameras do the slot operators allow?

Most Antelope Canyon operators allow a phone or a small camera and, at most, a clear bag, because each company sets its own rules and most ban everything larger. The rules by operator:

• Clear bags only: four Upper operators, Tsé Bíghanílíní among them.
• No bags at all: Dixie's at Lower, Adventurous and the Canyon X hiking tour.
• Tripods and selfie sticks: banned almost everywhere. Secret Antelope allows tripods, and so does the Canyon X photography tour.
• Video: banned on Tsé Bíghanílíní's tours and at Canyon X.

Photography-only tours in Upper Antelope ended in 2019, and the Navajo parks issue no photography or filming permits for Upper or Lower. Drones flown at any Navajo tribal park are confiscated. The operators accept no pets, and several say no service animals either. Upper's canyon site has no restrooms.

When do the July and August flash floods close the slots?

Flash floods close Antelope Canyon on the day, most often in July and August, and the storm behind a flood can be miles away and out of sight. On 12 August 1997 a distant thunderstorm sent a flood into a slot near Lake Powell that killed eleven hikers. The National Weather Service files the event as the Antelope Canyon flash flood.

The monsoon officially runs from 15 June to 30 September, and its storms usually reach northern Arizona in the first week of July. The Navajo parks put the danger highest from July to September but warn that a flood can come at any time of year. Closures average about five days a year by one Upper operator's count, with afternoon tours most at risk. Canyon X cancels whenever NOAA issues a flash-flood warning for the area.

Upper and Lower Antelope also close on Thanksgiving, the day after it, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Canyon X closes only on Christmas Day.

Can you see the canyon from a Lake Powell boat?

Antelope Canyon can be reached by water from Antelope Point Marina, 9 miles from Page, where the canyon opens into Lake Powell. The marina sells a one-hour boat tour into the canyon from $50 for adults and $30 for children aged 4 to 12. Its page does not say how far into the canyon the boats go. The marina charges a $30 entrance fee, which the national park pass covers.

Lake Powell Resorts' cruise there from Wahweap is suspended until further notice. Kayaks are rented at Antelope Point by Paddle Lake Powell, and the Antelope arm of the lake is wakeless at all times.

The canyon is the reason most visitors stop in Page, and our guide to Page, Arizona covers Lake Powell and where to sleep, and Horseshoe Bend has a page of its own. The canyon is the middle stop of our Southwest national parks loop, about 138 miles from the Grand Canyon South Rim. It is also one of the Navajo sites in our guide to Arizona.