Antelope Canyon Fun Facts to Know

Interesting facts about Antelope Canyon in Page Arizona

Antelope Canyon is more than the most-visited slot canyon in the American southwest — it also offers travelers a rich history and exciting structure that few natural wonders can claim. Here are some fascinating facts about this beautiful canyon and piece of Navajo history.

The canyon has a wave-like structure that gives it a unique look and, along with the canyon’s glorious light beams, makes Antelope the most-photographed slot canyon in the southwestern United States.

·         Antelope Canyon gets its name from local Navajo stories regarding antelopes that grazed along the canyon in the wintertime.

·         It is a slot canyon located on Navajo land east of Page, Arizona, United States.

·         The walls of the canyon rise 120 feet above the streambed.

·         It is sculpted into beautiful undulating curves and hollows that vary from one to 3 meters (3.2 to 9.8 feet) wide and up to 50 meters (164 feet) deep.

·         Antelope Canyon is referred to as one canyon, but is actually made up of two separate slot canyons: Upper Antelope, or The Crack, and Lower Antelope, or The Corkscrew. Both are breathtakingly beautiful and have their own unique geographical features, with the upper region providing tourists with the canyon’s famous light beams.

·         The canyon’s unique geography was created by water that rushed over its walls over many, many years.

·         The canyon is located in the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation, near Page, Arizona.

·         A Guided tour is required to enter the canyon, a sacred monument of the Navajo people — it has been accessible by permit only since 1997 when it became a Navajo Tribal Park.

·         The entire length of the canyon’s entrance is at ground level, meaning visitors do not need to worry about any climbing.

·         The Upper Canyon is called “Tse’ bighanilini” by the Navajo people. This translates to “the place where water runs through rocks” in English. Upper Antelope is at around 4,000 feet elevation.

·         It is the most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest as well as the most visited.

·         The spring and summer months are more crowded to witness the gorgeous light beams, that shine directly down into the openings of the Antelope canyon, creating a supernatural appearance.

·         Today, Antelope Canyon is a popular location for photographers and sightseers, and a source of tourism business for the Navajo Nation. It has been accessible by permit only since 1997, when the Navajo Tribe made it a Navajo Tribal Park.

·         Flash flooding still occurs in the canyon and may, at times, result in up to several months of closing.

Upper Antelope Canyon is more popular for two reasons. First, its entrance and entire length are at ground level, requiring no climbing. Second, beams or shafts of direct sunlight radiating down from openings at the top of the canyon are much more common in Upper than in Lower. Beams occur most often in the summer months, as they require the sun to be high in the sky. Winter colors are more muted. Summer months provide two types of lighting. Light beams start to peek into the canyon March 20 and disappear October 7 each year.