Last Updated on May 30, 2024 by Nikole

The Antelope Canyon Tours are beautifully unique and also one of our favorite places to visit in Arizona along with the volcanos and Sedona. Perfect opportunities for photos arise when the light dances along the walls of this orange canyon.

There are several tours that will guide you through the sandy floors, and the guides may even help you to find the right angles for taking pictures.

Finally, the Antelope Canyons, upper and lower, are now open for tours!!

Come Check out the tours you can take to Antelope Canyon and other alternatives tours if Antelope Canyon is all booked up. If you still cannot find a great tour that fits your needs check out other things to do in Arizona here. Also, you can find out what Not to do in Arizona so you won’t waste your time on pointless endeavors.

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Antelope Canyon Touring comapanies and Pricing

Antelope Canyon Tour offers tours starting at

• $57 per child
• $67 per adult

Ken’s Tours offers tours to the lower canyons starting at

• $50 per adults/ $30 per child for the general tours
• $90 for the deluxe tours

There is also a permit purchase of $8 per person that will be tacked on to the final price at each place, and a 6% tax and 6% processing fee as well. (keep in mind that prices will always fluctuate, make sure you check the websites for pricing before you book your tour).

Antelope Canyon tour Duration

Both tours are about 1 mile through the canyon and can last anywhere between 45 min to 1 hour (Kens) and 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 min (Antelope Canyon Tours).

Rules

Obviously check each website before your arrival, as the rules keep changing due to Covid.

When my husband and I went to the upper canyons we were not allowed to bring book bags or water bottles, but they were allowed at some point.

I guess what I’m trying to explain is always look up the rules and regulations before you go (the tour we went on was surprisingly strict on certain things).

How You Arrive

At the upper canyons, you will take an off-roading truck to the beginning of the canyon (this was quite the experience!). The only downside to riding in the back of the pick-up trucks was the heat and the sand. You have to be careful because sand could get in your eyes (wear sunglasses).

At the Lower canyons, you will walk to the beginning of the canyons, and climb ladders to the canyon floors.

What to be Prepared for

Riding in the back of the off-roading trucks to the upper canyons was probably one of my favorite parts. I was so surprised we never got stuck.

I was also entertained by the fact that there were cows just chilling near the entrance of the canyon! (unfortunately, I lost some of the pictures from Arizona and the cows happened to be one of those pictures).

Be prepared to descend on ladders and stairs if you want to tour the lower canyons. I’m really not sure how many stairs and ladders there are (we never went to the lower).

Both canyons provide wonderful photo opportunities, and the guides will even help you with the perfect angle and settings on your camera.

Remember that temperatures can change drastically. Outside of the caves where we went was blazing hot, but once we went inside it was pretty cold.

Check out more adventurous things in Arizona here

What to do Instead of the Antelope Canyon Tours

Since the upper and lower canyons become booked pretty quickly, there are other tours available that offer somewhat similar opportunities.

Vermilion Cliffs

There are two Antelope Canyon tours that you can take, and you can book them with Antelope Canyons. There are tours that go to either White Pocket/$180 per person or Buckskin Gulch/$200 per person.

Both areas require a full day to tour the area. You will get around 3 hours to explore, and the rest of the time will be spent riding to and from the tour destination.

Permits may be required to hike both of these areas and may require a purchase several months in advance. Check out the Bureau of Land Management for more information on most permits.

You can also drive there yourself, but keep in mind these areas can be strenuous to hike, and snakes will be one of your visitors. It is actually recommended by the Burea of Land Management that you find a guide due to the difficulty of this area. Read more about the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument here.

Coyote Buttes

You can also visit the North (6 miles round trip) or South (25 miles round trip) Coyote Buttes. These areas have some amazing wave-like features carved into the rocks.

Booking.com

Both of these areas require some skill in hiking, so be prepared for rocky areas full of snakes and grueling heat. You will need a permit for both areas, and they use an online lottery system to hand out those permits. You can find more information on permits for both North and South Coyote Buttes in the links below.

North Coyote Buttes permit info

• 6 miles round trip
• Hard to get permits to
• You get to see the beautiful “waves”
• No visible trail, just a map with markers to follow

South Coyote Buttes Permit info

• 25 miles round trip
• Easier to get permits than the North
• Wild Life
• More “waves”

Paria Canyon

Paria Canyon is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the world.

This hiking trail does require a permit, but day permits can be purchased on site. The whole hike cannot be done in one day as it is about 38 miles long. If you plan on hiking the whole thing you will need overnight permits that will need to be purchased in advance.

Read more about permits and general info on Paria Canyon here.

Helpful Extras

Especially this year during the pandemic, make sure that any place you plan on visiting is open. Check out the ever-changing mandates within each state (keep in mind that some businesses are different than others and may enforce certain things that others may not).

Always check to see if there is a permit purchase necessary anywhere you go hiking in Arizona.

It is not safe to go without a permit. Permits are a great way for park rangers to know who is out there or if someone is lost and hasn’t returned. Cell reception is pretty sketchy and paths aren’t always marked clearly, don’t risk going without a permit.

Also, if you are caught without one there are fines and possible jail time.

If you just can’t get enough of the canyons and red stone formations of Arizona in all of those places try visiting Sedona for some epic adventures. You can also see the Petrified Forest for multicolored rock formations.