The canyon did provide a reprieve from the blistering sun and was considerably cooler. Not the worst thing considering the beautiful surroundings. The pace can also come to a standstill at times too. There was a large group of people on my tour and it was sometimes difficult to get a picture that didn't capture the surrounding group. You have to remind yourself to stop looking at them through a camera lens and take time to enjoy the moment for yourself. For this reason, if mobility is an issue this is probably not an attraction for you. It is advised to secure as much as you can and keep your hands free upon your descent.

The stairs leading down to the canyon entrance are very steep. Some guides are a little better than others. The tour groups are fairly large but are divided among a few different guides. You are instructed to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your tour time. Upon paying the price of tour admission, you go inside the gift shop/waiting area for your tour time to start. Given the fees extracted for parking, it would be nice to have a paved parking lot and more modern restroom facilities. Make sure that you take the receipt from the parking fee when you pay for your tour at the window as the sale will not be completed without it. This is the price that you must pay in order to enter the Navajo park. When you arrive expect to pay $8 per person in the vehicle for parking regardless if everyone is going on the tour or not. When we attempted to do this we were unable to reach a person so we left a message on an answering machine not knowing if we were actually confirming or not. We were told to call to confirm 24 hours prior to our tour. Our tour guide even blamed the delays on customers not moving through the canyon quickly enough.

It ruined what we know is a beautiful, natural canyon. Our tour through the Antelope Canyon was crowded, rushed and unpleasant. We were surprised to see Ken’s Tours accepting walk-up visitors despite the queues and delays. They could have made a goodwill gesture and offered complimentary water or sunscreen. Both tour companies (Ken’s and Dixie Ellis) clearly accepted far more tourists than they could cope with.

After leaving the relative comfort of the Ken’s Tours building, we queued 50 minutes in the midday sun without any water or shade. We turned up at the designated time and, apart from the queue to pay $8 to enter the Navajo site, all went smoothly until our tour departed. We didn’t worry about Memorial Weekend crowds, because we booked our tour many months in advance.

We booked a Ken’s Tour of Antelope Canyon for Memorial Weekend.

Ken's tour of lower antelope canyon