Explore Spiritually Uplifting Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona

Photos, story by Cassie Hepler

When you move out west and your high school friend suggests a weekend birthday escape to Page, Arizona, the only answer is hell, yeah! The drive from Phoenix should only take about 4 hours but in my world of scrambling to get out the door early on a Thursday, I had my Google maps set to no highways and it took me like 6 hours, past some sort of water dam around twisting, winding roads and snow capped mountains. I had no clue where I was, barely had cell service as I was on the phone working out transitioning the blog URL names and Google Analytics (hint: find your forever blog name and NEVER change it. It’s a giant PITA!).

But when I arrived at our Homeaway house, it was instant chill time. I had no cell phone reception (Sprint) and honestly didn’t care as long as I had Wifi at home. Sometimes you have to disconnect from technology to reconnect with yourself. I met my friend’s medley of San Diego, California friends and we all bonded over some beer and banter before an early bedtime so we could go explore the canyons.

My friend’s wife booked us with Taadidiin Tours for $40 each, the only tour operator to offer guided tours to Antelope Canyon X and Cardiac Canyon. Both canyons are located within the same Antelope Canyon as the iconic Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. Taadidiin Tours is located approximately 10 miles southeast of Page, AZ on Highway 98 at milepost 307.8 and is open every day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. because the caves get darker later in the day. They specialize in small groups to provide the most memorable experience possible (and we concur!).

A helpful hint is if you can prove you are Native American, all tours will be free for you as all the tour groups you see are on the Navajo Nation Reservation. After parking and payment, we all loaded into a 4×4 truck and went 3 miles to the mouth of the Canyon X where we “hiked” (walked, really) 100 meters into Canyon X. At the bottom, our tour guide who was going to college for mechanical engineering and was wicked good at cell phone photography, took us to the first slot canyon. After we were happy with lingering around the first slot canyon, we took another 200 meter walk to the second slot canyon. I could rattle on for days about it but honestly the photos and video are what’s up.

When we got to the end of the first canyon, our tour guide played this amazing song from his flute (and those things are hella pricey by the way!)

As we were leaving, one of the tour guides told us they do not stay at night due to shape shifters which can steal your soul. We’re not going to argue with native lore, which is why they close the tours at 3 p.m. We highly recommend this tour and perhaps next time the more adventurous Cardiac Canyon where less than 100 people have visited.

Because I am extra, I went on another canyon tour immediately after this one to Upper Antelope Canyon with Antelope Slot Canyon Tours by Chief Tsosie. Since it was still early in the season and a little cold outside still, they were offering discounts on the website. This tour was much more like herding tourist cattle but some of the photos were totally worth it, thanks to the amazing eye of Ernest Yellowhorse. I even got yelled at once for getting excited and going ahead of my group by some other tour guide. We don’t recommend taking the later in the day tours like we did as the sun begins setting and it gets too dark in the canyon without professional equipment and setups.