Monument Valley, Antelope Slot Canyon

welove2drive wrote:
They will cancel the tour if there is any rain in the area.Marcia

They do indeed cancel if they know rain is expected. However, during the summer months the monsoon rains can appear in a matter of minutes from a blue sky. It doesn't have to rain that close to the canyon itself. Bright sunny day at the canyon in 1997 but rain 15 miles away resulted in a 40 foot wall of water that took out 8 hikers in the canyon.

We took the 8 hour tour of monument valley through Gouldings campground when we stayed there last Sept. It included a nice lunch while out on the trail. If you go through them ask for the tour with LEO as your tour guide awesome guide, took us places a lot of other guides don't.

We stayed at Gouldings RV Park at Mon. Valley and used the tour that picked us up at the RV Park. It was a great tour. For Antelope Canyon in Sept 2016 we used one of the tour companies in Page. Very busy so we made reservations for an 8AM tour. Easy parking for our pickup. Guide was great, helped with photos, and moved us thru the slot canyons but allowed us to take photos--all seemed to be wonderful shots. The reservations worked for us because we were on a tight schedule.

Thank you all for the great information and tips. As Flapper said, there are a number of different tour outfits at both Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon so this info really helps. We will be staying at Goulding's so if their tour is good that may be the easiest thing to do. Although we are are not "photographers", taking the photography tour at Antelope Canyon is a great tip. (Nice photos vermilye, thanks!)

Thanks again and safe travels.

Another recommendation for taking a photo tour rather than the less expensive standard tour. The guide (2 of them if you are lucky) will stop traffic to give you time to take empty shots, know the best times to hit the different sections, and have good advise if you are not familiar with low light photography.

I took the Adventurous Antelope Canyon Photo Tour twice in 2011 and was pleased with the results. I have a web page with suggestions & images that might be helpful.

In 2012 I took a photo tour of the Lower Antelope Canyon. Very different. The upper canyon is crowded & flat, mostly sand. The lower tours have no guide; they turn you loose for 2 hours by yourself. Not as flat with some ladder/stair climbing. There was a guided tour starting as I exited, so you may need to show up early to go on your own.

Upper Antelope Canyon


Lower Antelope Canyon


I also drove through Monument Valley on my own - High clearance suggested, or a rental!

USAFBILL wrote:

Thunder Mountain wrote:
We used Chief something for the Antelope Canyon. They were very good at what they did. We've done the guided tour of Monument Valley. You can take your own car but you won't see all the places. We did the Lake Powell thing to the Arch. It did get a bit long and boring, but the hike to the Arch was nice. The tour was over priced considering the lunch was baloney, American cheese on white bread plus a bag of chips.

The Chief offered a photographer tour and a general tour. We went with the photographer tour which was a few bucks more but the Chief puts in in the best spots at the right time for pictures and the tour is a bit longer which made it very enjoyable...

Forgot to mention that we did the photographers tour. It was worth the extra cost. I managed to capture a couple of fantastic shots when the guide through a handful of sand into a shaft of sunlight.

We took a tour of MV several years ago and were not impressed. Yes, we went farther out away from the road but it took us to the usual tourist stuff...a weaver, hole in the rock, a place to buy jewelry. As said, you can book it on the spot but I suggest just drive down yourself (unless you're in a motorhome without a tow) in a car and take the 18 mile self tour around the loop. I heard it's around $20 now for access. If you want to see more then you can hire a guide. For sure, it's one of the most spectacular places in the country.

Goulding campground has excellent tours that you can book on arrival. If you have a high clearance vehicle you can drive the same route yourself for the cost of park admission, I think $20, not sure. We drove the route in our Saturn Vue without problem, however the dirt route is heavily pitted, lots of large rocks, deep holes, and ruts. We passed some low profile cars, like Corollas, trying the road, I have no idea if they made it, but I'm sure the wear was extensive. I loved Monument Valley, so reach in history and culture.
Enjoy.

Hi there, we have been to Antelope Canyon twice now and the tour we liked best was with the Tours on the West side of the hwy. There are two Tour Groups and we used the first one, closest to the Hwy. We used the one on the East side of the Hwy, I think it's Tsosie but liked the other one better.

Our then 14 year old DGS wasn't interested in taking photos until he got inside the Canyon. It was great to see the change in him as we took photos together.

Monument Valley we have always done on our own. Last spring it seemed that things had changed and some previously open areas were closed and some that were closed were open. I think the next time we're there we'll take a tour.

The Lake Powell seemed too expensive for our likes so we took the trip from the Dam to Lee's Ferry. No real white water but it was fun and there are some great sites along the way. We are both past the time for whitewater rafting an the DW wanted to raft the Colorado.

What ever you choose, you will have a great time and make sure your camera batteries are always charge and that you have pleanty of memory.

PS: The DW found the name and phone number of the tour group we prefer, Dixie Ellis Lower Antelope Canyon Tours, Phone # 928 640 1716. The reason we went with them to start with was, we weren't sure when we would be there and they didn't require reservations.

Page, AZ: I would highly recommend the Colorado River Adventure flat water raft trip. The guides are very knowledgeable. They stop to view some pictographs along the way.
We did the upper Antelope slot canyon. It is at ground level. You have to climb down a ladder in to the other one. We just drove out there and purchased a ticket for the next tour. I second the advice of planning a tour around noon. They will cancel the tour if there is any rain in the area.

Marcia