Landmarks of Arizona. The most important and interesting sights of Arizona – photos and videos, descriptions and reviews, location, sites.
Antelope Canyon
Antelope Canyon (Arizona, USA) – exact location, interesting places, inhabitants, routes.
A magical and mysterious place that only a whimsical fantasy of nature could create is Antelope Canyon, which is in the southwestern United States in Arizona. These amazing crevices in the rocks got their name due to the reddish-red walls, so similar to the skin of an elegant and noble antelope.
Despite all the beauty and uniqueness of this place, Antelope Canyon is not a national park, which may be why it is not as popular as the Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon. Located on the lands of the Navajo Indian tribe, it belongs to the Indians, so you need to pay a fee and hire a guide to enter its territory.
In general, there are two Antelope canyons – Upper and Lower, they are naturally occurring gigantic gaps in sandy rocks. For several centuries, water and wind carved giant depressions in the red sandstone, which eventually reached hundreds of meters. Their assistant was heavy rain, which completely floods the canyon once every few years. Then, slowly flowing down and taking away the grains of sand, it forms these curved lines inside the rocks, as if applying its magic pattern.
According to toppharmacyschools, the best time to visit Antelope Canyon is spring and autumn, to be precise, from March to April and October-November. It is during these months that the sun’s rays penetrate to the very bottom of the canyon, surprisingly illuminating it from the inside. In winter, you won’t be able to enjoy all the magic of this place, and in order to take high-quality photos, you will have to drag additional lighting. Well, in summer it is corny hot here: the temperature can rise to +47 ° C, although the average August temperature is kept at around +33 ° C. Winters are mild and not cold, usually the air temperature does not fall below 0 °C. Rarely, rarely, due to cold masses, snow can fall from Canada, but it melts quickly.
Upper Antelope Canyon
This canyon is romantically referred to by the Navajo as Tse bighanilini, “the place where water runs through the rocks.” Tourists visit it much more often because of two features. Firstly, the entrance to the canyon and its entire length are located at ground level, which does not require climbing. Secondly, here it is much easier to see the sun’s rays (direct sunlight) beating from the holes above your head – a sight, I must say, amazing.
Upper Antelope Canyon is romantically referred to by the Navajo as Tse bighanilini, “the place where the water runs through the rocks.”
Lower Antelope Canyon
The Navajo Indians call this place Hasdeztwazi, or Spiral Arches of the Rock. It is located a couple of kilometers from the Upper Canyon and only fans of active excursions get here. The fact is that you can get into the canyon only by steep metal stairs (by the way, they were installed not so long ago, before that there were rope stairs). And the route itself is longer, in some places narrower, and in some places it doesn’t even allow you to stand on your feet. At the end, tourists are expected by several long flights of stairs.
Note to photographers
The canyons are long narrow slits where the sunlight is difficult to reach, and therefore special tricks are needed to capture its bizarre walls and curves with dignity. Firstly, do not forget a tripod, and secondly, use shutter speed (at least 10 seconds). Finally, use the self-timer if possible, so as not to blur the amazing beauty of the frame. They say that in the photo the Antelope Canyon is even more beautiful than in reality. The human eye does not always have access to all the shades and midtones that a good camera with shutter speed can “grab”.
The best time to photograph the Upper Canyon is in the middle of the day, when the sun is at or near its zenith, that is, from 11 am to 1 pm. For the Lower Canyon, it is better to take pictures before noon and immediately after (from 10 to 11 or from 13 to 14 hours). It’s just that the Upper Canyon is deeper and the light does not penetrate there as well as in the Lower.
Coordinates
Address: 5975 Hwy 98, Page, AZ 86040.
How to get there: the nearest airport is in Las Vegas or Phoenix, from there the easiest way is by rented car. Antelope Canyon is located about 6 km east of the city of Page (Arizona) on Highway 98, a great landmark is a large coal-fired power plant, which is visible for tens of kilometers. If you drive from Page, then the Upper Canyon will lie to the right of the highway, and the Lower Canyon will lie on the left. It is difficult to miss, as there are handwritten signs next to the track: Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon.
You can get directly into the territory of the Indians through the hut that stands at the entrance to the canyon. There, as a rule, one of the locals is on duty – he collects a group, collects a fee for entering the reservation and the canyon, and the cost of a guide (an hourly rate, around 5-9 USD ). After that, the Indian takes the entire mini-group in his jeep to the canyon. However, you can get to the time when the guide has already left with the previous group, then you have to wait for him. The second option is to buy a tour at one of Page’s bureaus. The cost will depend on the number of canyons (one or two), as well as hours – on average from 25 to 45 USD.
On your own, without an Indian guide or a travel agency, you cannot get into the territory of the Antelope Canyon, it is forbidden: it rains and thunderstorms are frequent here, in which case the canyon instantly fills with water, which can be deadly. In 1997, 11 tourists died here, who were literally washed away by a stream of suddenly collapsed water.
