Upper vs. Lower Antelope Canyon – Which to Choose?

Antelope Canyon has become kind’ve a big deal as far as travel goals go! Even if you’ve never heard of it, I’m positive that you’ve seen pictures of it someplace or another! It’s located a couple of hours away from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which makes it easy to incorporate into your Grand Canyon trip itinerary!

I didn’t realize before I started my travel research that there are actually three ways to experience Antelope Canyon.  There’s the Upper Antelope Canyon, the Lower Antelope Canyon, and then there’s the Antelope Canyon in Lake Powell that can be kayaked, canoed, etc. (Post coming soon regarding the Lake Powell edition of Antelope Canyon!)

Sounds a little overwhelming…especially if you are the trip planner in your group as I am!  Ideally you would want to see all three, as they all have something unique to offer on your visit to Page, AZ! However, being frugal and budget-oriented myself, I know that it’s not going to be possible for every vacationer to see all three, especially if you are also heading to one of the surrounding National Parks!

So friends, if you’ve decided that you don’t have the time or budget for both, I have written this post to try and help you decide which Canyon you should visit between the Upper and Lower.

1. Best Lighting Comparison

Winner: Lower Canyon

All of the pictures on this post should easily allow you to visualize the differences in lighting between the two canyons.  That being said there is a qualifying statement I have to make: If you take the photography tour of the Upper Canyon you will get some great pictures that come out as good as the ones I got from the Lower Canyon.  However, the photography tour is a lot more expensive, and unless you are a photography enthusiast, you probably won’t care to pay extra for it.  (When I last checked it was around double the normal price to go on the photography tour.)

So, for people who are just looking for the experience and are happy to take pictures on their cell phones or point and shoot cameras, I would probably recommend the Lower Canyon.  I used a Nikon D3200 for all the photos on this post, and I had a lot of difficulty shooting the Upper Canyon on the general tour due to how dark it was.

 

2. Level of Difficulty Comparison

Winner: Upper Canyon

While neither of the Canyon’s are truly difficult, the easier of the two was for sure the Upper Canyon.  Here’s a quick snapshot comparison of the two:

Upper Canyon: truck ride to the entrance, all one level, could maybe accommodate handicap visitors (call to ask)

Lower Canyon: short hike to the entrance, various levels including steep stairs into and out of the canyon, could not be done with wheelchair, walker, etc.  If you are wanting to know about the difficulty of the Lower Canyon, check out the post I’ve written, because I included pictures of all the major staircases.

On both tours you are walking in sand, which is negligible in terms of difficulty but is worth noting.

 

3. Price Comparison

Winner: Lower Canyon

At time of my visit in September 2018, I paid $48 for the Lower Canyon tour and $60 for the Upper Canyon tour per person.  It wasn’t a huge difference in price, but it definitely adds up when there are four adults in your group and you plan on seeing both!  If there’s just a couple of you, it probably doesn’t matter which one you pick because there’s not that big of a price difference…but if you’re paying for more than one child or something like that, it may be worth it to you to stick to the Lower Canyon.

 

4. Light Beam Comparison

Winner: Upper Canyon

Is there really any surprise here? The Upper Canyon is known for their light beams.  It’s a darker canyon, which makes the light beams “pop” all the more, and the beams are just naturally more prevalent there.  I took my Upper Canyon tour at 12:00 and my Lower Canyon tour at 12:30, so I was fortunate enough to see light beams in both canyons!

Not only are the light beams naturally better in Upper, but the tour guides also assist you in better visualizing the light beams there.  When you see a light beam in the Upper tour, the tour guides toss dust into the beam so that it is better visualized.  In comparison, our tour guide for the Lower Canyon told us they were being discouraged from doing that because the dust would travel back throughout the Canyon causing discomfort to the rest of the people on tour. (Our tour guide did however still toss dust into the light beam in the Lower tour, as you can probably tell from the picture!)  I think the pictures speak for themselves – the light beam in the Upper Canyon was pretty spectacular!

 

5. Overall Impression Comparison

Winner: Lower Canyon

First off, I have to say that both tours are great and well worth seeing! We planned and saved for this vacation for about a year and a half, and because of this we were able to see both! That being said, overall we liked the Lower Canyon better than the Upper, but we did all agree that seeing the light beams in the Upper was spectacular. Some reasons for this are as follows:

1. The Upper Canyon is entered and exited at the same point, making it two way traffic.  This makes it really crowded, because groups are ahead of you, behind you, and also passing by you trying to exit.  The Lower Canyon is one way, making it feel way less crowded.
2. The Lower Canyon is longer than the Upper Canyon which made the tour last longer.  This made me feel like I was getting more for my money which, as you can imagine, greatly appealed to my cheap side!
3. The Lower Canyon had a lot more narrow pathways that made the line of our group single file.  Everyone kind of went their own pace, and there were several points where my family had an area to ourselves.  There was never really any opportunities like that in the Upper Canyon.
4. Overall, the tour guides were more relaxed on the tour of the Lower Canyon.  The Upper Canyon had so much traffic and the tour guides really had to shepherd people into and out of the canyon the whole time.  For instance, in the tour of the Upper Canyon, you are allowed to take photographs on your way into the canyon all the way to the end, but when you begin your return journey you are not allowed to take pictures. Of course people still did it anyways, and the tour guides had to get onto them, and so on and so forth.  Since the Lower Canyon is one way there was no such drama.

 

Well folks, there it is – all the main differences between the two canyons!! If you want to know more about planning a trip, check out my other posts on Antelope Canyon!

I hope this helped you better plan your trip to Page, AZ! There’s so much to do in the area, the hardest part will be figuring out how to make time for it all! Don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!

Until next time!