Antelope Canyon X Photography Guide
Antelope Canyon X is part of the famous Navajo Antelope slot canyons in Arizona. Antelope Canyon’s popularity has grown over the last 5-10 years.
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What is Antelope Canyon X? Our Experiences
Antelope Canyon X is part of Arizona‘s famous Navajo Antelope slot canyons. It’s less popular than Lower and Upper Antelope, but it’s worth a visit. Due to less popularity, you can take better pictures there. You must take a guided tour to explore this place. There is no option to get there without a Navajo guide.
And what’s more, Navajo offers special photography tours to Canyon X. There are no photography tours in Lower Antelope Canyon and Upper Antelope Canyon. So we checked how Antelope Canyon X is and prepared this photography guide to help you find the right alternative.
We also took all the images that we presented in this article. Chris and I were lucky to explore all the famous Navajo slot canyons. It is not a sponsored post. We bought a trip to Slot Canyon with our hard-earned money and are sharing our personal impressions and photos that we managed to take during this trip.
How to get to Antelope Canyon X?
Antelope Canyon X is located within the same Antelope Canyon as the epic and famous Upper Antelope Canyon & Lower Antelope Canyon. If you are going from Page, AZ, take the same direction as to Upper & Lower Antelope Canyons – road 98 to Kayenta.
The entrance to Antelope Canyon X is located around 10 miles southeast of Page at milepost 307.8 (you will pass Lower Antelope Canyon on your left and Upper Antelope Canyon on your right).
You can enter the Antelope Canyon X only through the Taadidiin Tours. The Navajo Nation Park & Recreation Department mandates all hiking and photography tours must be given a tour guide.
The tour guide must be employed by a company authorized by the Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation Department. They will take you on the shuttle to the Antelope Canyon X entrance, and the tour will be guided—no self-guiding option is available to visit this canyon.
Taadidiin Tours is open every day from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The typical tour lasts 1.5 hours. They offer you 2 options:
- Antelope Canyon X Regular Hiking Tour. It’s 1.5 hours. No bags, no tripods, or monopods. You can take only a camera; they are very strict about this limitation. Book your trip.
- Antelope Canyon X Photography Tour – it lasts 3 hours. What’s important is you are allowed to take a tripod and one camera bag, if you wish. You can book it here.
TRIP TIP: On the same day, you can also see Horseshoe Bend, Upper Antelope Canyon, or Lower Antelope Canyon.
Where to stay when visiting Antelope Canyon X?
The most convenient lodging to visit Antelope Canyon X is in Page, AZ. There is an excellent selection of hotels in the town. On the map below, you will find the current and best accommodation offers with the exact location of the hotels!
If you are traveling by RV, choosing a campground or RV park might be a more convenient option. Unfortunately, options are limited here. If you need a campground, we can recommend Page Lake Powell Campground.
If you prefer hotels, check out the map below to find the best deals for staying in Page.
Best time to visit Antelope Canyon X?
As Taadidiin Tours suggests, the best time of day is 11:00 AM—12:20 PM. At this time, you have the best chance to see light shafts in the canyons.
But remember that it might only be valid if you visit in the summer. The best time should be from May to late July, sometimes in August and early September, but it depends on the weather.
It’s worth knowing that you will visit two parts of the canyon. One to the left is very small, and one to the right is bigger and has the famous X sign visible. The name comes from this X in the canyon on your right. You can try to catch light beams in both parts. Book your tour!
How much does Antelope Canyon X cost?
It depends on the tour type, the time of the day, and the length of the tour. Taadidiin Tours offers you 2 price options (prices as of Jan 2024):
- Antelope Canyon X Hiking Tour – prices starts from $65, and it’s 1.5 hour. Here you can book it.
- Antelope Canyon X Photography Tour – prices start from $105 + $8 Hiking Permit, and it’s 3 hour tour. Book it here.
Do you need the reservation to visit Antelope Canyon X?
Usually, it wasn’t necessary for most dates and out-of-peak hours. But after the Navajo closed Lower and Upper Antelope Canyons, things changed. And after COVID-19, things changed. So we highly recommend making a reservation, especially during the high season.
All details can check on the official Antelope Canyon X website.
If you plan to visit this fantastic canyon on the weekend of July 4th or Memorial Day, you must make a reservation to confirm your seats on tour. Please remember that same-day bookings are not accepted, and all walk-ins are first come, first served. There is no waitlist.
What to bring with you?
You do not have to dress explicitly for the tour. The temperature in the canyon varies depending on the season. In the summer, it is about 5 degrees cooler than outside, and in the winter, it’s about 10 degrees colder inside. You can think about hiking boots – there is some steep path, but as of Fall 2019, it was in the improvement process.
You can come with kids, but pets are prohibited.
Do I need a tripod?
This is the money and time question. Of course, bringing your tripod is better if you are a real photographer and want great pictures. But with all those modern cameras, you can try catching some fantastic images with a high-iso option.
We took all the photos included in this article without tripods. Sometimes, we had to increase the ISO to 12800, but still, those pictures were not bad enough to publish on the internet. Of course, the quality is too weak for posters or books, but that was not our plan.
We wanted to prove that the tripod is optional. But for better photos is worth taking a tripod.
What camera and lenses are the best for Antelope Canyon X Photography?
If you plan to photograph Antelope Canyon X without a tripod, bring a camera that can photograph with high ISO and low noise. A good example is the Sony A7R III, Nikon Z7, or Canon EOS R.
If you have one of the older cameras, do not worry; just bring it and try your best. You can also go on a photo tour and take a tripod with you. However, the tripod might be too narrow to use in some places.
Regarding lenses, we recommend bringing something wide and bright (2.8 or lighter). The best examples are zooms like Sony 16-35, Nikon 14-24, or Canon 15-35. If you have a more standard zoom like 24-70 or a fixed lens, you can focus on details most of the time.
How is the Antelope Canyon X?
First, you are taken with a 4WD shuttle bus to the canyon entrance. The ride on the sandy road takes about 10 minutes. Then from this place, you got the guide and have to hike about 40 feet (120 meters) to get to the bottom of the Antelope wash. From this point, the hike goes in two directions – a small part on your left and a bigger one on your right.
The small canyon on the left is only about 100 feet long. But in the end, it has a vast room and fantastic rock formations. In the summer, there is a chance to photograph a light shaft in this part.
The most impressive part is on your right. To get to the entrance, you will hike about 500 feet through the wash, following your guide and passing other groups of people. They try to lead the groups in the opposite order to avoid crowds, but it might have gotten worse after the closure of Antelope Canyons.
After entering this part of the Antelope Canyon X, it will narrow down and winding. You will notice different rock formations reminding those from Upper Antelope Canyon.
But in our opinion, it is not as many opportunities to catch the light shafts as in the Upper. We spent about 25 minutes in this part of Canyon X and managed to take some pictures. Unfortunately, virtually all the time, you must wait for some passing people to take your dream frame.
You will find other posts about Arizona with tons of tips in our Arizona PhotoTravel Guide!
The Antelope Canyon looks amazing! I have seen photos of it before and really wish to go there someday. I am happy with the regular hiking tour, I love clicking pics with my phone. The place reminds me a little bit of Jordan’s Petra… but slightly more magnificent in the size & color.
I have always wanted to visit Antelope Canyon, purely from all the incredible photos I have seen. Every picture I have come across looks different and unique in some way, proving both the talent of the photographers who enter such a canyon as well as the natural eye-catching beauty of it. Loved your photos! Thanks for the advice.
Wow, this place is so beautiful! I’ve seen so many pictures of it on instagram but didn’t really know much about the place. Thank you for the detailed guide. Too bad it’s got so expensive now. I think I’d take the regular tour. I’m not much of a photographer anyway.
Your post makes me regret yet again that we did not get to Antelope Canyon X when were stayed in Page. We definitely wanted to do a photo tour but there was nothing available at the time of day we wanted. Next time we will book in advance. I did not know there were two different parts to visit! Such amazing pics. Definitely on the plan for our next visit.
Do you really think the Navajo will closed the Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons (besides the pandemic time)? Because I think it’s their biggest income. Your photos are beautiful! Thank you for sharing the photography guide of the canyon. I know it’s not easy. We visited the Upper Antelope Canyon seven years ago. Too bad I lost all the pictures in the computer.
Wow, your photos are magnificent! You’ve really captured the color and light in such an amazing way. I especially appreciate your tips on times to go for the best lighting, and the packages available for tours. I might just book now for May after reading this post, I love this part of the country for hiking and photography! So gorgeous!
This is such a helpful post. Ive always wondered how people are able to get such amazing shots in antelope canyon without other tourists in their pics. Didn’t realize there was a photography tour! Still hoping to add this to our list one day.
Can you please recommend which one to take: Upper, Lower or X? I will combine it with a stop at Horseshoe Bend.
The Upper was excellent as the beam lights were spectacular! X is great as less crowded and you can enjoy it more. Lower offers the best hike. All of them gave great slot canyon experiences. But the best for me was Upper.
I would love to photograph Antelope Canyon. The unique colour and organic shapes make for stunning photos. I don’t travel with my tripod, and just try as hard as I can to hold steady even during high ISO shots. Thanks for sharing the info about this inspiring destination, I would love to visit one day.
Your pictures of Antelope Canyon are amazing! I did not know that you have to visit with a tour. I can imagine that taking pictures between this high walls where the sun filters inn requires some thoughts. I love taking pictures, but in places like that I find it difficult to enjoy the nature, if I am also taking pictures…..
I have seen many posts from photographers telling what equipment to use tripod, ISO, f stops, etc. But I have not found anyone saying the bracketed or focused shift.
Would you recommend bracketing or focus shift?
Hi Glen,
Thank you for this question. Sure in such a difficult light condition bracket is a must (EV). You can also use focus bracket, however in my opionion it’s technique used more for macro photography. Of course both techniques are rather difficult, requires some knowledge (postprocessing mainly) far beyond this post.