The state of Arizona is home to 22 registered Native American tribes. This invariably leads many vacation planners to the American Southwest to ask if there’s a way for their family to connect with Northern Arizona’s Native residents on a more personal level than just handing someone a credit card at an Antelope Canyon tour booth. Let’s put it this way: there is now!
On the Lower Antelope Canyon and Navajo Village Heritage Center combination tour, you’ll experience a world-renowned scenic attraction of the Navajo Tribal Park System, and learn about the cultural and artistic traditions of a people whose roots in Northern Arizona predate the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell by thousands of years!
Your day of revelation and discovery begins at Ken’s Lower Antelope Canyon tours Southeast of Page, Arizona. After a brief check-in and orientation at the brand new visitor services pavillion, a Navajo guide will escort you on a short walk to the entrance of Lower Antelope Canyon. You’ll descend via a series of ladders into the heart of the Earth, where water, wind, and time have carved a living masterpiece out of the sandstone walls. Swirling spirals, gravity-defying bas reliefs, and intricate arches are illuminated in an other-worldly kaleidoscope of muted earthen hues, constantly changing in depth and intensity as the sun shifts overhead. As you climb and explore the chambers of this now-iconic slot canyon formation, you may feel like a spelunker, only you don’t have to mess with ropes and harnesses. A moderately easy 600 meter hike, and navigating a few ladders and boulders, is all it takes for most visitors in reasonably good health to mark this item off their Page, AZ, “to-do” list, and etch Lower Antelope Canyon permanently into their memories!
Normal Tour Time : 1 Hour
After bidding your Antelope Canyon tour guide good-bye, you’ll head over to the Navajo Village Heritage Center behind Big Lake Trading Post to begin the “Grand” tour. Here, you’ll walk through an authentic, traditional Navajo dwelling, called a hogan, and learn how these structures, made of earth, wood, and stone, are surprisingly energy-efficient. You’ll also get the backstory as to why the doors of all hogans face East. A local artisan will demonstrate the feminine art of rug weaving, passed down to her ancestors by a deity known as “Spider Woman.” Navajo rugs were prized by the area’s early settlers for their warmth and durability; today, they are coveted by contemporary collectors around the world as centerpieces for high-end hotel lobbies and designer living rooms. Your tour concludes with an inspiring performance of traditional music and dance by Navajo youth in colorful regalia. Visitors are welcome and encouraged to ask questions, and take pictures with the performers. After you’re tour, you’re welcome to browse the upstairs gallery at the Big Lake Trading Post to find a Navajo rug or other memento to take home with you, or grab a delicious handmade sandwich at the on-site deli counter.
Normal Tour Time: 1 Hour
The Lower Antelope Canyon/Navajo Village tour will be leave your family will treasured memories of their time in Page, AZ, not only of the adventures they had, but the people they met and the things they learned. Perhaps your best memory of this experience may be the fact that you were able to coordinate it all in one easy booking instead of going round and round among multiple tour operators and sold out departures. Book your spot today!
