Booking choice: Lower Antelope Canyon, from $75 per person. Check dates Tour details
The Wave and Antelope Canyon get compared because the photos look alike: curves of orange and cream stone. On the ground they are very different trips. The Wave is on BLM land in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, reached by a lottery permit and a 6.4-mile hike. Antelope Canyon is on Navajo Nation land at Page, Arizona, and you can only enter with a Navajo guide on a booked tour.
Here is the honest comparison, with fees from recreation.gov and Navajo Nation Parks.
The quick answer
Antelope Canyon is the sure thing: book a guided tour (Lower Antelope from $75 on the listing here) and walk a slot canyon for about an hour. The Wave is the gamble: win a BLM lottery ($6 to apply, $7 if you win), then hike 6.4 miles with no trail. If your dates are fixed, book Antelope Canyon and enter the Wave lottery as a bonus. If you lose, White Pocket gives you open swirled rock with no permit.
What is the difference between The Wave and Antelope Canyon?
The Wave is an open sandstone bowl on BLM land, reached by lottery and a long hike. Antelope Canyon is a narrow slot on Navajo land, reached by a booked tour with a mandatory guide.
Side by side:
| The Wave | Antelope Canyon | |
|---|---|---|
| Land | BLM, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument | Navajo Nation, Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park |
| How you get in | Advance or daily lottery | Book a tour with a Navajo-authorized operator |
| Guide | Optional | Required |
| Cost | $6 to apply + $7 per person if you win | Lower Antelope tour from $75; the listing title includes entry |
| Walk | 6.4 miles round trip, strenuous, unmarked | About 1 hour guided, with stairs and narrow passages (Lower) |
| Visitors | 64 a day | Many tours a day |
| Dogs | Allowed on the permit, $7 | Not allowed |
| Base | Kanab or Page | Page |
| Light | Open sky, best early or late | Reflected light inside the slot, best around midday |
Which is better, The Wave or Antelope Canyon?
For a planned trip, Antelope Canyon, because you can book it. For an experience, The Wave, if you win: fewer people, more space and a real hike.
Antelope Canyon wins on certainty. You choose a time, a guide leads you through, and you're back in Page in an hour or so. The trade-off is company: the tours run all day, and you move at the group's pace. Lower Antelope is the narrower, twistier one with ladders and stairs; Upper is wider and flatter with a 2-hour limit inside.
The Wave wins on space. With 64 people a day spread over a big area, you can sit on the rock with nobody in your frame. But you can't plan on it. Our view: book Lower Antelope for a fixed day, enter the Wave lottery, and if you lose, go to White Pocket, which needs no permit.
The bookable one: a guided hour through Lower Antelope Canyon with the Navajo guide every visit needs.
Explore Lower Antelope Canyon Tour detailsHow do you visit Antelope Canyon?
Book a tour with an authorized operator in Page. Guides are mandatory, and Navajo Nation Parks charges a $15 per-person entry fee on top of the tour, unless the tour includes it.
The rules from Navajo Nation Parks:
- Guides: mandatory in Antelope Canyon. You can't walk in on your own.
- Fee: $15 per person per entry. The Lower Antelope listing on this site has entry in its title.
- Upper Antelope: a 2-hour limit inside, in force since 2011.
- Lower Antelope: narrow, V-shaped, with stairs and tight passages. Not for claustrophobic visitors.
- No dogs anywhere in Navajo Tribal Parks, and no photography permits are issued.
- Closed on Thanksgiving, the day after, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Watch the clock. The Navajo Nation keeps daylight saving time; the rest of Arizona doesn't. From March to November, check which time zone your booking uses.
Book the slot that never needs a lottery: Lower Antelope Canyon from Page.
Check dates for Lower Antelope CanyonHow do you get a permit for The Wave?
Win a lottery: the advance one on recreation.gov four months ahead, or the daily one from your phone two days ahead while you're near Kanab or Page.
The short version: apply during any month for a date four months out ($6), with the draw on the 1st of the next month at 9 a.m. Or, once you're in the area, apply on your phone between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Utah time two days before you want to hike. Winners pay $7 a head, groups max 6. The full process, timeline and plan B are in our Wave permit guide.
Which is harder, The Wave or Antelope Canyon?
The Wave, by far. It is 6.4 miles over sand and slickrock with no trail, shade or water. Lower Antelope is about an hour of walking, with stairs.
The BLM says heat and too little water have killed Wave hikers between May and September, and that the route is unmarked. You need fitness, a gallon of water each and a willingness to navigate. Antelope Canyon asks for steady legs on metal stairs and a tolerance for tight spaces, and that's about it. For mixed-ability groups, Antelope Canyon is the easy choice.
Want the Antelope walls without the stairs? The kayak and hike trip paddles into the flooded lower end of the canyon from Lake Powell, then walks in.
Antelope Canyon from the water: paddle Lake Powell into the slot, then walk the narrows.
Explore the Antelope Canyon kayak trip Tour detailsCan you do The Wave and Antelope Canyon in one trip?
Yes. Page is 36 miles from the House Rock Valley Road turn for The Wave, and both sit inside the daily lottery geofence.
A workable plan from Page: enter the daily Wave lottery each morning on your phone, and book Antelope Canyon for a day you can't hike anyway (the briefing day after a win, for instance). If you win, you pick up your permit the day before and hike on the third day. If you don't, you lose nothing by trying.
From Kanab it works too, but Antelope Canyon becomes a 74-mile drive each way. Read where to stay to pick a base.
What else is there near Page besides Antelope Canyon?
Lake Powell boat and kayak trips into the lower canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and an hour west, Lees Ferry and the Vermilion Cliffs.
The photo boat (Lake Powell photo boat) spends two hours between canyon walls on the water. The Horseshoe Bend UTV ride is three hours off-road at sunset. Lees Ferry is about 43 miles and 50 minutes from Page by NPS figures, with Navajo Bridge on the way. For the rest of the monument, see things to do at Vermilion Cliffs.
Two hours on Lake Powell between sandstone walls, paced for photos.
Explore the Lake Powell photo boat Tour detailsWhat is the prettiest park in Arizona, and what are its three national parks?
Arizona's three national parks are Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro. For sheer strangeness of rock, our vote goes to Vermilion Cliffs, which is a BLM monument, not a national park.
Arizona has three national parks (NPS): Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro. Neither The Wave nor Antelope Canyon is in one. The Wave is in a BLM national monument, Antelope Canyon in a Navajo tribal park, and Lees Ferry and Horseshoe Bend are in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Prettiest is a matter of taste. The Grand Canyon is the biggest view. For color and shape up close, nothing in the state beats Coyote Buttes and White Pocket. The South Rim is about three hours from Page; the helicopter flight shows the canyon from above in 45 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a permit for Antelope Canyon?
You need a Navajo guide and a $15 per-person Navajo Nation Parks entry fee, which comes with a booked tour. There is no lottery: you book a time with an authorized operator.
Is The Wave near Antelope Canyon?
Fairly near. Antelope Canyon is at Page; the turn for The Wave's trailhead is 36 miles west of Page on US-89, then 8.3 miles of dirt road.
Is Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon better?
Lower is narrower and twistier, with stairs and tight passages. Upper is wider and flat underfoot, with a 2-hour limit inside. Pick Lower for the walk, Upper if stairs are a problem.
Can you visit The Wave without winning the lottery?
No. Every visitor needs a BLM permit. The closest no-permit alternative is White Pocket, which needs a 4x4 or a tour from Kanab.
Ready to book
Choose your tour
Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season. Check the cancellation terms on each listing before you book.
Lower Antelope Canyon with a Navajo Guide
The famous slot near Page: guides are required, no lottery
Antelope Canyon Kayak & Hike on Lake Powell
Paddle up the flooded end of Antelope Canyon, then walk in
White Pocket Small-Group Tour from Kanab
- Guided day trip from Kanab, Utah
- 4x4 transport on the sand roads to White Pocket
- Time on foot at White Pocket with the guide
