Kayaking to Antelope Canyon
Southwestern Trip 2022 | Lake Powell to Lee’s Ferry | Kayaking to Antelope Canyon | Glen Canyon Dam | Lee’s Ferry | October 2022
For most of our Southwestern road trip, we planned our stops around places we’ve had starred on Google maps for years, as well as some old favorite places. Most of what we planned was relatively easy to do: drive to a park/trail/scenic area, and do whatever we wanted or could do with a dog. However, there was one big bucket list item that we wanted to do that took a little more effort, and that was to kayak to Antelope Canyon all by ourselves.
Back in 2014 during our Spring Break vacation, I made reservations to walk through the canyon with the Navajo guides, but when the day came, they never showed up. It all worked out okay, we ended up exploring Buckskin Gulch on our own and for much cheaper than a guided tour would have been. But since then, it has grown to one of those popular Arizona attractions that we had never seen, and that thought nagged at us a little.
Earlier this year when planning our kayaking trip in Flaming Gorge, Curtis came across some trip reports from people that had kayaked to Antelope Canyon. He learned that by doing so they were able to hike through the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area side of the canyon for free and without a guide. And after kayaking in Flaming Gorge and Red Fleet State Park, we were eager to kayak in more desert lakes surrounded by sandstone cliffs. So as this Southwestern trip started to come together, we made lots of plans but the focal point was on this one kayak trip.
We set our alarms for 5 on the morning of our planned kayak trip, and quickly and quietly packed up our tent by the light of the full moon. We drove the 30 minutes from Lone Rock Campground to Antelope Point Launch Ramp. The best advice we received from the post we read, and that we can give anyone attempting a similar trip is to start as early as you possibly can. Our main motivation for this was wanting to get ahead of the other kayaking tour groups so we could enjoy the canyon on our own, but there are other reasons we later learned about that made this an especially good idea.
We drove to the end of the ramp to drop off our kayak, then I drove back to the parking lot while Curtis went down to set up the kayak. This boat ramp is for kayaks and paddle boards only, but I didn’t realize why until we were there: the actual put-in spot isn’t at the end of the road/ramp, because the ramp ends some 20-30 feet above the lake. Instead kayakers put in down a steep, sandy, switchbacking trail that starts on the side of the road. Another example of how low the Lake has gotten. Once down the trail, there isn’t really a smooth or easy way to put in, and our getting into the boat was less-than-graceful and resulted in a lot of water getting in. But once we were in, we began paddling, and were instantly convinced it was worth it.
Our paddle began at 6:15, just as the sun was rising, and the cliffs were lit up in shades of pink and red. In contrast to the deep blue-green lake, I was certain this was the most beautiful setting, and we were still just getting started! From Antelope Point, we began heading West around the bend, trying to stay close to one side as we could. While making our way South to the entrance of Antelope Canyon, we crossed paths with a small boat towing many more kayaks back to where we put in, in preparation for guided tours later. We braced ourselves for the initial waves that come from the motor boat, but here we learned of a disadvantage of kayaking in this type of setting: since the sides of the lake are cliffs and not soft banks, the waves end up crashing into them and then reversing back across the lake. This means that simply having one boat pass by makes it so the waves were constantly hitting us from one side or another.
We strained our eyes looking ahead, trying to see the opening in the canyon where Antelope Canyon began, and wondering how narrow it would be. It finally came about one mile from the put-in spot — made obvious by a no-wake zone buoy. We turned in and began our slow, winding paddle around the canyon as it became more and more narrow. After a few turns the waves were gone, and it was just us, the quiet waters, and the occasional echoes of raven’s wings flapping overhead. We floated through the canyon, barely paddling, enjoying every peaceful minute. The water at the beginning was perfectly clear, and we could see the continuation of the canyon walls underwater where the water was more shallow along the edges.
After a while, we ran into thick debris on the water, and a foul scent to accompany it. We knew we were reaching the end of the kayaking portion of today’s adventure. Sure enough, one more turn around a bend and the water ran out. Altogether, we had been able to kayak 3 miles — one through lake Powell, 2 into Antelope Canyon, and it had taken an hour and fifteen minutes to get to this point. We hopped out of the boat and pulled it out of the way, then gathered what we needed for a short hike and set off on the second leg of our journey: hiking into Antelope Canyon!
Our goal for the hike was to simply take our time and enjoy what we could do. We couldn’t find any rules against dogs hiking in the National Recreation Area side of the canyon, but weren’t sure about the legality of entering the Navajo land with Charlotte, or without a guide. We also knew there were going to be tall drop-offs and didn’t know how technical they would be. So we just began our stroll, admiring the colors, textures, and shapes of the cliffs.
Just as the canyon was starting to narrow and the “good part” was beginning, we came to the first obstacle: an 8 foot drop-off with a deep mud puddle on the ground, a ladder leaning against the rock, and a boulder to get over at the top. We were disappointed, assuming this was it for us, just when we were enjoying the iconic narrow walls of the slot canyon. I knew Curtis wanted to continue, and I did as well — I’m just not a fan of ladders in this setting, and I knew it would be difficult with Char, assuming there was no way she would want to be carried up.
To both of our surprise, as we started to turn back, Charlotte was hesitant to walk away — like she also knew the hike was only going to get better if we would just get past this obstacle. She started to try to wade into the puddle, looking longingly up at the continuation of the trail. She willingly let Curtis pick her up, carry her across the mud puddle, and up the ladder. While I was thrilled that we would be continuing, this also meant that I now had to climb up myself. I managed to push through and do it with just a little help from Curtis at the end. I guess this summarizes how we end up making decisions when we go on adventures these days: Curtis is always in favor of taking risks and doing more. I also have the desire but am more hesitant and prefer to stay on the safe side. That leaves Charlotte, whose reaction will determine if we continue and push ourselves further, or if we turn back. Today we continued, and it was the right choice!
Just as we anticipated, the slot canyon was even more narrow here, with tight twists and turns. We found it a little funny though how a little while later, we came to a second boulder to get over which wasn’t anywhere near as daunting as the first, but Charlotte immediately turned around and started to walk in the other direction like she was scared. We were satisfied with how far we had gone, so we let her lead us back through the canyon. Curtis carried her down the ladder first, then stood by as I made my way down, and once that was behind us the rest of the walk back was enjoyable and uneventful.
Right before we made it back to our boat, we came across the first other hikers/paddle boarders that we would see today — a couple who also had gotten an early start. We wished them well as we crossed paths, then continued to our boat where we drained all the water that had gotten in at the beginning of the ride, then loaded up and pushed off back into the water. As we made our way around the first bend, we came across another family that was coming in on paddle boards. Then when we were nearing the end of Antelope Canyon, we passed a group of boats on a guided tour. Getting here early sure paid off!
As we were going around the last bend before leaving the slot canyon and re-entering Lake Powell, the waves began to rock the boat again, and once out of the canyon we saw why — a large passenger/tour boat had just passed by, and even though it was just that one boat going at a low speed, it was a big boat and most of our paddle back to Antelope Point was on rough waters and the highest waves we’ve ever experienced. Curtis says he was confident we were fine, but I was bracing myself for the worst. We saw many more kayakers and paddle boarders making their way to the canyon as we made our way back (Curtis estimated that we passed at least 30 people), and I didn’t envy them doing this trip when the whole area was busier and the temperature was warming up.
We made our way around the bend, and finally the end was in sight. But then came another large passenger boat — only this time, it wasn’t going at a slower speed like the last one — it was speeding through the no wake zone, and the waves it was creating were the worst yet. The pilot was in the wrong going so fast next to such a popular put-in site for kayaks and paddle boards, and there wasn’t much we could do but ride it out since there was no way we could make it to the shore in time.
We were pushed around, going up and dropping down with the waves, trying to paddle along and aim towards where we wanted to get out. I can’t imagine what was going through Charlotte’s mind, but she stayed seated and didn’t seem to be as bothered by the waves as I was. Between the initial onslaught of waves and the reflection from the opposite side of the canyon, we made a less-than-graceful landing. It was the biggest relief when we finally made it and were able to get out and pull our boat safely out of the water.
At the end, we were both in agreement that we were so glad we had done this “bucket list” adventure, but we were fully content with it being a one-time thing with how popular it was. Besides, there are so many other cool kayaking trips we could take on Lake Powell, why should we do the same one twice?
If you’re interested, check out our Alltrails recording for this paddle and hike combo here.
We packed up the kayak and carried it all back up to the road, drove the car down and packed it all up. At this point, it felt like we had just completed a full day’s adventure…but it was only 10 AM! We drove back to Page to grab an early lunch, and took it to the Glen Canyon Dam overlook for a scenic picnic. After that, we decided there was no shame in taking it easy for the rest of the day, so we began the 1.5 hour drive to our hopeful campsite of the night.
We arrived at Lee’s Ferry campground in the early afternoon, down river from Page, and were surprised by how busy it already was. Then we realized it was the Friday before Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus day weekend, and we were probably lucky to still have a choice in which spot to pick. We chose one that would only have one “neighbor” and that had a great view overlooking the Colorado River and red canyon walls. We played games, snacked, read, and rested throughout the hottest hours of the afternoon, then went for another short walk that evening by the Colorado River. Unfortunately the holiday weekend traffic filled up the whole campground and made for a less than quiet night, and our one neighbor was one of the only RVs that used a generator, but we still enjoyed little things like the moon rising over the canyon wall and the sound of the river rushing through the night once everyone quieted down.
