Antelope Canyon Tickets, Booking & Reservations: The Complete 2026 Guide
Both Lower Antelope operators now charge $80.50 all-in, the Navajo permit has risen to $15 per person, and you still cannot set foot in the canyon without a licensed Navajo guide. Here are the confirmed 2026 prices, the cancellation rules that actually matter, and exactly how to reserve a tour without falling for a reseller scam.
Lower Antelope Canyon ticket prices are now effectively identical between the two authorized operators. Ken's Tours lists its General Tour at $80.50 per person, and Dixie Ellis' current homepage lists its standard hiking tour at $80.50 for adults (ages 8+) and $80.50 for children ages 4–7, with infants free. The two operations run side by side, do the same walk, and price within cents of each other.
Standard Lower Antelope Hiking Tour: $80.50 for adults (8+) and children (4–7); infants (0–3) free
A "Tį́' Lets Cruise (TLC)" day tour visiting three Navajo Nation locations
Watch for a stale price notice
An older page on Dixie's own site still shows a "2024 Pricing Change: Adults ages 8 and up = $55 + permit fee" notice. That is outdated — the current homepage flat rate of $80.50 (which folds in the permit) is the governing 2026 price. Photography tours with tripods are not offered by either Lower operator; standard tours are handheld only.
For context on where $80.50 came from: a 2024 visitor account shows Ken's General Tour was about $78 per person plus an $8 permit — confirming the current figure is essentially the same base tour with the higher permit now folded in.
Seasonal pricing: Lower Antelope tour prices do not visibly swing by season the way Upper Antelope's do. Lower's "peak vs off-peak" difference is mostly about crowds and lighting, not a published price premium. By contrast, Upper Antelope operators explicitly charge more for midday "prime time" light-beam slots.
Neither Lower operator markets a dedicated photography tour with tripods in 2026 — tripods, monopods and selfie sticks are banned on standard tours, and photography is handheld only. Dedicated photography tours have largely been discontinued across Antelope Canyon since 2019. Ken's Deluxe and Premier tours give photographers more time inside, but no tripod privileges; the full picture is in our Antelope Canyon photography guide.
Other experiences you might enjoy
Live availability from GetYourGuide — more Navajo-guided canyon tours, Horseshoe Bend trips and Page-area day trips, picked automatically for this page.
The Navajo permit fee has risen to $15
The official Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation website states, verbatim, "Entry Fee $15 per person, per location, per day." That is up from the $8 figure that still appears on older blogs and forum posts. The fee is set by the tribe, not the tour companies, and authorized operators collect and remit it for you, bundling it into their all-in price. You should not be asked to pay it separately in cash at the trailhead — if you are, treat it as a red flag.
Navajo Tours confirms the change in its own words: "Recently, the fee increased from $8 to $15 per person as part of ongoing preservation and safety efforts."
Because the fee is per location, visiting Upper and Lower separately means paying it twice — but doing both in one day on a combo tour, you generally pay it once. Parking at the Lower Antelope operators' lots is free and fits cars, RVs and buses.
Reserve a Lower Antelope tour with free cancellation
You can book directly at the operator sites (lowerantelope.com or antelopelowercanyon.com) or through GetYourGuide, a legitimate channel that lists the same licensed Navajo-guided tours and adds the flexibility of free cancellation. The most-reviewed Lower Antelope listing — below — has the deepest booking record of any tour at the canyon, and bundles the entry ticket, Navajo permit and a local Navajo guide into one price.
Most-reviewed Lower Antelope tour
Lower Antelope Canyon Entry & Navajo Guided Tour
★★★★★4.7(more than 9,500 reviews)·1 hour·From $75Free cancel · 24 hours
A licensed Navajo guide walks you through the full 1,335 feet of Lower Antelope. The price covers the ~60-minute walking tour, the local guide, and the Navajo permit; choose the entry-included option to skip the fee booth. Reserve now and pay later on most dates.
Lower Antelope Canyon walking tour (~60 minutes inside)
Licensed local Navajo guide
Navajo Nation permit fee included
Mobile voucher · instant confirmation · free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Meeting point: Ken's Tours Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ — check in 30 minutes before tour start.
How far ahead to book: tours release on a rolling ~3-month schedule. For peak season (March–October), weekends, holidays and midday slots, book 1–3 months ahead — and 3–6 months for Upper Antelope's prime-time beam slots. Walk-ups are allowed at the Lower operators based on availability but are never guaranteed, and summer same-day slots are frequently sold out. There are no waitlists.
Cancellation & refund policies (2026)
Channel
Refund window
Ken's Tours
Refund if cancelled 72+ hours ahead, minus the non-refundable booking fee; no refund inside 72 hours. Weather cancellations fully refunded or rescheduled.
Dixie Ellis'
Fully refundable up to 24 hours before departure (excluding booking fees); after the cutoff, forfeit 50% of the reserved total.
GetYourGuide
Free cancellation up to 24 hours or up to 4 days in advance (varies by listing), with reserve-now-pay-later on many tours.
Age restrictions: Lower Antelope welcomes most ages on the standard tour, but the steep stairs and ladders make it less suitable for very young toddlers — who must be carried in a backpack-style carrier, as strollers are not permitted — and for anyone with mobility or back issues. Ken's Combination and Premier tours carry higher age minimums (e.g. 12+).
Group size limits: Lower Antelope standard tours cap at 15 guests per guide, and each time slot can hold up to roughly 70 people across multiple guides. Ken's Deluxe, Combination and Premier tours run in small groups of about 6.
ID and documents: bring a valid government photo ID and your booking confirmation or voucher, digital or printed. Check in 30–45 minutes before your tour time.
Hours, time zone and the slots worth targeting
Antelope Canyon runs on Arizona time (MST, the same as Phoenix) year-round and does not observe daylight saving time — a frequent source of missed tours, since nearby Utah and parts of the Navajo Nation do observe DST. Set your phone manually to Page/Phoenix time and check in 30–45 minutes early; late arrivals forfeit the slot.
Navajo Parks (summer)8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Ken's Tours~7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Dixie's (summer)6:15 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
Dixie's (winter)8:45 a.m.–2:45 p.m.
Dixie Ellis' office hours run roughly 7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Ken's Tours starts its first tours around 7:30 a.m. and its last around 4:00 p.m. in high season, with reduced winter hours, and operates daily year-round. Both Lower operators close on major holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas, for instance — in line with the Navajo Nation, and either may close on short notice for flash-flood risk.
Peak light and beam season
Light beams are an Upper Antelope Canyon phenomenon, not Lower. Lower Antelope produces gorgeous reflected colour and the occasional faint shaft of light between April and October, but not the iconic vertical beams.
Beam season: late March to early October, peaking May–September, when the sun is high enough to drop shafts through Upper's narrow slot
Beam hours: roughly 11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m. on clear, sunny days — clouds eliminate the beams even in season
Lower's best colour in peak season: mornings around 7:15–10:45 a.m. and mid-afternoon around 1:45–4:15 p.m.
In winter: all daylight hours work well at Lower
Match the slot to the goal: midday for Upper's light beams; mid-morning or mid-afternoon for Lower's wave-formation colour and fewer crowds; the first tour of the day for the quietest experience anywhere. Season-by-season detail lives in our best time to visit guide.
Where you meet, what the walk involves, what you can carry
Where to check in: at the operator's own booth or office at the Lower Antelope Canyon entrance area, on Indian Route 222 — Ken's Tours address is Indian Rte 222, Page, AZ 86040 — just off Highway 98, less than 10 minutes east of Page. From the booth it is a short ~10-minute walk to the canyon entrance.
Accessibility and stairs. Lower Antelope is the adventurous canyon. Per Dixie's, the tour spans "roughly 1,800 meters (1.1 miles) round trip," descending "five flights of stairs (35 meters)" to enter, then climbing out via "eight uniquely built ladders (with handrails)." Step counts vary by source — roughly 70–82 near the entrance and around 130 in total. It is not wheelchair accessible and not recommended for anyone with serious mobility, back or claustrophobia concerns; Upper Antelope is the flatter, easier-walking alternative.
What to bring
Closed-toe walking shoes (required), water, sunscreen and a hat, plus a light layer — the canyon interior is cooler. Valid ID and your voucher. Summer temperatures can exceed 100°F, so hydrate well before you go in.
What you cannot carry
Bags, backpacks, purses, fanny packs, drawstring bags and hydration packs are all banned. Permitted items are limited to a single clear or transparent bag, a camera, your phone and a water bottle. Tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, GoPros and drones are prohibited, and pets and service animals are not allowed.
Upper Antelope, Canyon X & combos
Lower is the cheaper, more adventurous canyon; Upper is pricier and famous for its midday light beams (visible only there, roughly late-March to early-October, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. on sunny days). Canyon X is the quieter, less-crowded alternative.
As a rule of thumb, expect roughly $60–85 per adult for Lower, $90–120+ for standard Upper, and a $20–30 premium on top for Upper's midday "prime time" light-beam slots.
Lower Antelope$80.50 all-in
Upper Antelope$90–120+ (beam premium)
Canyon X (adult)$62 · permit included
Page combosfrom $169 (GYG)
Upper Antelope Canyon. Standard tours run roughly $90–120+; midday prime-time and light-beam slots carry a premium. On GetYourGuide, Upper Antelope listings start around $95 ("Prime Time Entry & Navajo Guide") and range up to $160 for some Navajo-guide tours. Upper is flat, ground-level walking, and it is the canyon for the famous vertical light beams.
Antelope Canyon X (Taadidiin Tours, the exclusive operator). Confirmed current per-age pricing from the operator's own listing is "Ages 18 and Older: $62.00 (Includes Hiking Permit); Ages 8 to 17: $52.00 (Includes Hiking Permit); Ages 0 to 7: $37.00." A 3-hour photo tour runs $133.96, and the strenuous Cardiac Canyon tour is around $228. On GetYourGuide, Canyon X starts from $82 (4.7★ · 4,514 reviews). Canyon X is less crowded and books up less frantically than Upper or Lower.
If everything is sold out, the other nearby slot canyons are useful fallbacks: Secret Antelope ("Secret Canyon"), Mountain Sheep, Rattlesnake and Owl canyons.
What GetYourGuide actually lists for Page
Lower Antelope Canyon entry + Navajo guide — from $75
Upper Antelope Canyon "Prime Time" and standard tours — from $95
Antelope Canyon X — from $82
Page combos: Lower + Upper + Horseshoe Bend, and Secret Antelope + Horseshoe Bend — from $169
Day trips from Las Vegas with lunch from about $189, private Vegas tours, golden-hour tours, plus multi-day trips from Los Angeles and Sedona/Flagstaff-area departures
Most listings include the Navajo permit and a Navajo guide; combos add transport and sometimes lunch — a Subway box lunch on the Vegas trips, for instance
The mandatory-guide system dates to August 12, 1997, when a flash flood swept through Lower Antelope Canyon and killed eleven tourists — seven from France, one from the UK, one from Sweden and two from the United States — with the storm originating roughly seven miles upstream. Only one person survived: a 28-year-old tour guide.
The Navajo Nation closed the canyon for about a year, then established the licensed-guide-only system, the bolted-steel stairs and the weather monitoring that govern access today. Across Upper and Lower combined, the canyon now draws an estimated 800,000 visitors a year.
This is the single most important planning fact on the page: there is no legal way to visit Antelope Canyon on your own. The full picture — including the slot canyons near Page you genuinely can hike unguided — is in our can you visit without a tour? guide.
Avoiding scams & fake "official" sites
Documented problems include third-party resellers (sometimes operating from overseas) selling tickets at inflated prices or for sold-out/closed dates, and lookalike URLs. Book through the operators' official sites or a reputable platform like GetYourGuide.
Red flags
A "real tour" that asks you to pay the $15 Navajo fee separately in cash on arrival · a site that can't tell you which licensed operator (Ken's or Dixie's) actually runs the tour · anyone promising "permit-only, self-guided" access. There is no legal way to visit Antelope Canyon without a licensed Navajo guide.
What to re-check before you book
Every figure on this page was confirmed in June 2026, but prices, fees, hours and policies change without notice. These are the ones most worth reconfirming.
Ken's Tours prices ($80.50 / $173.63 / $148.00 / $319.39, all "include taxes & fees") are verbatim from the official site as of June 2026. The "$15 per person, per location, per day" Navajo entry fee is confirmed on navajonationparks.org.
Dixie Ellis' $80.50 comes from the operator's current homepage; a separate, un-updated page on the same site still shows the old "$55 + permit" figure. The flat $80.50 appears to include the permit, but Dixie's does not state the bundling word-for-word — treat that as a strong inference and verify at checkout.
Tour start times and exact seasonal hours for both Lower operators are partly drawn from operator booking systems and reputable third-party listings, and published hours vary slightly between sources. Confirm exact slot times in the live booking calendar when you reserve.
Upper Antelope prices fluctuate by season, slot and operator far more than Lower's do. Canyon X's per-age pricing ($62 / $52 / $37) is from the operator's own listing but has appeared at lower figures ($44–55) on some third-party guides — verify directly with Taadidiin Tours.
GetYourGuide "from" prices are starting rates; actual prices vary by date, slot and party size, and combo and day-trip prices change frequently.
Benchmarks that would change this advice
If the Navajo Nation authorizes additional Lower Antelope operators — it has not signaled this — competition could ease prices and availability. If a new fee increase is announced, both the $15 entry fee and the $80.50 all-in tour price would rise; expect roughly 5–8% annual increases on tour prices. Always reconfirm on the official sites within a few weeks of booking.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a Lower Antelope Canyon ticket in 2026?
Both authorized Lower Antelope operators — Ken's Tours and Dixie Ellis' — charge $80.50 per person all-in for their standard tour as of June 2026, with taxes, fees and the Navajo permit bundled in. Ken's also runs a Deluxe Tour ($173.63), a Combination Tour (from $148) and an 8.5-hour Premier Tour ($319.39). On GetYourGuide, Lower Antelope listings start from $75 — reserve here.
How much is the Navajo permit fee for Antelope Canyon?
The Navajo Nation entry fee is $15 per person, per location, per day — raised from the long-quoted $8 figure that still circulates on older blogs. Authorized operators collect and remit it for you and bundle it into the headline price, so you should not be asked to pay it separately in cash at the trailhead.
Can you visit Antelope Canyon without a tour?
No. Independent entry to any part of Antelope Canyon has been banned by the Navajo Nation since the fatal 1997 flash flood, so a booked, Navajo-guided tour is mandatory. Anyone promising permit-only or self-guided access is not legitimate.
How far in advance should I book Antelope Canyon?
Tours are released on a rolling ~3-month schedule. For peak season (March–October), weekends, holidays and midday slots, book 1–3 months ahead — and 3–6 months for Upper Antelope's prime-time light-beam slots. Off-peak weekday slots can sometimes be had a few days out, but walk-up availability is never guaranteed.
What is the cancellation policy for Antelope Canyon tours?
Ken's Tours refunds cancellations made 72+ hours ahead minus the non-refundable booking fee, with no refund inside 72 hours; weather (flash-flood) cancellations are fully refunded or rescheduled. Dixie Ellis' is fully refundable up to 24 hours before departure (excluding booking fees). Most GetYourGuide listings offer free cancellation up to 24 hours or 4 days in advance, with reserve-now-pay-later on many tours.
This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission when you book through our links — at no extra cost to you. Lower Antelope Canyon tours are operated exclusively by Navajo family–owned businesses on Navajo Nation land.
