Arizona: 5 Things to Know Before You Go

Hey Everybody!!!

Hope you are getting super excited for memorial day weekend!! We are EXTREMELY excited for the holiday because Lighting in a Bottle is taking place this coming weekend!! Maybe you have heard of this festival before? If not we actually have a blog post that was dedicated to our experience from last year, you can check out that post HERE. Anyways today we wanted to make a blog post talking about things to know before you go to Page, AZ! We really like incorporating this writing section in the blog because we want this to be super helpful for you guys if you plan a trip to Arizona and need to know some tips about the location 🙂 Anyways let’s get into it!!

Crowded “Hotspots”

One of the many exciting things about visiting Page, Arizona is just how much you can see while you are there..As most travelers know “the early bird gets the worm” so the earlier you start your day the less crowed it will be. For some spots, we used this tactic and were very pleased with our experience but for others we had to experience the crowds. For example, we were really set on going to Horseshoe Bend for sunset, we knew that this would mean we would be swarmed with families and tourists all getting ready to watch a lovely sunset together…what we didn’t realize was just how many people would be there! It was pretty insane just how many photographers were huddled together getting the “perfect shot” of the sun going down. We were very mindful and kept to ourselves about how ridiculous the whole situation was and we still had a great time, got amazing shots and would do it again in a heartbeat, but the massive crowds were something we wish we would have known about before we went.

Canyon Tours

If you’re planning a trip to Page, Arizona one of the things that might be first on your list to see is Antelope Canyon. If you don’t know what Antelope Canyon is, it is probably the most popular attraction in Page that brings in the most tourists. Antelope Canyon is known for being an amazing photography spot due to the way the sunlight beams through the narrow canyon walls and illuminates the whole area in spectacular colors. If you search it on google you would be taken back by it’s beauty. It’s basically a photographers dream location. Before we left for our trip to Page, the canyon was one of the main attractions we were planning on visiting. The only negatives about going to Antelope Canyon is that you must go on a tour, which can cost a lot and the tour limits your time in the canyon to a couple of hours. Tour prices range from what tour company you choose from and what time frame you reserve for your tour. It’s a hard decision if your willing to actually put the money down and hopefully get the experience you imagine. We didn’t end up going on the canyon tour, but did see a line of people all waiting to board a bus to take them on the tour and man was it A LOT of people. Most of the reviews about the canyon tour say that they wished they didn’t have so many people with them because it was hard to get a pictures without others getting in the way. It’s still something we are willing to try next time, but we are well aware of just how frustrating it might become.

An alternate to Antelope Canyon

From what we said about Antelope Canyon and the problem with it’s tours, we think we might have a solution for you. There is an excellent slot canyon which only costs $12 for a hiking permit and is not nearly as popular as Antelope Canyon. We only had a few hikers pass by us during our time in the canyon and we had as much time as we wanted to explore all that the canyon had to offer. The name of this hike is Waterhole Canyon and it is located right off the highway just after the parking lot for Horseshoe Bend. From where you park, there is a short walk down into the canyon and then from there you can explore the canyon for as long as you would like to. Going during the middle of the day gives you great lighting for pictures as you continue hiking down the canyon. Not to spoil the hike for you, but it was quite an adventure climbing down ladders, and discovering obstacles that make you second guess if you should keep going. Not only is it a great place to take photos but it is also a wonderful place to spend the day exploring.

Lots of Destinations

One of the main reasons why we wanted to go to Page, Arizona was because of all the places we could drive to that were within 2 hours of where we were staying. This gave us plenty of options when we were planning what we wanted to do everyday and allowed us to see plenty of new things every time we set out for the day’s adventure. Places that we wanted to check out that were only a few hours away were: The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Vermillion Cliffs, The Wave and Bryce Canyon (we didn’t get a chance to see the last 2 but we hope to next time.) All these spots are great to check out and  with a little planning, you could potentially hit them all in one short trip. In our opinion, Page is an amazing and versatile spot to stop and spend some time and is really like a hub for traveling in the this section of the Southwest.

Time Zones

Page is located on the border of Arizona and Utah (but obviously on the Arizona side) so if you plan to go on excursions during the day that are outside Page, you might run into a few time zone issues. This was something that really tripped us out and made us think we either lost time or gained time with our planned excursions for the day. Its not a BIG issue at all, but it is definitely something to keep in mind if you see the time on your clock jumping forward and backwards an hour randomly.