How to See The Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, & Horseshoe Bend in 3 Days
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I had the day off work for MLK Day, so I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and fly to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon, Antelope Slot Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend. I’ve seen countless photos of Antelope Slot Canyon online (because they’re so Insta-worthy) and that was really the driving factor in booking the trip, but I’d never seen the Grand Canyon, so we added that in as well. After hearing about our itinerary for the trip, my parents decided to buy plane tickets and tag along, which ended up being so much fun.
Day 1
We flew into Phoenix late Friday night and stayed at Aloft Phoenix Airport hotel. We were only at the hotel for a few hours, so I can’t comment extensively on it, but it got the job done. One design flaw I noticed was that there was glass between the bathroom and the bed that meant you might easily wake up your partner if you got up to use the restroom and turned on the bathroom light. On a positive note, they did have Dry Bar amenities – I definitely took the lotion with me.
We knew we had a ~4-hour drive ahead of us, so we woke up early, grabbed breakfast at Panera, and hit the road. We rented a Turo for this trip and the pickup location was right across the street from the hotel.
The Grand Canyon
When we arrived at Grand Canyon National Park, we had to wait in a line of cars to purchase entry into the park, which was $35/vehicle for a 1-7 day pass. There was another line for those who had purchased passes in advance, so if you want to save some time, I’d do that. Luckily, as we were visiting in January, there weren’t too many visitors and the line moved quickly.
Once in the park, we checked into our hotel, dropped our bags, and hopped right back in the car to go to the various viewpoints. In addition to the main visitor center on the South Rim, we visited the Grandview Point, the Moran Point, and Desert View Watchtower. As we drove along AZ-64, it was really easy to pull over and stop whenever we wanted to admire the view.
I’d never seen the Grand Canyon before in person (except when flying over in an airplane), and my mind struggled to comprehend just how massive it is. I could see the Colorado River snaking along the bottom, along with the few buildings there and they looked unbelievably small. Every time I looked out, I felt like my eyes were playing tricks on me. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. We only had a half day at the Grand Canyon on this trip, so we stuck to viewpoints along the rim, but I am already trying to figure out when I can go back and hike it.
Even in Arizona it gets cold in January, as we learned firsthand on this trip. The South Rim of the Grand Canyon sits around 7000 feet above sea level, and that meant it got cold enough for snow and ice to be on the ground, so we had to be careful not to slip and fall. It would probably be incredibly dangerous to try to hike down into the canyon in these conditions.
Dinner at El Tovar Dining Room
After watching the sunset, we ate dinner at El Tovar Dining Room in the historic El Tovar Hotel on the edge of the canyon. We had made a reservation but asked if they could seat us a bit earlier and they obliged. It’s a classic upscale restaurant and that night the special was scallops. Thomas and I split the scallops and the lamb and both were fantastic. For dessert, we had the El Tovar Apple Streusel Pie and the Flourless Chocolate Cake – both were amazing.
There’s not a lot of dining options in the park, but this one was a home run. We were thankful to be close to our hotel because we ate dinner, a snow storm rolled in and we had a sketchy 1-mile drive back to our rooms in dark. Any further would have been a nightmare.
Hotel
We chose to stay at the Yavapai Lodge in the park. It was cheaper than some of the other options right on the canyon rim (like the El Tovar Hotel) but still very close by. The rooms are spread out in several small buildings, so we made sure to ask for a room next to my parents since we were sharing a car.
The hotel was clearly old but had been recently refreshed. On the wall there was a photo of what the rooms used to look like, but they did a good job with the updates, except for the bathroom, which still felt dated. It looked like the only change there was the addition of a shelf above the sink. We also struggled with the AC/heating unit, as we didn’t seem to have the power to control it despite all the buttons being there, so we woke up hot in the middle of the night. Also, during the snowstorm, we lost WiFi and cable, rendering the TV useless.
Day 2
Weather Delays
The next morning, we woke up to about 8” of fresh snowfall and right about then I was kicking myself for not booking a room that overlooked the canyon – I would have loved to see it covered in snow. Instead, we had to dig our car out with no scraper or gloves – the bath towel from the hotel room came in as a handy backup.
After we freed the car, we wanted to try to stop at the viewpoint again, but the roads were inaccessible, so we just made our way towards Page. The main road leading from the Grand Canyon to Page was closed, so what should have been a 2.5-hour drive became a 5-hour drive as we had to go south to Flagstaff before heading north to Page. The roads had just been plowed, so it was passable, but a little nerve-wracking.
As we got closer to Page, we stopped for lunch at a Burger King (because options were scarce) and learned that on Navajo land (including this BK), masks are still required indoors. I definitely wasn’t expecting it and was just thankful I had a couple of old masks in my pocket so we could go inside.
Antelope Canyon
Despite our delays, we arrived in Page right on time and were able to go on our tour of Antelope Canyon. We booked a tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon, but there are 3 main canyon tours to choose from: Upper Antelope Canyon, Lower Antelope Canyon, and Antelope Canyon X. Most websites recommended either visiting Upper or Lower and for whatever reason, there were no Lower Canyon tours available at all for the week we were there. The only way to see these canyons is with a guide, as they were previously vandalized when they were open to the public.
The meeting point for the tour is in the town of Page and from there we boarded buses that took us about 15-minutes to the canyon, about half of which was off roading. There were 3 buses there, but the groups (of about 12 people each) were spread out so it didn’t feel too crowded. Our guide explained how the canyon formed and continues to changes as it floods. For example, the floor height of the canyon can vary up and down wildly depending on the weather. There were plenty of spots for photos and our guide nicely offered to take photos for us. He did know all the best photo spots, but there were so many photo ops we were over it by the end.
One scary thing we learned on the tour was that the slot canyons can be subject to flash flooding in bad weather and tour groups have had to evacuate during their tour. Thankfully, we had no such issues, but I’d only go in good weather.
After touring, I’d recommend just picking 1 canyon to tour. That felt like plenty to enjoy the canyon’s beauty and I know seeing the other 2 would have gotten monotonous.
Horseshoe Bend
In January the sunset was at approximately 5:30PM, but we had enough time after our slot canyon tour to see the Colorado River’s Horseshoe Bend, which is located only about 10 minutes from Page. There is an entrance fee of $10 per vehicle and it’s open sunrise to sunset. From the parking lot, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the viewpoint, mostly downhill (so be prepared to walk uphill on the way back). There were signs reminding you to bring water with you, but I think this is more critical in the warmer months.
When we got to the viewpoint it was overcast, which was actually perfect for photos so we didn’t have harsh shadows. On a sunny day, the middle of the day would probably be the best time, but also the busiest. There were a few dozen people there when we arrived, but we didn’t have any issues taking pictures. Quick photography tip: using a camera with wide-angle (like the latest iPhones) makes it super easy to get the entire horseshoe in the frame vertically.
While there is a railing to keep you from falling off the cliff, it doesn’t extend very far and it would be far too easy to fall 1000 feet to your death. So PLEASE please please keep a safe distance from the edge at all times!
Hampton Inn Page
For our last night of the trip, we stayed at the Hampton Inn Page, which was only $88 for the night and a great value for the price. The rooms were spacious and breakfast was included the next morning. Of course, it was a pretty standard Hampton Inn, but I was happy to earn some Hilton points all the same.
There weren’t a ton of dining options in Page and nothing sounded that great. We’d also learned that in these more remote parts of Arizona, food prices are pretty high, so we opted to stop at the grocery store and make a hotel room charcuterie board for dinner while we played cards – it was great!
Day 3
While we were able to compress the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and Antelope Slot Canyon into 2 days, we needed the third day to get back to Phoenix, so the holiday weekend is what made this trip possible.
Driving Back to Phoenix
Getting from Page to Phoenix was just about as treacherous of a drive as getting from the Grand Canyon to Page had been and took about 5 hours (though would have probably only been 4 in good conditions). There was snow for the majority of the drive that was only beautiful if you were a passenger in the car (poor Thomas – he drove the entire trip).
We’d hoped to stop in Sedona on the way to Phoenix and see all the red rocks, but it was raining and there were a lot of low hanging clouds so we knew it wouldn’t be a great experience. We went straight to Phoenix instead, getting lunch at Rubio’s (a family favorite) when we arrived.
Glow Putt Mini Golf
It turns out Phoenix was very much meant to be an outdoor city and pretty much all the activities in town rely on it not raining. The weather didn’t cooperate with us, so we ended up going putt-putt golfing (the top recommendation on Trip Advisor was the Musical Instrument Museum, but I’d been there before and didn’t love it). Everyone else in Phoenix seemed to have the same idea as us because it was packed. It took us a while to get through all 18 holes, but we had plenty of time because our flights didn’t leave until late that night.
Centurion Lounge
We got to the airport with plenty of time before our flight, so we went to the Centurion Lounge at the Phoenix airport. Unfortunately, the policy (back in January) only allowed me to bring 2 guests, so I brought Thomas and my mom while my dad waited in the terminal. Note that as of February 1, 2023, the Amex Platinum card no longer allows for free guests unless you spend over $75K per year on the card (thus why Thomas just got his own Amex Platinum!).
There was a line to check in to the lounge and when I got to the front, I was told there was a 5- to 10-minute wait, so we waited in the terminal until they texted me that it was my turn. After entering the lounge, I was surprised by the wait as there were quite a few open tables, even at dinnertime. When we went to the Centurion Lounge in LaGuardia around the same time, we were lucky to find seats at all it was so crowded (yet there had been no wait to get in).
This lounge looked basically the same as the one in LaGuardia, but the food and drink selection was different. The buffet featured Southern and Southwestern-inspired dishes, including cornbread (my favorite). Sadly, they didn’t have any hard ciders at the bar, which was disappointing because I’d loved the one I’d ordered in New York.
Overall, I was blown away by the stunning geography of the American Southwest on this trip and it definitely lived up to the hype. We tend to take a lot of city trips, so this much more nature-focused trip was a great change-of-pace, and hiking the Grand Canyon has officially been added to my bucket list!
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