Preface.
Arizona in the United States , located in California and New Mexico Among them are the original Indian reservations, and about 1/4 of the entire state is an Indian reservation. In addition to the rapid development of the city, it still retains the roughest natural scenery and the original culture of the Indian tribes. From Salt Lake City , Utah , all the way south, we entered the Arizona area and came to the northernmost city in the state- Peggy Page.
This guide is suitable for friends who don’t like crowds, like to take pictures, and like self-driving/free travel.
Number of people on this trip: 2 people.
Travel time: December 27, 2019 – December 30, 2019
Arizona ‘s popular natural scenery is almost concentrated in the north, including Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Monument Valley National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. For tourists who like to drive by themselves, this is undoubtedly good news. We can visit all the above-mentioned attractions together, and fully experience the original scenery of nature and the culture of Indians.
It was already 7 o’clock in the evening when we arrived in Page City. This is a city driven entirely by tourism. The city is not big, at best it is only the size of a county town, but the same street is crowded with various hotels and guesthouses. With its unique geographical advantages (Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and other attractions are all on the edge of the city), Page has attracted a group of tourists to choose here as their foothold.
Day 1
At 7:00 this morning, we arrived at the gate of a travel agency in Peggy, ready to set off for Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon is one of the most famous photography holy places in the world. It belongs to the Indian Navajo people, so any self-driving or other travel agencies are not allowed to enter Antelope Canyon. The entire Antelope Canyon is also divided into the Upper Antelope Canyon and the Lower Antelope Canyon. Generally, the travel agencies opened by Indians that can be found on the Internet go to the Upper Antelope Canyon.
The best viewing time for the Upper Antelope Canyon is from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. Once the sun passes directly above, the effect of light entering the Antelope Canyon will be greatly reduced, so please choose this time period if possible. Peggy There are many travel agencies opened by Indians, no matter which one can enter the Antelope Canyon, the ticket is 65 US dollars per person, but please be sure to look for the ones opened by Indians. (The reason why we had to buy tickets for 8 am was because it was booked too late and all the good time slots were sold out)
The number of people in a group will be about 15 people, and the viewing time will be about 30-45 minutes (excluding the time for driving to and from). It may be because the ” name well known, so the tourists who come here to watch it are really in an endless stream, which also caused the bad experience of the tour group. From the moment you enter the Antelope Canyon, the tour guide will continue to urge you to move forward. The most common sentence you hear is “move on!”, coupled with the changes in light every minute and every second, it can be said that you want to take satisfactory photos in this environment. It is even more difficult.
The experience of Antelope Canyon is hard to describe. Friends who come to play, please lower your expectations. Coming out of Antelope Canyon, we drove to another popular attraction on the edge of Page – Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bay was originally just a field attraction. After more and more tourists came, the government planned it as a permanent attraction (now Horseshoe Bay has set up a paid parking lot, 10 dollars per car).
There are also a lot of tourists here, but because the place is not too small, there will be no crowding. From the parking lot, you have to walk about 1 km on the mountain road before you can actually reach Horseshoe Bay. Many well-known photographers have also left works here. The majesty of Horseshoe Bay cannot be fully reflected through photos. I believe its visual shock to everyone will remain in everyone’s heart.
After staying in Horseshoe Bay for about 2 hours, we packed up our equipment and headed to Monument Valley. Monument Valley is located on the border of Arizona and Utah , about 100 meters from Page About 2.5 hours by car. This is where the ending scene of the movie “Forrest Gump” was filmed, and it is also known as one of the best viewing spots for watching the sunset in the United States. It was around 3:30 pm when we arrived at Monument Valley.
We were looking for the best location to watch and shoot Monument Valley. When the sunset was approaching, the sun was shining on the red rocks.
Just as we were preparing to return, we suddenly found that today’s moon phase and weather are very conducive to starry sky photography, so we decided to stay here for a few more hours, hoping to make up for the gap between the sky in Salt Lake City. Mirror of regret. After waiting for nearly 2 hours, the sky finally became dark, and the clear Milky Way visible to the naked eye, and the stars all over the sky are just above our heads, which seems to be within reach.
The night in Monument Valley was extremely cold, with the fierce cold wind constantly beating on the car door, and the temperature outside was once as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit. After filming was done, we retreated into the car to warm up and drove back to Page . It was already late at night when we returned to Peggy . After careful calculation, we spent more than 15 hours on the road today from the Antelope Canyon at 8 o’clock this morning to 11 o’clock in the evening.
Day 2
Today’s itinerary has only one attraction – the Grand Canyon National Park. Colorado Grand Canyon It was formed by the erosion of the Colorado River over millions of years and was listed as a World Heritage Site as early as 1979. The park is divided into two areas, the South Rim and the North Rim. It is recommended that you go to the South Rim, because most of the scenery is on the South Rim (another reason is that the North Rim will be closed in winter). There are 4 tourist routes in the Grand Canyon National Park in peak season, and 3 in winter. Two of them are self-driving routes, and the other is to take a bus tour in the park. Although it is winter, there are many vehicles in the park. The whole park is covered with thick snow, and the roads are also covered with thin ice. Everyone must pay attention to safety when driving.
Grand Canyon National Park is a great place to watch the sunrise and sunset. Unfortunately, because of the itinerary, we have no way to enjoy the sunrise or sunset in the Grand Canyon National Park. If you have enough time, it would be better to visit the Grand Canyon National Park in 2 days. Tips:
- If you want to visit Antelope Canyon, you must check the weather conditions in advance. Please choose to go when the sun is shining and there are no dark clouds. If it is raining, the scenery of Antelope Canyon will be much inferior.
- If you are starting from Peggy , it is recommended to enter from the east gate of Grand Canyon National Park and leave from the south gate. Grand Canyon National Park is one of the national parks in the United States, and can be entered with a national park annual pass. If it is a single ticket purchase, you can check it on the official website.
- The Grand Canyon National Park has its own hotel, but because the price is relatively expensive, it is not recommended for everyone to stay. You can choose to stay in Tusayan or Williams, a small town in the south of the national park.
