The Stunning Corkscrew Walls of Antelope Canyon in Arizona, USA

Antelope Canyon, located just outside of Page, Arizona, is without a doubt one of the most beautiful, mesmerizing, photogenic, and unique places on earth. 

It's what is called a “slot canyon”, a narrow canyon formed by water rushing through rock. These canyons are much deeper than they are wide - i.e., it may be 100 ft to the bottom, but less than 3 ft across at the top. These measurements can make slot canyons exceptionally dangerous to be in if you are caught in an unfortunate deluge or flash flood - especially since such flash floods can originate miles away on a day when the canyon itself receives little or no rain and can come crushing in without warning, as it did when it killed 11 tourists in 1997 - but the strangely narrow, twisted landscaping that makes them so potentially dangerous is also what makes them so unique and beautiful. 

Slot canyons can be found in many different parts of the world, especially in areas that don’t get a lot of rain, like Arizona in the American Southwest, where Antelope Canyon is located. 

“Antelope Canyon” actually refers to two separate slot canyons, referred to as “Upper” and “Lower”. Although they share the Antelope Canyon name, they are actually a few miles apart and are geologically (and photographically) quite different.

Upper Antelope Canyon is more enclosed at the top. It is the more popular of the two canyons because this enclosure allows for more of the famous tracts of sunlight that shine through the top of the canyon in a laser beam of light at certain times of the day. It is also accessible from ground level and requires no climbing, another perk to many tourists. In Navajo the Upper Canyon is called Tsé bighánílíní: "the place where water runs through rocks".

Lower Antelope Canyon is more open at the top (though still quite narrow most places), allowing for a much different experience of the corkscrew walls of the canyon as the light from above penetrates the slot canyon and hugs the swirls of the rocks. It is accessed from a series of stairs - sometimes quite narrow and steep - to get both in and out. In Navajo, the Lower Canyon is called Hazdistazí: "spiral rock arches". 

Antelope Canyon isn't usually on the beaten path of a trip through America or even the American Southwest. But it certainly deserves to be.