Day trip to Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope Canyon

I like posting a blog every once in a while when I achieve an item off my bucket list because a lot of my brides come to Scottsdale for a destination wedding and are curious about things to do around here for fun. Today’s post about Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend is sure to make you excited about an adventurous day trip to Northern Arizona to behold its natural beauty.

The reason I’m combining these two Insta-worthy locations is that they are only about 5 minutes apart from each other and make an easy day trip from Phoenix.  We left around 8:30 in the morning and were able to make it back to Phoenix around 8 pm, but if you’ve never been I’d recommend spending the night and visiting the Grand Canyon the next day, which is so close by!

Horseshoe Bend is a little bit under a mile treck from the parking lot. It is buzzing with people taking selfies above the famous loop and you can walk in a semi-circle above the loop. My best advice here is to be patient and wait for a good spot to stop and take your picture with the iconic bend behind you. It is pretty spectacular, but you don’t need to spend a ton of time here. We gave ourselves an hour to hike in, enjoy, and hike out.

About 5-10 minutes away was Antelope Canyon. We opted for the lower canyon, but have heard great things about upper, too. We liked that the lower canyon was longer but ultimately went with it because upper was sold out that weekend. Our tour guide was hilarious and the second we took the stairs down into the canyon, we were speechless. It is hands down one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and I couldn’t believe how different each part of the canyon was. With every turn of the corner, there was something different to be enjoyed and I cannot say enough good things about our experience.  The pictures below really don’t do the slot canyon justice, but they keep some memories from our trip.