Love Antelope Canyon? These 6 Nearby Hikes Might Be Even More Epic
The area around Page, Arizona is just delightful. This region right along the Utah-Arizona border is filled with rich, red rocks, tall mesas, and deep canyons. Antelope Canyon is certainly the most famous of the “attractions” in this area, full of curving, undulating walls and shafts of light.
You have Lake Powell nearby, as well as the Colorado River, which cuts through the rock as it heads into the Grand Canyon.
This area really feels special – like what you would imagine in a stereotypical “Wild West” film. Suffice it to say, I truly loved every second of our two trips exploring the area around Page, and I can’t wait to go back.
While Antelope Canyon is an incredibly popular and gorgeous canyon hike in this area, there are truly so many other beautiful areas to be hiked and explored. In this article, I’m sharing 6 spectacular hikes near Page, Arizona that absolutely need to be on your bucket list!
6 Incredible Hikes Near Page You Need to Experience
1. Cathedral Wash Slot Canyon
Of the 6 hikes on this list, Cathedral Wash was probably my favorite and is one of my absolute favorite slot canyons in the southwest – the canyon is insane and the endpoint at the river is gorgeous!
Cathedral Wash Canyon is also in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and is just down the road from Spencer Trail, making it approximately 1 hour from Page.
While many slot canyons have walls with curves and “undulations,”, Cathedral Gorge is full of texture, layers, and jutouts. The farther you hike, the canyon gets narrower and the walls get higher, and the rock layers become more dramatic.
The first half of the canyon is extremely easy, as you’re just walking on a relatively level dirt/sand path. But about halfway through, you come to a massive drop down!
It appears impassable at first, but there is a way to safely scramble down the layers of rock on the cliff – which was extremely fun. After the first big drop, the walls get even more textured, with many layers of different rocks and patterns of erosion creating tons of texture and unevenness in the walls.
For the rest of the hike, you’ll have several more small drops to navigate down, and you’ll have to hike between layers sometimes – sometimes hiking through the very lowest area, sometimes hiking on the next layer of rock up.
The last part of the trail you’ll scramble over a lot of big boulders until you come all the way to the Colorado River! This area by the river is so pretty and so peaceful – you can go sit by the rocks at the shore, and admire the tall red cliffs that line the river nearby and the green water that’s rushing by.
While I did this hike with just adults, I do think that my kids (12, 10, 8, 6) could handle it, though they would probably need some help in a few places.
Cost: $30 to enter Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, valid for 7 days, or you can use your National Parks Pass (America the Beautiful Pass).
Trail Stats:
- Distance: 3.3 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 387 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
2. Wire Pass Slot Canyon to Buckskin Gulch
Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch is a super cool slot canyon hike in a remote area of southern Utah, and is one of my favorite hikes in Utah that’s not in a national park. You can get here in just 55 minutes from Page. You will hike through the shorter Wirepass Trail, which then merges with Buckskin Gulch.
At 16 miles long, Buckskin Gulch is one of the longest slot canyons in the world, but most people who do this hike just hike several miles in and then turn around and hike back out.
The trail to Wire Pass starts out with you walking in a sandy wash for 1.5 miles. It’s an easy hike, although you are walking through some sand. Then you finally arrive at the slot canyon! The canyon walls quickly rise high up right next to you, and the trail is only a few feet wide.
Overall, the trail is pretty easy – it’s flat and wide enough that you can easily walk through without needing to turn sideways. In some areas, there is enough space for multiple people to walk side by side.
The slot canyon section of Wire Pass ends after about 0.5 miles (so, 2 miles total from the trailhead). The canyon opens up a little bit as Wire Pass makes a T with Buckskin Gulch. There’s an arch in the canyon wall here, and you can continue down Buckskin Gulch by heading right.
The walls are tall and sheer and have all sorts of pretty undulations in them. Each turn around the corner presents you with another gorgeous view. The canyon is several degrees cooler than the outside air temperature, and there is a lot of shade.
We hiked during February and were able to continue in the canyon for 2.5 miles before we ran into deep water, and then had to turn around. However, Buckskin Gulch does continue all the way to the Colorado River, and you can hike through miles and miles of it for a multi-day adventure.
Fees: There is a $6 per person (or dog) permit fee, I’d recommend you pay it online before you go.
3. Antelope Canyon Via Lake Powell
Okay, so I know the title of this post is hikes NOT including Antelope Canyon, but this hike I’m talking about is not the Antelope Canyon you’re thinking of!
There is actually a “secret” Antelope Canyon that is only accessible from the waters of Lake Powell. You’ll need to rent or bring your own kayak, paddleboard, or jetski, and enter Antelope Creek, which is a small offshoot of Lake Powell just a mile away from Antelope Point Marina.
You’ll kayak through the creek for about a mile, until the water stops, and leave your kayak or paddleboard at the “shore” and then start hiking through the slot canyon. The walls are a gorgeous orange, with plenty of curves and striations.
Sometimes the walls are quite tall and narrow, other times the canyon opens up a bit, but it’s always absolutely gorgeous.
Now, to be completely forthright, this is NOT the exact same hike as the popular Antelope Canyon. This section of canyon is completely separate from the tour-only area, and you aren’t going to get the same kinds of shafts of light beaming through the slot canyon like you would on the guided tour.
However, it is much, much, much emptier than the tour-only Antelope Canyon, and kayaking through the narrow Antelope Canyon from Lake Powell is extremely fun and adventurous!
4. Spencer Trail from Lee’s Ferry
Spencer Trail is a difficult, yet rewarding trail in the Lee’s Ferry area of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. While the trail is barely 5 miles from Horseshoe Bend as the crow flies, it actually takes about an hour to drive here from Page.
The trail starts on the opposite side of the river from Page, so you have to drive farther south to cross the river, and then head back north to reach the trailhead. It’s totally worth it, though, as the views from this trail are incredible.
Spencer Trail takes you from the riverbed of the Colorado River to the top of the mesa cliff that lines the river. At the top, you can see Horseshoe Bend (the viewpoint of Horseshoe Bend is on the opposite side of the river), and other sections of the gorge as the Colorado River weaves through the canyon.
This is an incredibly tough hike, as almost the entire trail is a steep upward climb (only a few parts are relatively flat, or have a softer incline). The trail is also very rocky in many parts, and the whole mountainside is littered with rocks and boulders.
The trail is completely in the sun and there is zero shade, and the reflection of the sun off the red rocks just makes the heat and light even more intense.
This is definitely one to bring plenty of water, and I would not hike it during the middle of the day in the summer. I would either hike in the off-season or shoulder season, or hike early early in the morning during summertime. We hiked in February and the weather was perfect.
As you hike, you get beautiful views of the Colorado River winding through the canyon, and when you get to the top, you can cross over the top of the mesa and see more of the river and tall canyon walls. It’s an incredible view!
Cost: $30 to enter Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, valid for 7 days, or you can use your National Parks Pass (America the Beautiful Pass) here
Trail Stats:
- Distance: 3.8 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 1614 feet
- Difficulty: Strenuous
5. The Toadstool Hoodoos
The Toadstool Hoodoos is similar to Goblin Valley (farther north in Utah) and is a collection of shorter hoodoos in a small valley that you can explore. A major difference, however, is that many of these hoodoos are multi-colored, often resembling mushrooms with their caps.
You’ll find brown on white, red on brown, and a few other color combinations. There aren’t nearly as many as in Goblin Valley, but it’s a cool area to explore, and it doesn’t take much time; it also features some cool vistas.
Go to the west (left side) to see a large area of active formation and the best views of the surrounding area.
Note: Don’t climb on the toadstools as they are extremely fragile and will break easily.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Length: 1.2 miles round trip
- Elevation: ~100 ft
6. Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend is one of the most famous and popular hikes to do near Page – it’s only 8 minutes away from the town. The walk out to the viewpoint is 1.5 miles round trip on a packed dirt trail, and is very easy.
When you reach the end of the trail, you are rewarded with this absolutely spectacular view of the Colorado River making a dramatic, “horseshoe” turn around the tall red-orange canyon rocks.
This area is kind of a “precursor” to the Grand Canyon, as the Colorado River is the river that cuts through the Grand Canyon and is responsible for the erosion that created those insane gorges and gullies. (In fact, adding on a visit to the Grand Canyon is a great idea when visiting Page, but that’s not something we’ll get into on this post).
The official viewpoint with the railing does get pretty packed, but there is a long ledge along the rim that you can spread out on, explore, and use for a photo-op.
Cost: $10 parking fee per vehicle
Final Thoughts on Best Hikes Near Page, AZ
Visiting Page, Arizona can be its own trip, or it’s also easily combinable with trips to Monument Valley or the similar but highly underrated Valley of the Gods, hike to the gorgeous Lower Calf Creek Falls, stop by Natural Bridges National Monument, see the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, stand in four states at once at Four Corners Monument, or even hit bucket list national parks like Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
Hiking in this part of Arizona (and southern Utah) gives you unmatched scenery and an incredible experience exploring a lesser-known area of the Southwest. If you love the outdoors, cool rocks, and fun hiking experiences, you will love these incredible hikes near Page.
