Your day will get off to a rolling start, in more ways than one, at Chief Tsosie’s Upper Antelope Slot Canyon Tours. Custom-built touring vehicles designed for passenger comfort, yet tough enough to handle rugged desert terrain, will transport you to Navajo Indian Tribal Lands and a short but memorable off-road adventure. Upon disembarking from your tour vehicle, you are right at the mouth of Upper Antelope Canyon, where Native guides are ready to welcome you to one of the crown jewels of their ancestral lands. Upper Antelope Canyon is an example of a slot canyon, a narrow, convoluted formation carved out of sandstone by rushing flood waters, whose walls were then buffed into a smooth, striated finish by blowing sand. As you pass through its chambers, the light constantly changes color and intensity as the sun passes overhead. So many different hues of beige, tan, orange, brown, red, even occasional glimpses of pink and purple, flash before your eyes, it would be impossible for even Pantone to name them all! Now you get why photos of this American Southwest icon have sold for seven figure sums on the fine art auction scene. Your Navajo guide will advise you on how to take good photos in this challenging environment, even with your camera phone.

After about an hour exploring Upper Antelope Canyon, you’ll reboard your touring cruiser for the short ride back to Page, AZ, where you’ll receive directions to the Page Municipal Airport. Here is where things get really interesting, as a state of the art Eco-Star EC130 helicopter is standing by for your family to climb aboard. As you lift off from the tarmac, your comprehension of the size, scope, and beauty of the surrounding landscape immediately increases. Astounding views are quite literally all around you! Your helicopter’s oversize windows and all-forward facing make it easy to enjoy the views of Lake Powell, the Glen Canyon Dam, Padre Bay, Lone Rock, and Horseshoe Bend, a 270° incised meander in the Colorado River that is nearly perfect in its symmetry. In the cabin of your helicopter, built with quiet aircraft technology, you can get a better sense of how and where Horseshoe Bend fits into the surrounding landscape of Glen Canyon, and the Colorado Plateau, without sharing the view with the crowds on the ground.

Following a pass over Horseshoe Bend, your trained pilot turns your helicopter East over Lake Powell. Soon, a formation resembling a smaller version of Wyoming’s Devil’s Tower catches your eye, and you are about to have a close encounter of the best kind: landing on the summit! You’ll be blown away by the 360° view that is literally laid at your feet: the sapphire blue waters of Lake Powell, the sandstone bluffs and escarpments of Glen Canyon, Navajo Mountain, the Vermillion Cliffs, the Kaiparowitz Plateau, and so much more. This spectacular adventure has been made possible by the Navajo Tribe, on whose lands Tower Butte is situated. As you re-board your helicopter for the return flight to Page, AZ, keep your cameras handy as the view going back is just as incredible as the one you had flying to Tower Butte.

If you ever wanted to treat your family to an experience they’ll be talking about for the rest of their lives, the Upper Antelope Ground, Horseshoe Bend Air, and Tower Butte Landing Tour is the way to go! Seating is limited, so book your spaces today.