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Have you ever been to or heard of Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona? It is known for its breathtaking reddish sandstone walls. This place has been in many famous photographs. Now, you can do a Via Ferrata in a very similar canyon! Just 5 miles from Antelope Canyon is the home of the one and only Via Ferrata in a slot canyon, Antelope Ridge Adventure Park. With the same enchanting smooth sandstone walls, but at Antelope Ridge, you’ll get to rappel into and traverse the tight slot canyon using metal cables and rungs. It’s as beautiful as Antelope Canyon but much more fun!
Via Ferrata is Italian for “iron path.” This refers to a fixed route that combines rock climbing and hiking using metal rungs, cables, ladders, etc. to access terrain that is normally impossible to access. All the Via Ferrata routes so far are used to access tall cliffs and mountains. Antelope Ridge is the first Via Ferrata ever to cross along the skinny slot canyon. Since the section of the slot canyon is very narrow, you can’t walk on the bottom of it like you would for Antelope Canyon. Therefore, the metal rungs, steps, and cables are installed so you can traverse across. The whole adventure takes about 2 hours, featuring 3 rappels, 300 ft of Via Ferrata, and many beautiful sections of standard slot canyons.
Antelope Ridge Adventure Park in Page, Arizona is the only company in the world that runs a Via Ferrata inside a slot canyon. To book with them, check out their website or call them at 928-660-2217.
To get to Antelope Ridge Adventure Park, when traveling south from Page on Coppermine Rd./N20, you will turn left (east) across from the Lechee Chapter House. When you turn off from the highway, you will follow the dirt road to the top of the hill to the parking area.
At the time of this article, it is $130/adult to do the Via Ferrata in the slot canyon. $120 for children under 15 years old.
The Via Ferrata in the slot canyon takes about 2 hours. That being said, your guide won’t rush you. That’s what we love about this tour. Our guide, Blake, was very patient with us. He let us take our time to experience the whole course.
This Via Ferrata is located inside private property so you cannot do this by yourself. You will need a guide through Antelope Ridge Adventure Park.
Since this is a guided tour, you’ll be accompanied by an experienced guide. Besides that, all the safety gear that you need such as helmets, gloves, harnesses, rappel devices, and safety lanyards are all included.
Having experienced this Via Ferrata through the slot canyon with Antelope Ridge Adventure Park firsthand, we can tell you that it is completely safe. On the difficult sections, you’ll be hooked onto the metal cable the entire time, using the certified Via Ferrata lanyards. The metal rungs and cables are designed and built by engineers that have responsible for building many other Via Ferrata routes around the country. The rappel is equipped with a traditional rappelling rope, backed up with an auto-belay system, just like what you would see in a rock climbing gym. So, it is completely safe and even for someone without any prior experience.
For a Via Ferrata, it is not considered difficult. It is a lot easier than Ouray Via Ferrata Downstream. However, you will need to be in decent shape to participate in this. There are short hiking sections with climbing and of course rappelling. The tallest rappel of the tour is about 60ft. Therefore, you’ll need to be comfortable with heights. Besides that, you’ll also need to be comfortable with narrow passages. Since it is a slot canyon, several sections are very narrow, about a few feet apart. If you’re not sure if you could fit in, you can always call the Adventure Park to ask them.
That being said, we didn’t find the route super challenging or too narrow. Most of the time, we were too enchanted by the scenery to worry about anything else. Physically, if you can climb the ladder and hike.
Hiking Shoes: We recommend wearing hiking shoes with good traction. You’ll need them to move around safely in the canyon
Clothing: Since sections of the canyon are very narrow, you might want to wear long sleeves and pants so you won’t get scraped. We also recommend wearing something lightweight, breathable, and easy to move in. On colder days, it’s best to wear layers, that way, you can take it off if it gets too hot moving around. Another thing we recommend is to wear clothes that have zippered pockets. This way, you can store your snacks or small items without dropping them. Dustin and I both wore our Kuhl’s pants, and they are super comfortable and they have zippered pockets. For Vy’s pants, click here. For Dustin’s pants, click here. I also wore my packable Patagonia jacket in the canyon. It is warm, yet lightweight and not constricted.
What you CANNOT bring: Since the canyon is very narrow, you CANNOT carry any type of bag, backpack, camera, water bottle, etc. This is due to the risk of dropping them where they can’t be retrieved. Water can be carried if your bottle can be attached to a carabiner. If you want to bring a cell phone in, you might do so at your own risk. Your phone needs to be secured by a lanyard or a tether that is unobtrusive to the safety gear.
We arrived at Antelope Ridge Adventure Park about 30 minutes before the start of our adventure. There, we met with Nicole and Theo, the owners of the Antelope Ridge Adventure Park. It was fascinating talking to Theo about how this Via Ferrata slot canyon came about. This canyon was Theo’s childhood playground. Now, we get to experience it for ourselves.
After gearing up, our team of 5 followed Blake, our awesome guide, to start our adventure. It begins with a short hike to the edge of the canyon and our first rappel of the day. This rappel started on a metal platform where Blake went over what and how we should rappel. It’s interesting because most of the group, except for Megan, are canyoneers. Therefore, we are very familiar and comfortable with rappelling. Megan, on the other hand, had never rappeled before. So, we were very interested in how she would do it. To our amazement, she handled it like a boss. And she even volunteered to go first!
If this is your first time rappelling, it can be very intimidating, especially that first step over the edge. It’s more of that fear in your head, however, the way the park rigged their gear is completely safe. As we mentioned above, the rappel is backed up by an auto-belay system, like what they use in the climbing gym. Even without having to do anything, this auto-belay will catch you and slowly lower you down to the bottom.
Immediately after the first rappel, we reached a very short clip-in section to get onto the platform for our second rappel. This rappel is our favorite because you get to rappel through a window. It can get a bit tricky but nothing too difficult. Blake was very good at guiding us through the process.
After the second rappel, we crawled through a narrow section of the slot canyon before reaching our main objective of the day, the Via Ferrata in the slot canyon. Throughout the whole way, we couldn’t help but stop to take photos. It was so beautiful. And we weren’t even to the main section yet.
It is hard to find words to describe how exciting and beautiful this main section of the Slot Canyon is. This main Via Ferrata Section snakes in between the narrow canyon walls. These canyon walls have a reddish hue, with a smooth texture. They have the same famous characteristics as the walls in Antelope Canyon. These walls bend and curve, creating an enchanting, surreal landscape. It is something that you’ll have to see in person to really appreciate.
Since the canyon walls are very narrow, we’re actually traversing along the middle of the canyon walls instead of on the canyon floor like in Antelope Canyon. It was interesting looking down the narrow gap below the metal rungs. The darkness seemed to go on forever at certain parts. We had no idea how deep this canyon was.
The metal rungs are very well placed. Wherever we needed one, we found it. My only issue was that I was so engrossed in how beautiful the canyon walls were that I sometimes forgot to clip on to the next cable section before moving on. So, I had to go back and reclip. Several parts of the canyon get quite narrow. I didn’t have any problem, but Dustin barely made it through. We could see why they don’t allow bags and such here.
Along a long traverse, we came to a couple of short downclimbs. This section is one of my favorites. The formations are so fascinating. They remind me of the sea shells stacking up together. Don’t forget to look up when you’re here. The way the canyon walls swirled and danced against the blue sky is just magnificent.
After the downclimb, we came to a couple of slot canyons. One of them is very dark and narrow. It gets pitch-black in there. If you’re uncomfortable in the dark, you can bring a headlight. We brought a headlight for videos but honestly, you won’t need it. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness quickly. And there is some novelty about crossing through this section in the dark.
The dark section doesn’t last that long. The canyon quickly opens back up with light. And soon, we came to our last rappel of the tour.
The Last Rappel is also the tallest one, about 60 ft. Like the first rappel, this one is also straightforward. The height can be a little intimidating for beginners but it wasn’t that bad.
This last rappel marks the end of our main course. However, our adventure hasn’t finished yet. We still have to get out of the canyon. What we love about this canyon is that the exit is also very beautiful. Even though we were done with the tight slot canyons, we were still treated to gorgeous sandstone walls and interesting rock formations.
There were a few more cable sections where we needed to clip in to climb out of the canyon. It is nothing technical. The cable is there to keep us safe from slipping. Even though the exit wasn’t anything difficult, we were all huffing and puffing because of the small elevation gain and the temperature. The slot canyon itself is nice and cool but the exit is in full sun. So, it gets quite warm.
This was such an awesome adventure! We LOVED every minute of it. Although we’ve done Antelope Canyon before but there is something a lot more exciting about being able to rappel and climb inside these slot canyons. And the scenery is just as spectacular if not better. We were able to immerse ourselves here instead of feeling like we were being rushed when we visited Antelope Canyon. And it was easy enough that we’re excited to take Vy’s sister back. She’s a “normal” person, not an adrenaline addict like us at all. We have a feeling that she would love it!
If you want to step up on your Via Ferrata game, we recommend Gold Mountain in Ouray, CO. They have amazing routes and guides. Or go do Down Stream Ouray Via Ferrata! Both are awesome! If you’re staying in Page, don’t forget to check out some of our favorite places such as Buckskin Gulch, Toadstool Hoodoos, or White Pocket!
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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