Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon: Mini Road Trip Guide

Are you planning a trip from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon, or vice versa?!

This journey is one of the most popular routes in the American Southwest. From hiking the famous Narrows and Angels Landing in Zion to exploring the dreamy slot canyons of Antelope Canyon, there are so many epic adventures from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon.

I made the journey from Antelope Canyon to Zion National Park back in 2021 as part of an epic One Week National Parks Road Trip. This leg was the shortest and also one of my favorites of the whole road trip!

In this guide, I’ll answer all your burning questions about traveling from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon. I’ll cover a mini guide to both places, plus how to get between the two and what there is to see along the way!

So keep reading if you are planning a trip between Zion National Park and Antelope Canyon and looking for all the details!

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Traveling From Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon: Mini Road Trip Itinerary with Map!

How Far is Antelope Canyon from Zion National Park?

The distance between Antelope Canyon and Zion National Park is around 125 miles. By car, this journey should take you just under 2.5 hours to complete. As you can see on the map below, most of the trip is along U.S. Route 89, one of the most scenic roads in the USA! Here, it connects Arizona to Utah, where Antelope Canyon and Zion are, respectively.

If you’re driving from Zion to Antelope Canyon, you’ll start on Utah State Route 9. At the Mt. Carmel Junction, you’ll get on U.S. 89 and continue on from there into Arizona! After passing the Arizona border, Page and Antelope Canyon are just a short, 15-minute drive away!

Time Zones Between Antelope Canyon and Zion National Park

In addition to knowing the driving route, it’s very important to understand the time zone changes as you drive from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon. It’s a little convoluted, so bear with me!

In short, this drive from Zion to Antelope Canyon will take you from Mountain Standard Time to Arizona Standard Time. However, it’s a little more complicated than that!

The state of Arizona falls within Mountain Standard Time but does not observe Daylight Savings. So from approximately April through October every year (Daylight Savings Time), Arizona will be on Pacific Standard Time (PST) – the same as California and Nevada, because Arizona does not “spring forward” like the rest of the states on Mountain Standard Time.

To make it even more confusing, the Navajo Nation (in which part of Arizona falls) DOES observe Daylight Savings Time. So during these months, different parts of Arizona will be on different time zones… confused yet?!

Luckily, Antelope Canyon and Page, AZ do not fall within the geographical boundaries of the Navajo Nation, so the time in these areas will always follow the time of nearby cities like Phoenix and Flagstaff.

To summarize, during Daylight Savings Time, the area around Antelope Canyon will be on the same time as California and Nevada (Pacific Standard Time, PST). This means you will lose an hour driving from Zion to Antelope Canyon during Daylight Savings, and gain an hour if you drive from Antelope Canyon to Zion.

During non-Daylight Savings Time, (November – March), Arizona is on the same time as Utah and Zion, on Mountain Standard Time (MST). The time will not change as you drive from Zion to Antelope Canyon during this time of year!

Zion National Park Guide

To this day, Zion National Park is one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. Living in Florida my whole life means I am very impressed by mountains, and boy does Zion deliver!!

Things to Do in Zion

There are so many incredible activities to do in Zion National Park; it would be impossible to list them all! I’ll focus on the top 3 in this post, but if you’re looking for more info, you can check out my 3 Day Zion National Park Itinerary!

1. Hiking the Narrows

Easily the most popular activity in Zion National Park, hiking the Narrows should be at the TOP of your itinerary. I have never experienced something so unique as hiking in a river through massive slot canyons.

Even if you’re a beginner hiker (like me), I promise you can conquer this journey! In fact, I have a whole Beginner’s Guide to Hiking the Narrows to help you prepare for the hike. Depending on how far into the canyon you go, this hike could take up most of your day, so make sure to plan accordingly!

2. Hiking Angels Landing

Another famous hike in Zion National Park that I highly recommend is Angels Landing. This one is a bit more daunting than the Narrows, but totally worth it! However, if you are afraid of heights, you might want to sit this one out.

If you don’t know, Angels Landing is a 4.3-mile out-and-back trail that involves scaling the side of a mountain and holding onto chains along the way. Don’t worry though, it’s more exciting than scary. Again, I have a whole Beginner’s Guide to Hiking Angels Landing to help you prepare.

You can easily conquer this hike in a half day, leaving time for other activities during your visit to Zion!

3. Canyon Overlook Trail

Last but not least is the Canyon Overlook Trail in Zion National Park! If the first two options seemed a little intense for you, I promise this one won’t!

The Canyon Overlook Trail is a short, 1-mile trail on the east side of Zion. It’s suitable for all ages! We saw young children and elderly people on the trail while we were there. Plus, it’s relatively short and you are spoiled with some of the best views in the park.

In fact, I felt like the view from the Canyon Overlook were better than the views from Angels Landing! This is an extremely popular spot to the watch the sunset in Zion. I highly recommend squeezing this into your itinerary, even if you only have an hour or two to spare.

Where to Stay in Zion

Now that we’ve covered things to do in Zion, let’s talk about where you should stay! It’s important to know that there are extremely limited options for lodging inside the park. However, if convenience is most important to you, I highly recommend trying to stay within the park so you don’t have to worry about parking every morning.

There is only one hotel in the park, Zion Lodge, which can be pretty pricey and fills up extremely fast. If you want to stay here, you’ll typically need to book well over 6 months in advance.

The other two options for staying inside the park are both campgrounds: South and Watchman. Both require reservations ahead of time for the busy months and also book up fast!

While these options are great, you might not be able to snag a place to stay inside the park. Enter Springdale, Utah! Springdale is the small town right outside of Zion National Park. When we visited, we stayed at Zion Canyon Campground which was perfect for our needs and very close to the park entrance!

There are tons of hotel and campground options in Springdale to choose from. In general, the closer to the park you are, the more expensive it will be!

Looking for more tips? Make sure to check out my list of 10 Things to Know Before Visiting Zion National Park!

The Drive from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon

Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about Zion National Park, let’s focus on the actual drive from Zion to Antelope Canyon. As mentioned above, this route takes just under 2.5 hours to complete and is extremely scenic.

Personally, we drove this route straight through, as we had an action-packed day at Antelope Canyon and wanted to get to our campsite in Zion before dark. However, there are plenty of places to stop along the way, so I will highlight a few of those below!

Kanab: The Wave and Peek-A-Boo Canyon

As you make the drive from Zion to Antelope Canyon, one of the largest towns you will pass through is Kanab. Kanab is almost a halfway point between these two spots; it’ll take you about an hour to reach Kanab from Zion!

And as it turns out, there’s a good amount of things to do in and around Kanab! One of the most famous things to do in the area is hike the legendary Wave. If you haven’t heard of it, the Wave is a 6-mile round trip hike in the Coyote Buttes North area of the Utah-Arizona border.

It’s famous for its beautiful, natural wave pattern that makes photographers flock to it! However, you will need to obtain a permit to visit The Wave, and only 64 people per day are allowed in the area. So, it’s pretty hard to visit!

Aside from The Wave, Kanab is also home to a famous slot canyon called Peek-A-Boo Canyon or Red Canyon. It’s an easy, short hike (less than a mile!) into the canyon, and its beauty rivals that of Antelope Canyon! Unlike Antelope Canyon, however, you can visit here without a guide. You will need a 4×4 vehicle to reach it though!

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

One of the most epic places to stop between Zion and Antelope Canyon is at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Why? You can go sand boarding and ATV’ing down the dunes!!!

Coral Pink Sand Dunes is located about 30 minutes outside of Kanab, so just slightly out of the way if you are driving from Zion to Antelope Canyon. The cost to enter is $15 per vehicle.

The most popular activities to do in the park are sand boarding, sledding, and ATV’ing. However, you can also just go hiking if these don’t interest you!

Horseshoe Bend

Last but not least, Horseshoe Bend is a must-see stop on your drive from Zion National Park to Antelope Canyon. Located 5 minutes south of Antelope Canyon and Page, I highly recommend planning to visit at sunset for the best views.

Horseshoe Bend costs $10 per vehicle to enter. The best part? There is no strenuous hike required here! Just a casual, 10-minute walk to some of the most incredible views you’ll ever see! It’s very kid (and pet!) friendly.

Antelope Canyon Guide

Welcome to Antelope Canyon! Antelope Canyon is located just outside the town of Page, Arizona. Most people stay in Page for at least one night, as there are a few different must-do activities in the area! In fact, there are even different ways to access Antelope Canyon itself, which I will cover below!

Things to Do Near Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon Walking Tours

Obviously the most popular thing to do in the area is visit Antelope Canyon! There are actually two different parts of Antelope Canyon: Lower Antelope Canyon and Upper Antelope Canyon.

Upper Antelope Canyon tends to be more popular, due to the shape of the slot canyons and the way they capture the light. Most photographers flock to Upper Canyon, but we actually visited the Lower Canyon! It was still stunningly beautiful. Plus, Upper Canyon tends to sell out in busy months!

It’s important to know that both Upper and Lower Canyon require you to book a guided tour. Tours are run by the Navajo Nation, and you cannot enter the main canyons without a guide. There are a handful of different tour operators for Upper Canyon. There are only two for Lower Canyon: Ken’s Tours and Dixie’s Tours. They are right next to each other and take turns going into the canyon!

The most basic tours typically last an hour and cost around $60. Of course, there are longer tour options as well! All tours typically limit the group size and enter the canyon in set intervals so it does not get too crowded. No matter which tour you choose, I highly recommend booking in advance!

Kayaking to Antelope Canyon

If you don’t want to do the walking tour, or are just looking for something else to do in the area, you can also kayak to Antelope Canyon! This became a very popular activity during Covid when the walking tours were temporarily shut down by the Navajo Nation.

I have a full guide on How to Kayak to Antelope Canyon, but I’ll give a quick overview here! The adventure starts on Lake Powell. There are many different places around Lake Powell to rent kayaks, but I recommend booking in advance if possible.

From the marinas, it’s a 2.5-mile kayak to reach the entrance to the canyon! You will reach a small beach where you can park your kayak and get out to start your hike. The canyon walls will start far apart but eventually narrow into gorgeous slot canyons!

The hike into the slot canyons is about 2 miles round trip. This, plus the kayaking, makes for a very long day, so make sure to bring plenty of water and snacks!

Water Adventures on Lake Powell

If you don’t want to kayak all the way to Antelope Canyon, there are plenty of other fun activities to try on Lake Powell. In fact, Lake Powell is a very popular summer destinations for families from all around the USA!

On Lake Powell, you can rent a boat and cruise around. You can also go jet skiing or water skiing! There’s tons of things to do here.

If you’re looking to just relax, another great option is to take a half-day float tour down the Colorado River nearby.

Where to Stay Near Antelope Canyon

In terms of where to stay near Antelope Canyon, you have a few options!

Camping is very popular in this area, and there are some incredible campgrounds right on Lake Powell. We stayed at Wahweap Campground, and there’s also Bullfrog Campground and Page Lake Powell Campground nearby!

If you’re not interested in camping, there are some major hotel chains in the town of Page. This includes a Country Inn & Suites, Hyatt Place, Hampton Inn & Suites, and La Quinta Inn & Suites.

For those that want to avoid chains, Lake Powell Resort is located right on the lake!

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there is so much to see and do between Zion and Antelope Canyon! From hiking the Narrows in Zion to wandering the slot canyons of Antelope to sand boarding down the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, this road trip is one for the books. I highly recommend spending a few days between the two places to enjoy as much as possible!

If you’re looking to visit the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon National Park in addition to Zion and Antelope Canyon, make sure to check out my Ultimate One Week National Parks Itinerary!

Don’t forget to pin this post for future planning!