Waterholes Slot Canyon: This is a lovely slot canyon fairly near Antelope Canyon that has a fraction of the visitors. Whereas both upper and lower Antelope Canyon tend to be packed with visitors, Water Holes has very few visitors. You will meet few people. It is located about 7 miles south of Page, AZ on Hwy. 89. You will see a sign for Waterholes Canyon Bridge and there is parking on the east side of the road just before the bridge. This canyon is on Navajo land and you need to get a permit . The best place to acquire the permit is at the Tribal Parks Office next to the Leche-e Chapter House, 3 miles south of Page along the Copper Mine Road; it can be purchased at the office on the day of the visit, or in advance by postal applications (see www.navajonationparks.org/permits.htm).

While the canyon extends on both sides of the bridge, only the east side is open to unaccompanied hikers. This is a very easy, short hike. I only went as far as the ladder as I was hiking alone and ladder (pictured) did not seem that stable. I talked to people who did go further so you may want to.

The first photo shown is one taken from the top immediately east of the bridge. It is very deep there with no path down. There is a path along the top for a ways and then it takes you down into the slot. The second photo shows a cairn that marks the actual entrance/exit to the slot. There are some very interesting rock formations along the path on top so you may want to watch for them.

Snake - you will see a photo of a white and brown snake. This little guy was clinging to the vertical sandstone wall. Just seemed to be resting there. Have no idea how he was hanging on or what kind of snake it was. It was not afraid of me and moved very little.