48.3

Carved through iron rich Navajo Sandstone, Antelope Canyon is one the many slot canyons of the Colorado Plateau sculpted by flash floods during the monsoon season of late summer. Though these slot canyons are carved into many different geological layers of sandstone and limestone, it is the Navajo Sandstone, formed from the petrified sand dunes of a large Jurassic desert similar to the Sahara Desert of today, that often become the richest canvas for the flash floods to carve their masterpieces through.

The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tse' bighanilini, which means "the place where water runs through rocks." It is one of the largest attractions for those traveling through the Glen Canyon area, especially during mid-day when the summer light of the afternoon streams straight down into the canyon through the narrow opening at the top of the canyon that act like a lens, which focuses beams of etherial light into the cavern below.