There are other equally short but pretty narrows further upstream, though these are not open to visitors. Pictures taken here adorn camera shops and photographic manuals throughout the world, and usually there will be many people waiting with tripods and light meters trying to compose the perfect shot, and grumbling when other people walk in front of their two minute exposure. It may take only 3 or 4 minutes to walk through, but the canyon is well worth the arduous trek or expensive journey required to get there. After only 150 yards or so, the canyon becomes suddenly much shallower near the top of the plateau. Some sections of the canyon are wide and bright, while others are narrower and more cave-like, with no light reaching the sandy floor.

The sunlight filtering down the curved sandstone walls makes magical, constantly changing patterns and shadows in many subtle shades of color. Once inside, the temperature drops as much as 20 degrees as the visitor enters one of the most beautiful of all natural formations. The trail seems to end at the base of a red sandstone plateau about 20 yards high, but the sight of an Indian jewelry stall soon indicates its position - the entrance is a narrow curved slit in the cliffs only a few feet wide. When approaching upper Antelope Canyon, there is no obvious clue as to its location.