14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Sustainable Travel
Slot Canyon Pathway at Antelope Valley

Sustainable travel allows visitors to experience the wonders of nature without damaging it. It often sustains the culture surrounding the area. Slot canyons in the Navajo nation of Arizona not only preserves the magnificent rock formations, but through visitors it provides income for the Navajos to protect the formations and build infrastructure such as schools at a distance. My husband and I had always admired photographs of slot canyons and finally had an opportunity to travel to Page, Arizona. The labyrinths of rocks were even more beautiful than we had imagined with sunlight turning rock formations into hues of red, purple, yellow, and gray. Antelope Valley represents sustainable travel, because our visit allowed us to see the unusual rock formations without damaging them, provided income to keep them preserved and also income for the Navajo Nation to preserve its culture nearby.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2016
Date Uploaded: 11.2016
Photo Location: Page, Arizona, Arizona, United States of America
Copyright: © Ellen Fisher