The Wave

In the Coyote Buttes of northern Arizona, on the border with Utah, the Navajo Sandstone has been eroded into a pair of intersecting troughs whose walls are banded in red, orange, pink and cream. The stripes curve and swirl around the walls like frozen surf, and walking through them feels like stepping into a sculpture. The Wave is one of the most photographed rock formations in the American Southwest, and one of the hardest to reach.

The stripes record ancient history. The Navajo Sandstone formed from sand dunes of the Jurassic period, and its fine alternating layers are traces of how the dunes grew, grain by grain, under the wind. Wind and occasional water then carved U-shaped channels through the rock, cutting across the layers and exposing them in sweeping lines. After rain, pools form in the hollows and can briefly fill with tiny tadpole shrimp. Nearby is the Second Wave, with fainter colouring.

The Wave lies within the Paria Canyon–Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and to protect the fragile sandstone the number of daily visitors is strictly limited. Most permits are allocated by an online lottery months in advance, with a smaller number through a daily lottery close to the site. There is no marked trail: hikers cross about three miles of open desert, slickrock and sand from the trailhead, making a round trip of around six miles.

Getting there

The usual start is the Wire Pass Trailhead on the unpaved House Rock Valley Road, about 8 miles south of U.S. Route 89 between Kanab, Utah, and Page, Arizona. The nearest airport is Page Municipal Airport (PGA), about 50 km away; the nearest larger city in the directory is Cedar City, Utah, about 120 km away.