#HikingTheWave

We hiked to The Wave! It is an amazing sandstone rock formation located on the very Northern edge of Arizona on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.

With the growth of social media, this natural wonder has become well known amongst hikers, photographers and even social media influencers for its colorful and unique shapes.

Due to the fragile nature of the formation and it's popularity, the number of people who are allowed to visit is restricted to 20 people a day.

A daily lottery system is used to select the 20 people who will receive a permit. Ten permits are issued via the online lottery system, which occurs four months in advance, and ten permits are issued via the in-person lottery, which occurs the day before.

We tried the online lottery for about nine months across 2018 & 2019 with no luck. At any given time, there were up to 500-600 people submitting for each day of the month. It’s a non-refundable $5 fee to enter each month, and you get to choose 3 dates.

In October 2019, we started attending the in-person lottery. Each day, at 8:30 AM, everyone starts to arrive at the BLM Office in Kanab, Utah (745 East Highway 89 Kanab, UT 84741). You fill out your form, indicating how many people (you’re only allowed up to 6), and how many dogs (yep, they are allowed) will be hiking with you. You’re assigned a number and then you WAIT!

At 9 AM, once everyone has arrived, and filled out their forms, the drawing starts. There are only 10 spots available per day, so if a group of 6 people is drawn…now there are only 4 spots left. If they fill 9 of the spots, and draw a group of 2, they will let 11 people go, but if they draw any groups larger than that, that group has to pick the 1 lucky person who gets to go.

In October 2019, there were about 150-170 people (about 70 groups) trying for those 10 spots. We didn’t win…but it got us excited and showed us our chances of winning were much higher in-person, than online.

When we planned our most recent trip to Kanab, Utah in February, we knew that trying the in-person Wave lottery was going to be a must! In the winter months (mid-November to mid-March), the in-person lottery for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is drawn on Friday morning. We headed to Kanab on Thursday, to have a chance at 3 days of drawings!

This time there were “only” 145 people/53 groups. They drew for Saturday…no luck. They drew for Sunday…no luck. At this point, some people left, because they weren’t available to stay through Monday. So, the pool was getting smaller! And, what do you know…they drew lucky number 18!! And, just like that, we had a permit to hike The Wave on Monday, February 10th!

If you win a permit, you then pay a $7/per person and per/dog fee. If you don’t have a permit, and you try to hike to The Wave and are caught by a Ranger (who we were told dress in normal hiking clothing), you could be fined up to $10,000/per person with a possibility of jail...depending on how far you’ve made it. We wouldn’t recommend it!

Now that we had our permit, we had to come up with a plan for getting to the Wave! It’s about a 40-mile drive from Kanab, Utah, along US 89, before you turn off and another 8 miles on a rough, bumpy, possibly muddy and slick dirt road. Depending on the conditions, a four-wheel drive vehicle may be required.

At which point you park (there is a bathroom here!) and start a 3+ mile hike to the Wave. When they give you your permit, they also give you a map with landmarks to follow, but the trail itself isn’t super obvious. You have to rely on the map and your ability to navigate to get in and out.

For an additional fee, you can hire a professional guide (they do NOT count as part of the 20 permitted spots). At 6.3 miles roundtrip, it’s a lengthy hike for the Pack, so knowing we wouldn’t want to be doing any extra hiking due to getting lost, we chose to hire a guide. (Lara with Coral Cliffs Tours)

It was definitely a great decision! Lara was able to drive us down the 8-mile bumpy road in her big 4-wheel drive vehicle. And, while the conditions were actually quite perfect, it was nice to have someone who knew what they were doing, and where they were going.

Again, we probably would have been able to stay on the trail, following the provided map, but our guide, Lara, knew exactly where she was going. Plus, she was able to point out landmarks and areas of interest to us. Best of all, she was awesome with the pups…even carrying Pebbles for part of the hike, so Pete could carry Bruiser. With 3+ miles of hiking to The Wave, plus all the playing around at The Wave, we had some pooped pups for the hike back!

The hike to and from the Wave was just as picturesque and amazing as the Wave itself! The entire area has been basically untouched by humans, and it’s just amazing what nature, wind, water and the elements have created!

We made it to the Wave in a little over 2 hours. It was even more amazing than the photos we had seen! While the Wave itself is not a large area, there are plenty of amazing sites around it to explore and photograph.

We hung out and explored for about 3 hours. During that time, we saw all the other permit winners: two groups of six, some couples and an individual with his dog. Everyone was friendly and gracious, taking turns photographing and posing for their iconic Wave photo!

Then, we began the 3+ mile hike back. I could see how people would get lost. The landscape looks completely different as you hike back, and the position of the sun has changed so much that the shadows and sunlight add even more differences. We were glad to have Lara leading the way!

It was an amazing adventure, and one we will definitely try to do again!

Some additional things to note:

• When we hiked in February the temps went from the 30s to the 50s during the day…it was plenty warm! Hiking in the summer would definitely be dangerous! There is very little shade, and with the dry desert air, it would be easy to become dehydrated. There is no water along the trail, it’s important to make sure you are well stocked!
• There are no bathrooms, except where you park your car.
• Your permit is good for 24 hours (midnight to midnight), so if you’re really good at navigating in the dark, you could see the Wave at night. The BLM office doesn’t recommend it, as there’s a much higher chance of you getting lost and needing a rescue. (Camping is not allowed.)