Surf the High Desert Wave

I'm not what you'd call an "advanced" hiker, preferring to hike the easy-to-moderate trails found closer to where I live. I haven't hiked anywhere "too" challenging just yet either.

But one day I'd really like to "Surf the Wave". However, I know that being able to hike the wave will require some luck, a lot more effort, and a great deal of preparation on my part. I tend to be a little risk-averse, especially in a wilderness area far away from any help. The last thing that I want to do is to "wipeout" and become a victim of the "heat wave".

The Wave has become a popular attraction in the Coyote Buttes area of the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness on the Arizona/Utah border. Coyote Buttes is a Special Management Area of the Paria Canyon/Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. The Wave is a multi-colored chute that has been cut into a sandstone mountain. It makes a great destination for a short, moderately difficult day hike.

It has become one of the most popular destinations for many people visiting the Colorado Plateau. It is colorful but fragile Navajo Sandstone slickrock. The attraction is the thin ledges that swirl in wild contours of color and stone that are Coyotte Buttes North very brittle and breakable.

The Wave has grown as a national attraction over the years due to the many published photographs and other media coverage of this small area. Nature has fully used its imagination to converge with the appreciation of our individual minds in all their variety of thought and wonder. But, see for yourself -