The Wave is an other-worldly desert phenomenon located in Coyote Buttes North, about 44 miles from Page, Arizona. It was a hidden treasure coveted mostly by locals until July 22, 2009, when Microsoft featured it as their Windows 7 desktop wallpaper. The Waves popularity grew exponentially, making it a much sought after destination. Unfortunately, nowadays, it is challenging to get a permit to visit. You have to win the lottery—the online lottery for Coyote Buttes North, that is.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allows a total of twenty people per day, and four months in advance. When our friends Julie and Steve asked if we would enter the lottery with them, we jumped at the chance. Although our chances of winning were only about 10%, Julie believed that since she had never won anything in her entire life, that maybe, just maybe, her time was due. It was.
Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness
Yep. Everyone entered, and Julie won. Just like that. So the four of us headed to Page, Arizona, to visit the Wave, and Canyon X.
There are no designated trails, campsites or facilities found within the wilderness area. The BLM supplies each group with a detailed brochure that contains photos of landmarks to help navigate the route. Dave also downloaded the Alltrails map, which was quite useful as a backup.
We started early from the Wire Pass trailhead. From there, we turned off to The Wave trail and continued through Coyote Wash. There was a refreshing chill in the air. The forecast was 80° with a light breeze. Perfect October weather.
When we reached the plateau, we stopped dead in our tracks. Ahead laid an immense sandy plain, which seemed to go on forever. It was expansive, colorful, and also somewhat mind-boggling. One could get seriously lost in here.
Enter the BLM map. Even with GPS, the brochure was a necessity. The longer we were out there, the more things started to look the same.
There was no shade, but hallelujah, we were fortunate to experience some passing clouds. The 6.4-mile roundtrip had its moments—we brought plenty of water and took our time. After all, getting there ended up being a large part of the adventure.
A narrow passage way by Twin Buttes.
After reaching the north side of the Twin Buttes (a major landmark), the Wave was finally within reach. Almost. First, we had to scale a massive dune leading to the entrance. That was exhausting—like being on an escalator to nowhere.
A view from Twin Buttes. The entrance to the Wave is vertical slot in the upper right hand corner.
Plenty of hiking through deep sand.
The entrance to the Wave was surreal. Groovy. And that was just the beginning. I felt as if I was walking through a visual maze or a piece of pop art — a masterpiece created by sand and wind.
Words don’t do this place justice.
If you don’t have a bucket list yet, The Wave is a perfect reason to start one.