The Wave - A Rare Permit & A Desert Day to Remember | USA
- LoriKat
- Jan 30
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
📅 May 2019 | 🗺️ Coyote Buttes North, AZ
The Wave is a world‑famous sandstone formation in the Paria Canyon–Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, straddling the Arizona–Utah border. Known for its surreal, undulating bands of red, orange, and pink rock, it looks like frozen waves rolling across the desert. Formed nearly 190 million years ago from Jurassic sand dunes that hardened into Navajo Sandstone, The Wave was later sculpted by wind and water erosion into the hypnotic ridges we see today.
The Wave isn’t just a hike — it’s a win.
Coyote Buttes North hands out permits like golden tickets (okay, hot pink ones), and somehow, we snagged one. The sun was cranked, the sandstone was glowing, and the desert silence felt like a reward.
One of the most beautiful hikes we’ve ever done. Here’s how our desert day went…
📚Journal Spill
The Journey to the Wave
We’d met House Rock Road before — and she was rude last time. Wet clay, cars trapped, tires spinning — pure chaos.
But today? DRY. 🙌 We rolled straight to the trailhead without any off-road drama. Best case scenario.
The drive from Kanab was gorgeous — wildflowers brushing the highway, Grand Staircase cliffs flexing their layers like nature’s paint palette.
Energy high. Confidence higher. Hydration… ongoing.
Wire Pass Trailhead - The Official Start
Restroom ✅ Permit log ✅ “Can you believe we’re actually here?” ✅✅✅
We signed in like proud lottery winners (because we were), strapped on our packs, and crossed the road to start the hike — paper route guide in hand like a treasure map.
Trails crisscross everywhere here. You pay attention or you wander into oblivion. We were determined not to become a cautionary tale.
Walking the Trail
We hit the trail already half-covered in sunscreen, knowing we’d need to reapply every 20 minutes like it was a part-time job.
The landscape was a mix of:
Harsh (unforgiving sun)
Delicate (flowers somehow thriving)
Distractingly beautiful (everywhere you look)
Trail markers? Only somewhat helpful. They blend in like they’re trying to prank people. Spot one → Where’s the next?! → panic sweat
Sandstone slants forced sideways steps — 100% doable dry, 100% nope if slick. It was hard on the ankles and knees. Wish I had my hiking poles.
The silence was huge in this wilderness area. Not an eerie silence, but an appreciated silence. Like the “hear your heartbeat in your ears” kind of huge. We let it sink in. Silence is not something we get to experience often.
Lizards did dramatic push-ups to show who’s boss.
The sun… unapologetic. Temps around 95°F, zero shade. (in May, this was hot for a PA native!)
We reapplied sunscreen like our lives depended on it.
Then came THE SAND. Deep. Draggy. Boiling hot. Sand in shoes. Sand in socks. Sand in soul.
Easily the worst part.
Finally — the final climb. Steep. Sweaty. Endless. But we knew what was waiting at the top…
The Wave - Worth Every Grain of Sand
WE MADE IT. 🙌🎉
The Wave was smaller than we pictured — but so much more magical. Those swirling sandstone lines looked alive, like they were mid-wiggle.
We: ✅ climbed✅ photographed✅ climbed again✅ pointed excitedly✅ took about 2,000 pictures✅ ate lunch like champions
Other permit-holders were scattered around, sharing their own “lottery war stories.” Everyone felt lucky to be there. You could see it on their sweaty, smiling faces.
Return to the Trailhead
This landscape? Top-tier desert magic.
Eight hours out there. A silly number of photos. Homemade lunches. A gallon of water each plus a gallon of sweat left behind.
We got back to the car exhausted… and proud. We earned this one.
Driving away, we kept glancing back — not quite ready to leave that beauty (and silence) behind.
🔚 Final Spin
We came for The Wave — but the moment that sticks is the quiet between footsteps.
This trail takes work: sun blasting, sand dragging, heat pushing back.
But the payoff? A place that feels hand-carved by time and secrets.
Back at the car, we melted into the shade like happy lizards, already missing the curves of the sandstone and the stillness of the desert.
Some part of us is still out there — in a boot print fading on red rock and a lizard doing push-ups like it owns the place.
🍬Echoes, Keepsakes, & Oddities
That hot pink permit living its best life in my pack
A pebble that definitely looks like a lizard and now lives in the car
Shade so rare we pretended rocks counted
That breathtaking oh-my-gosh first glimpse
The Wave — quieter and smaller than expected, but unforgettable
🎞️ Tag & Snag
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