The Wave - Coyote Buttes North Hike

Coyote Buttes North Hike is one of the most sought after hikes in the world to have the privilege of conquering. The hike itself is an out and back hike that can range from 5-10 or 11 miles total depending on how much you want to see and how far you want to go. The rock formation known as "The Wave" became famous in the late 90's, early 2000's when a photo from the area was a Windows operating system background option. Interest in hiking to the area spiked very quickly forcing the recreation management service to issue a permitting policy.

To get a permit to be allowed to hike to The Wave, you have enter a lottery. As of 2023, they only issue 60 permits per day with 40 of them being part of an online lottery system and 20 of them through an in person lottery each day. You will want to check out Recreation.gov for all the current details on how to obtain a permit for this hike.

I submitted my first entry for this lottery in summer of 2020 for my first trip to the area with some friends in my neighborhood. Needless to say, I didn't win. I then entered the lottery for permits to make this hike almost every month for 3 years straight. FInally in December, 2022 I won the lottery and earned a family pack of 5 permits for Good Friday, April 7th, 2023. Any other road trips I had planned that year instantly went on hold to make this trip happen. 

As the entire family was going to do this hike, we had to do some serious road trip planning to make it work. We even ended up turning it into a two week round trip where we took some extra time on the return leg to swing through the Big 5 of Utah as well as a couple cool stops in Colorado which you can read more about in the Road Trips section. 

What do you need to know about this hike (besides getting a permit first):

1) Plan to stay overnight in either Page, Arizona or Kanab, Utah. Either place is about an hour drive from the parking lot and trailhead. 

2) HAVE A 4x4 or other raised vehicle - Jeep, Pickup truck, Rugged SUV, etc. when you head to the trailhead. We drove out to the area in a minivan and I had planned to to drive the van to the trailhead. While we were on the road heading west, I received an email from Recreation.gov that rains had muddied the road to the trail head and that a 4x4 vehicle was strongly recommended. I quickly found a local person in Page, AZ where we were staying that rents out 4x4 jeeps and forked out a few more dollars than I planned to rent one for the day. It was worth every penny because the minivan was NOT going to make it if we had tried. 

The rough road once you leave the highway is in terrible shape with deep ruts and gullies scattered throughout. It was mostly dry, but it it had been wet/muddy it would have been even more difficult to traverse. I saw one minivan in the parking lot when we left, but it was a slightly elevated version that I'm sure still scraped and bumped several times while trying to get to the parking lot. 

3) Bring water and a hat/shade. It's northern Arizona and there's virtually zero shade on this hike except for when you're actually at the Wave.

4) If you're just hiking to the Wave itself and back, its about 5.5-6 miles out and back round trip. However, there are a lot of sites and 'trails' to hike to in the area that can add on time and mileage as you desire. I mention 'trail' because about a half mile after you start at the trailhead there aren't any trail markings. I recommend a GPS app like Gaia or other options to help you keep yourself on track. I even used one of them and still got us "lost" a bit as we wandered off the expected trail path.

5) We hiked early in the morning to enjoy the sunrise and see how the colors would hit the area and they didn't disappoint. However, I really would love a chance to do it again and see the area in the evening as the sun was beginning to set to get a different perspective with the lighting and shadows. 

6) Be sure to grab a reflection photo in the main puddle of water - it was one of my top 3 best photos in the area.