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The Wave, Page, AZ

Photo: Gb11111, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & OutdoorsIconicOutdoor Adventure

The Wave

Hike across open desert to a swirl of striped Navajo Sandstone troughs that look like a frozen wave.

Coyote Buttes North, via Wire Pass Trailhead · Page, AZ

About The Wave

The Wave is a sandstone formation on the slopes of Coyote Buttes, in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness near the Utah line. Its U-shaped troughs of Jurassic Navajo Sandstone are banded in undulating layers. You need a Bureau of Land Management permit, won by lottery, and up to 64 people are allowed in per day. The usual route starts at Wire Pass Trailhead and runs about 3 miles each way.

  • #sandstone formation
  • #permit hike
  • #desert hiking
  • #photography
  • #vermilion cliffs

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What's around here?

The closest stops to The Wave, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums

    Moqui Cave

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    A sandstone cave museum near Kanab in southern Utah, with ancient artifacts, dinosaur tracks, and fluorescent minerals.

    32 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Kodachrome Basin State Park

    Under $25

    A Utah state park known for towering sandstone pipes and colorful layered rock.

    35 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

    Under $25

    Climb, sandboard or ride off-highway vehicles across shifting coral pink sand dunes formed from eroded Navajo Sandstone.

    40 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing

    Pipe Spring National Monument

    Under $25

    A desert oasis on the Arizona Strip preserving layered history of Indigenous, settler, and ranching life.

    41 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Iconic

    Bryce Canyon National Park

    $25–$50

    Look out over thousands of red, orange and white hoodoos from rim overlooks, then hike down among them in Bryce Amphitheater.

    44 mi awayMore like this

  • Stay
    Iconic

    Best Western Plus Ruby's Inn

    $50+

    Historic hotel one mile from Bryce Canyon National Park with lodging, a Western dinner barn, and tour bookings.

    48 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay

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