Hiking The Wave: Trip Report

We were lucky enough to make the drive to the Wave trailhead without any problems, even though it had rained the night before. Upon arrival, the ranger gives a spiel on safety and how to navigate the region. As I mentioned, be sure to grab a map since the path to The Wave isn’t well-defined like a typical hiking trail. Afterward, we strapped on our shoes, checked our packs for water/snacks, applied necessary sunscreen, and hit the trail.

To find the main trail you need to cross the road and enter into the river wash, heading back north for a half-mile or so until it winds to the east (where eventually you will see this sign).

After passing the sign to the Coyote Buttes North Area, you will stay to the right (the left goes down to Buckskin Gulch) and you soon find yourself hiking along this sandy/desert terrain.

This is the point in the journey when the map provided by the ranger came in handy. Here, in particular, we headed toward the first big mound off in the distance, just to the right of center in the image.

Once we crossed over the ridge, the landscape changed to hard sandstone (which made it much easier to hike along). There were some signposts along the path leading up to the Wave to help steer us in the right direction. To head in the right direction, look for these types of buttes in the distance, and head towards the two in the middle, passing them just on the right side.

After that pass, the terrain opens up and you’ll see a large rock face in the distance with a fissure/crack vertically down the face…that’s your destination. Other landmarks to look for along the way are white streaks along the sandstone you’re walking on, following that in between two small sand dunes in the distance. Having these small reference points along the way ensured that it was nearly impossible to lose your way (although historically hikers have gotten lost and deaths have occurred due to heat-stress and other related causes, so make sure to bring plenty of water!)

After passing between the small dunes, it’s a final push to reach the site of The Wave. The anticipation and excitement build as you drop down into another river wash and then begin the final climb in the sand to your destination. With the sun blazing down on us and the sweat building up, we couldn’t wait for the moment to arrive and rest, but as soon as we arrived the last thing we wanted to do was sit down. It was time to play and explore.

Thanks to the storm that passed through the night before our adventure, we were lucky to be able to experience this beautiful place in such a setting, with an amazing reflection bouncing off a pool of water right at the entrance (and many other pools throughout the site). This larger wide-lens view of The Wave perfectly depicts the incredible striations of the windblown sandstone.

After passing by the pool of water at the main entrance to the Wave, we looked back on this series of pools that collected water from the storm. The contrast of the red rock and the blue sky was absolutely perfect.