Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
Home of the Wave, White Pocket, and soaring California condors — the Strip's most famous wild country.
A Monument of Stone and Sky
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument protects the towering escarpment and high Paria Plateau country at the eastern edge of the Arizona Strip, between US-89A and the Utah line. Its name comes from the cliffs themselves — a two-thousand-foot wall of layered sandstone that burns red at sunrise and sunset along the highway between Jacob Lake and Marble Canyon.
Hidden on top of the plateau are the formations that made the monument world-famous: the impossibly swirled rock of the Wave at Coyote Buttes, and the painted domes of White Pocket.
Visiting the Monument
The Wave (Coyote Buttes North) requires a permit awarded by lottery — demand vastly exceeds supply, so check the BLM's current lottery process well before your trip. White Pocket needs no permit but does require serious deep-sand four-wheel driving on the Paria Plateau roads; many visitors hire local guides out of Kanab.
House Rock Valley Road, running along the monument's west side, is the main access corridor and is usually passable to careful drivers in dry weather. It is also home to a California condor release-site viewpoint — bring binoculars, as the cliffs here are one of the best places in America to spot the giant birds.
There are no services, no water, and little shade anywhere in the monument. Plan accordingly, and check conditions at the official BLM monument page.
More Icons of the Strip
Seven landmarks define this country — see them all.