How to Apply for a Permit to Coyote Buttes North in Utah and What to Do If You Don’t Get In

If you want to hike in Coyote Buttes North (where The Wave is located), you need to obtain a permit from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Twenty people are granted access per day; of this number, ten are issued online and ten via walk in lottery the day before. Obviously, permits are extremely difficult to obtain. The BLM estimates the odds for obtaining a permit during April-June and September-November were about 4-5% for 2013. For other months (off-season), the odds vary from 8% (August) -25% (January).

What’s all the fuss about? Well, just look at this place!

You can apply up to four months in advance but you have the entire month to apply. For example, if you want to go the end of February, you can apply October 1. The application fee is $5 per group (non-refundable) and if you win the lottery you will need to pay $7 per person for the permit. You will receive an email from the BLM a month after you apply to let you know if you won the lottery or not.

If you missed the online lottery deadline or did not get chosen and are visiting the Southern Utah/Northern Arizona area, you can obtain a walk-in permit for Coyote Buttes North (the Wave) at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in Kanab, Utah. From mid-March to Mid November, walk-in permits can be obtained seven days a week. From mid-November through mid-March, walk-in permits are issued Monday-Friday, except for federal holidays. During this time, permits for Saturday-Monday are drawn on Friday.

Coyote Buttes North

Fees for online permits can only be paid by credit card. Fees for permits issued by phone can be paid by credit card or check mailed to the BLM Arizona Strip District Office; checks must be received before a permit application is authorized and a permit number is issued. If you are lucky enough to win a permit through the lottery (or even if you are not chosen), you will be notified via email on the first day of the following month. Walk-in permits must be paid for with cash or checks only.

My personal experience

So I submitted my application for a permit and waited anxiously to hear something. When I put in my application, there were only 6 people from 2 groups including my group of 3 people that had submitted applications, but then again it was early morning and there was still a lot of time left. When I checked about 12 hours later, there were 22 requests submitted for the date I wanted to go, for 57 people (there could have been more submitted after I checked, too). Fortunately, the date I chose was the least popular one of the month. For the most popular date of the month, there were 43 requests for 149 people. This was just day one of the application, which meant there were 29 remaining days to go!

I got an email exactly one month later stating:  “Unfortunately the dates and entries you chose did not become available to you in our lottery application process for a Coyote Buttes North permit. It is remotely possible the dates and entries selected for your trip will be forfeited by the winners because of nonpayment or release. If that happens, the dates and entries will become publicly available via the calendar application process.” I didn’t get in. I was disappointed but not surprised given the odds.

This brings me to Plan B if you are unable to obtain a permit to Coyote Buttes North: apply for a permit to Coyote Buttes South. For Coyote Buttes South, on-line permits can be obtained using the calendar option only. Just like for Coyote Buttes North, you can obtain a permit up to four months in advance. If you are planning a trip less than four months in advance, you have two options: you can check the calendar on the permit page to see if any slots are available, or you can try to obtain a walk-in permit the day before you wish to hike.

Coyote Buttes South

The downside to Coyote Buttes South is the roads to the trailheads here are more treacherous than the roads to Coyote Buttes North and a 4WD vehicle is required if you’re going to CB South but not necessarily for CB North (depending on the weather). If the roads are wet, that makes them even less safe. Personally, I didn’t feel comfortable with that option- driving to Coyote Buttes South trailheads. However, tours are available and cost around $200 per person, but that was not something I was willing to pay for our family.  I’m sure it’s spectacular but I just didn’t want to spend that much money.

So now this brings me to Plan C:  arrive the day before from 8:30-9 a.m. at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in Kanab, Utah and apply for a walk-in permit to Coyote Buttes North for the following day. The lottery for Coyote Buttes North runs at 9 a.m. I did this, and guess what? I didn’t get in. The first name that was drawn was part of a large group, so that automatically took up most of the 10 slots.

Well, this put me at Plan D:  take a tour of Antelope Canyon. First, a little background on Antelope Canyon. Located on Navajo land just east of Page, Arizona, Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon that includes two separate sections, “Upper Antelope Canyon” and “Lower Antelope Canyon.” We chose to take a tour of Lower Antelope Canyon with Ken’s Tours and it turned out even better than I expected.

There is a General Tour and Photographers Tour. We chose the General Tour and ended up getting far more for our money than I expected. For $25 per adult and $17 per child plus $8 Navajo Park Permit Fee per person, we got a private tour for just the three of us, plus photography tips from our guide. Our guide, Dezi, told us that he, along with the other guides, are all of Navajo decent and are all trained photographers. The tour and the canyon both definitely exceeded my expectations.

So after all of this, would I do it again? Would I try to get a permit for the Wave or just go to Antelope Canyon? I would definitely try for the Wave again and if I didn’t get in, I’d probably take the Antelope Canyon boat tour and see which one I liked better. Either way, you can’t go wrong. It’s all worth a visit.

Has anyone else been to the Wave (or tried to get a permit) or Antelope Canyon? If so, what was your experience like? Is anyone else ready to go to Coyote Buttes or Antelope Canyon after seeing the photos?