Walk-in lottery resumes for popular northern Arizona hike
The Wind and water eroded sandstone in Coyote Buttes North, Paria Canyon Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Coconino County, AZ looking north. (Photo by: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
VERMILION CLIFFS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has restored a walk-in lottery for one of the most exclusive and dramatic hiking spots in the southwestern United States.
Half of the 20 daily permits for the Wave typically are awarded in-person and half online. The agency suspended the walk-in lottery in March because it couldn't ensure social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The walk-in lottery resumed Monday. The Bureau of Land Management said it worked closely with Kane County in southern Utah to develop protections for the public's health and safety.
The lottery has drawn more than 100 people at times who crowded into the Kanab Visitor Center to vie for permits for use the following day.
The hike takes visitors 6-miles (9.5-kilometers) round trip through a wide, sloping basin of searing reds, oranges and yellows in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument along the Arizona-Utah border.
Online: https://www.blm.gov/node/10029