The way you get a Wave permit changed on 15 March 2022, and a lot of the advice still in circulation describes the system it replaced. There is no longer a queue at the BLM office in Kanab. The second of the two lotteries is now run from your phone, inside a geofenced area, two days before you hike. That shift matters for planning, because it turns a Wave attempt into a three-day commitment in the area rather than a morning of queuing. Below is how both lotteries work right now, what they cost, and the detail that voids more permits than any other: the clocks.
Daily limit
64 people total (48 Advanced + 16 Daily)
Max group size
6 people, both lotteries. Infants count
Application fee
$6.00 per application, non-refundable
Recreation fee
$7.00 per person or dog if selected
The hike
6.4 miles round trip, strenuous, unmarked
Daily Lottery window
6am to 6pm, two days before, mobile only
Geofence
~3,272 sq miles along US-89 / AZ-389, Kanab to Page
Trailhead
Wire Pass, House Rock Valley Road (unpaved)
What The Wave is, and where
The Wave is a set of intersecting sandstone troughs in the Coyote Buttes North permit area, part of the 112,500-acre Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness on the Arizona-Utah border. The bands running across the rock are the cross bedding of ancient dunes, exposed by erosion, which is why the surface reads like water frozen mid-motion.
Two things are worth setting straight before you plan around it. The formation itself is small, roughly the footprint of a tennis court, and several visitors who rate the hike highly still note it is smaller than the photographs suggest. And the permit does not cover a single feature: it covers the whole Coyote Buttes North area, which is full of striped buttes, teepee formations and pools, and is where most of the day actually goes.
The two lotteries, side by side
Both run on Recreation.gov and both feed the same daily cap of 64 people. They are otherwise entirely separate processes, with different windows, different devices and different odds. You can enter both.
| Advanced Lottery | Daily Lottery | |
|---|---|---|
| Places | 48 people / 12 groups | 16 people / 4 groups |
| When you apply | During a calendar month, for the month 4 months later | Two days before your hike date |
| Application window | All month | 6:00am to 6:00pm |
| Where from | Anywhere | Inside the geofence only |
| Device | Any, including desktop | Mobile only (app or browser) |
| Results | 1st of the next month, 9:00am, by email | 7:15pm the same evening |
| Deadline to confirm | By the 15th of that month | By 8:00am Utah time next day |
| Entries allowed | One application per person per lottery | One per application window |
| Recreation.gov rating | 4.8 from 1,909 reviews | 4.7 from 334 reviews |
Read on the BLM and Recreation.gov permit pages on 23 October 2026. Both lotteries charge the same fees and neither offers refunds or date changes.
The Advanced Lottery: four months out
This is the one to plan around, because it is the only version you can enter from home and the only one that tells you the answer before you book flights. During any given calendar month you apply for permit dates in the month that falls four months later. Applications close at the end of the month, the draw runs on the 1st of the following month at 9:00am, and everyone is emailed the result immediately, selected or not.
If you win, you have to log back in, complete the remaining details and pay by the 15th of that month. Miss it and the permit is forfeited. Each person may submit only one application per lottery, so a group of six cannot improve its odds by having everyone enter separately for the same dates.
The Daily Lottery: why it takes three days
The Daily Lottery replaced the in-person walk-in system in March 2022. The BLM moved it to a location-based service on Recreation.gov so that applicants were not gathering in a room to wait, and so more gateway towns could benefit. The practical consequence is that you have to be physically inside a defined area to apply, and that area is big: roughly 3,272 square miles following the US-89 and AZ-389 corridors from Kanab, Utah down to Page, Arizona.
What is less obvious from the official description is how the timing stacks up. It is not a one-morning errand.
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Apply from a mobile device inside the geofence, any time between 6:00am and 6:00pm. Results are sent at 7:15pm that evening, and the window to accept opens then. |
| Day 2 | Accept the permit and pay by 8:00am Utah time, then be at a permit pickup location at 8:30am local time for a mandatory safety briefing. Arriving late voids the permit. |
| Day 3 | The hike. |
So a single Daily Lottery attempt occupies three days of your itinerary, and two of them are spent inside the geofence doing something else. If you lose on day one you can apply again the next morning, which is why people who are serious about it park themselves in Kanab or Page for several nights and treat each morning as another ticket.
Two further rules catch groups out. Applications only work from a phone or an internet-connected tablet, never a laptop, and an out-of-date Recreation.gov app causes payment failures. And the person who submitted the application has to be the one who collects the permit, so you cannot send someone else to the briefing.
The time zone that voids permits
The lottery system runs on the time observed in Utah and the Navajo Nation. Arizona does not observe daylight saving, but the Navajo Nation does, and the geofence spans both states. From 8 March to 31 October 2026, Utah is one hour ahead of Arizona. From 1 November 2026 to 13 March 2027 they match.
What it actually costs
Two separate fees, and the first one is charged whether you win or not. The application fee is $6.00 per lottery application and is non-refundable. If you are selected, there is a recreation fee of $7.00 per person, paid online while completing the permit. Dogs pay the $7.00 too.
For two people who enter the Daily Lottery on five consecutive mornings and win once, that is $30 in application fees plus $14 in recreation fees, so $44. The fee itself is not the expensive part of a Wave attempt. The nights of accommodation inside the geofence are.
Nothing is refundable and permits cannot be rescheduled for any reason. If you need to change the details on a submitted application, the only route is to cancel it and submit a new one, paying the $6.00 again.
The hike: 6.4 miles, no trail
The suggested route from the Wire Pass trailhead is 6.4 miles round trip, and the BLM describes it as strenuous and physically demanding across challenging terrain. Coyote Buttes North is undeveloped wilderness: there are no built trails, no signs, no toilets and no water. Permit holders get a route description including a map, a photo guide and GPS coordinates along the suggested line, and navigating with those is the expectation, not a bonus.
Allow most of a day rather than squeezing it into a morning, carry considerably more water than a 6-mile figure suggests, and treat summer with respect: there is no shade anywhere on the route.
Getting to the trailhead
Wire Pass trailhead sits on House Rock Valley Road, which is unpaved and minimally maintained. The BLM says that most of the time it is passable in a two-wheel-drive vehicle with high clearance. When the road is wet, four-wheel drive with high clearance may be necessary, and during the rainy season and winter it can become impassable for every vehicle, four-wheel drive included.
Cell service in the area is spotty, which matters twice over: once for safety, and once because the Daily Lottery depends on your phone. Install the Recreation.gov app while you still have signal in town rather than counting on coverage out on the road.
If you do not get a permit
Most people do not, and the good news is that the surrounding wilderness does not require one. White Pocket is the usual answer: a plateau of banded and swirled sandstone that many photographers rate above The Wave for sheer scale, with no permit and no daily cap. The catch is access, because the final stretch is deep sand that genuinely needs a high-clearance 4x4 and some experience driving in it.
If you do not have that vehicle, or do not fancy the sand, a guided trip is the practical route and includes the driving.
Private White Pocket Expedition, Vermilion Cliffs
Private 4x4 trip from Page into White Pocket, the Vermilion Cliffs formation that needs no permit and no lottery. Seven to nine hours including the sand-track driving that stops most rental cars. Free cancellation.
Coyote Buttes South is the other permit area in the same wilderness, with its own lottery and considerably better odds than Coyote Buttes North, though the access road is rougher. It is covered alongside the rest of the monument on our Vermilion Cliffs guide.
Where to base yourself
The geofence runs roughly between Kanab and Page, so both work for the Daily Lottery. Kanab is the more common choice because permit pickup and the BLM field office are there, and because it is in Utah, which removes the time zone problem described above. Page puts you closer to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend if the rest of the trip points that way.
Whichever you pick, budget for more nights than the hike needs. Our comparison of Kanab hotels lists every property with current prices and walking distance to the centre, and our Page hotel guide does the same at the Arizona end.
Those spare mornings inside the geofence also need filling, ideally with something short enough that you are back in signal before the 6pm application deadline. The free option is the Toadstool Hoodoos, an hour-long walk off US-89 that sits inside the geofence. The slot canyons just outside Kanab are the paid one.
Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon Small Group Tour from Kanab
Ninety-minute small-group trip into the red slot canyon outside Kanab, with the 4x4 approach included. Short enough to fit around a lottery morning and it keeps you well inside the geofence. Free cancellation.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get a permit for The Wave?
Two lotteries, both run through Recreation.gov. The Advanced Lottery awards 48 people (or 12 groups, whichever comes first) and is entered four months ahead from any device, anywhere. The Daily Lottery awards the remaining 16 people (or 4 groups) and must be entered from a mobile device while you are physically inside a geofenced area that runs roughly along the US-89 and AZ-389 corridors between Kanab and Page. Daily Lottery applications are submitted two days before the hike date, between 6am and 6pm, with results sent at 7:15pm the same evening. Total daily limit across both: 64 people.
Is the walk-in lottery at the Kanab BLM office still a thing?
No. The in-person walk-in lottery, where applicants queued at a BLM facility, was replaced on 15 March 2022 by the mobile geofence Daily Lottery. You no longer queue anywhere to apply. You do still have to turn up in person the following morning if you win, for a safety briefing and to collect the permit, but the application itself happens on your phone. A lot of guidance online still describes the old queue.
How many days do I need in the area for The Wave?
For the Daily Lottery, three. Day one you apply from inside the geofence between 6am and 6pm and get results at 7:15pm. Day two, if you won, you accept and pay by 8am Utah time and must be at a permit pickup location at 8:30am local time for a mandatory safety briefing. Day three is the hike itself. For the Advanced Lottery you only need the hike day plus the pickup, since you already know the outcome four months earlier.
What does a Wave permit cost?
A non-refundable $6.00 application fee for each lottery entry, whether you win or not, plus a $7.00 per person recreation fee if you are selected. Dogs also pay the $7.00. There are no refunds on either fee and permits cannot be rescheduled for any reason. Budget for entering several times: the $6.00 is charged per application.
How long is the hike to The Wave?
The suggested route is 6.4 miles round trip and the BLM classes it as strenuous and physically demanding. There is no trail and no signage: the permit area is undeveloped wilderness. Permit holders are given a route description with a map, a photo guide and GPS coordinates, and you are expected to navigate with them. Carry far more water than you think you need; there is no water source on the route.
What is the maximum group size for a Wave permit?
Six people, for both lotteries. Everyone counts regardless of age, including infants who are not walking. Dogs do not count toward the daily quota but must be listed on the permit and pay the recreation fee. If you hire a BLM-authorized guide, the guide does not count against your group size or the daily visitor limit, and you are limited to one guide per group.
Can someone else pick up my permit?
No. The person who submitted the lottery application must be the one to collect the permit, not another member of the group. That person also has to be present on the hike. This catches out groups who plan to have one person enter the lottery and a different person drive to the pickup.
Do I need a 4x4 to reach the trailhead?
Not usually. The BLM states that most of the time the Wire Pass trailhead on House Rock Valley Road is reachable in a two-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicle. Four-wheel drive with high clearance may be required when the road is wet, and during the rainy season and winter the road can become impassable for every vehicle, including 4x4s. The road is unpaved and minimally maintained, and cell service out there is spotty.
What are the odds of getting a Wave permit?
The BLM does not publish a single success rate, and it varies enormously by season and date: 64 people a day against demand that peaks on spring and autumn weekends. Rather than chase a number, the practical approach is to enter the Advanced Lottery for your dates four months out and treat the Daily Lottery as the backup while you are in the area, with White Pocket or Coyote Buttes South as the plan that does not depend on winning anything.
Is The Wave worth all this?
It depends on what you are expecting. On Recreation.gov the Daily Lottery holds 4.7 out of 5 from 334 reviews and the Advanced Lottery 4.8 from 1,909, so most people who get there rate it highly. Among the lower ratings, two themes repeat: frustration with the permit process itself rather than the place, and visitors saying the formation is smaller in person than the photographs suggest. It is a half-day unmarked desert hike to a feature roughly the size of a tennis court.
Written by Diego Fresno, travel writer and independent publisher covering the American Southwest. The permit rules, quotas, fees and deadlines in this guide were read on the BLM and Recreation.gov permit pages on 23 October 2026, and the date of the change to the geofence system comes from the BLM's own announcement.. Verified quarterly: last review April 2026. About the author →
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