I have been asked by a number of people if I can suggest other places to hike if they don’t get a hiking permit to the Wave.
So I thought I would begin by sharing more about “the Teepee’s” that flank the east side of the hiking permit area for North Coyote Buttes.
Getting there is I guess the biggest challenge since the permit area is not fenced and it is actively monitored for those who do not have hiking permits. So parking at the Wire Pass trailhead is where to start. There are hiking permits for hiking in Buckskin Gulch area but, I am not sure that hiking areas that are neither in North Coyote Buttes hiking area or Buckskin Gulch requires a hiking permit. It might be a good idea to leave a note on your dash indicating where you are hiking to so the ranger will understand why there is not a parking stub on your vehicle. I was told by a now retired BLM employee (of the Kanab office) that this would be enough. One thing for sure, you do start down Coyote Wash aka Wire Pass for about a mile until you reach the trail to the Wave that leaves the wash.
If you are headed for the Teepee’s you will also leave the wash on the trail to the Wave. There is a sign that indicates that the permit area is ½ mile past the sign. Hiking beyond that point requires the hiking permit.
An upcoming map will give better details as to the approximate boundary along the north and east side of the permit area.
Once up out of the wash the trail turns southward out on to a sage brush covered slope, to the southeast a red sandstone ridge appears, that ridge is the start of the hiking permit area. You will need to hike more to the east and go around this ridge to avoid the permit area. There is a sandy wash at the base of the ridge line that circles around it’s north end and can be followed.
Once around the north tip there is a sand dune to the right and beyond it, undulating mounds/buttes and a slick rock slope which juts up more steeply on the right. This margin where the gradual sloping slickrock changes into steeper mounds of the ridge is where the permit boundary extends south. Simply stay to the left or east of this area and hike between the small mounds and rocks maintaining a parallel course. After about 1/2 mile the rocks or mounds will become more”teepee” like and a shallow canyon with a wide sandy wash will cross the direction you are traveling. They are many things to see here and walking east down the wash is worth the time after a short distance it narrows into a slot and then cascades into the depths of Buckskin Gulch.
Returning to the open portions of the wash there is a noticeable fork to the left (while looking upstream or west.) This wash continues into the Sand Cove area which is in the permit area. However, for the first portion which heads more south than west one can hike and not be in the permit area. This left-hand fork narrows into a slot itself (with a natural bridge in the upper portion) and can be avoided by climbing the sand dunes to the right (west.) The natural bridge is best seen from the top. Once beyond the narrow section the wash flattens out and turns more to the west here is where one should keep heading south towards a few large teepee’s a short distance away. As one climbs the gradual slope the much larger and more distant teepee’s come into view more to the left of south. These larger Teepee’s are the North Teepee group. I enjoyed walking through these immediate large teepee’s they are spaces with nearly level stone and terrain between them. Southwest of this group, that I call “Midway Teepee’s,” is the slickrock prominence of Top Rock and the Wave. The permit boundary is basically at the bottom of this slickrock where it meets the sandy desert floor.
Once one leaves this group the desert floor opens up to a sagebrush covered sandy expanse. One can head directly to the North Teepee’s or the South Teepee’s which are also in view. I found that if a continue south crossing a very wide sandy wash area and keep my sights on a medium sized very symmetrical teepee that it breaks up the uneventful sagebrush trudge and gives one something more to see along the way.