About this place
This is a remote and unspoiled monument of 294,000 acres, and it is a geologic treasure. It holds the Paria Plateau, the Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes and Paria Canyon.
The views are of towering cliffs and deep canyons.
Paria Canyon makes an outstanding wilderness backpacking trip of three to five days.
The colorful swirls of cross-bedded sandstone in Coyote Buttes draw walkers from all over the world.
There is wildlife to watch, California condors among it.
Two developed campgrounds sit just outside the monument, Stateline and White House. Camping with nothing marked out is allowed outside the wilderness area, on ground that has already been disturbed.
You need a permit to walk in Coyote Buttes North, also called the Wave, and in Coyote Buttes South. You need one for overnight trips in Paria Canyon too.
There are no visitor centers on the monument.
Plan carefully. The roads are rugged and unmarked. There are poisonous reptiles and insects. The heat and the cold both go to extremes, the sand is deep, and canyons flash flood.
Bring a spare tire, and plenty of water, food and gasoline.
Arizona Strip visitor maps are at the Paria Contact Station, which opens seasonally, and at the Bureau of Land Management visitor center in Kanab. The Interagency Information Center in St. George, Utah, has them too.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Roads around it
- Rugged and unmarked, with deep sand in places
- Drinking water
- No, bring your own
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
The roads around this place are not maintained for a regular car. That comes from the Bureau of Land Management, who record the kind of vehicle that uses each route. Those records cover the roads nearby. They do not cover the last stretch in to the campsite, and nobody has checked that part. Treat this as a warning. We are not promising what you will find when you get there. If you have driven it, tell us what it was like and we will say so here.
Getting there
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument sits on the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona, and it takes in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. Kaibab National Forest is on its western side and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on its eastern one.
From Flagstaff, travel north of U.S. Highway 89 or 89A. From Kanab, Utah, take U.S. Highway 89 east or 89A south. There are no paved roads inside the monument.
Coordinates 36.835, -111.967
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
This is a good base for somewhere people travel a long way to see.
- Coyote Buttes Directions
- The Wave Directions
- Glen Canyon Dam Directions
- Antelope Canyon Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Bitter Springs, AZ Directions
- Page, AZ Directions
Page is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.