PARIA CANYON -
VERMILION CLIFFS WILDERNESS

Vermilion Cliffs (enlargeable)

General Information. This colorful Wilderness snakes through northern Arizona northeast along the gorgeous Vermilion Cliffs and swings northwest along the not-to-be-missed Paria Canyon before eventually leading into Utah, where a much smaller portion of the area is preserved. Paria Canyon is considered one of the best canyon-backpacking destinations in the world.
The center of this area is called Sand Hills or Paria Plateau.

Paria Canyon Wilderness (enlargeable)

Soaring walls are streaked with desert varnish, and serpentine canyons are so narrow in places that the sky is reduced to a ribbon of faded blue. Vast red-rock amphitheaters, sandstone arches, intricate erosion-carved sculptures, woodland terraces, and hanging gardens of ferns and orchids are found here.

Beyond the canyon, the Vermilion Cliffs, massive and multicolored, rise as much as 3,000 feet, an escarpment dominating the rest of the Wilderness with its thick Navajo sandstone face, boulder-bound slopes, and rugged arroyos.

Condor observation point

It is also the area where the rare Californian Condors, which visitors can see at the Grand Canyon NP and as far away as the Zion NP, are released into the nature.

The observation point (left photo) for these rare condors is located on the eastside of the House Rock Valley Road (about 3 miles off Highway 89A, go north between mile marker 565 and 566).
Stop by and if there is a ranger (most of the time) you can look through the Swarovski spotting scope to get an amazing look at them at their 'home' high on the cliff and get all the information you need from the knowledgeable ranger about these elegant cruising creatures.

My hikes. The beautiful areas I have been hiking in are Coyote Buttes North & South (incl. the famous Wave in the northern and the area with the Cootonwood Teepees in the southern area) and Paria Canyon Wilderness (coming soon - incl. the slotcanyon Buckskin Gulch, the Wire Pass and the stunning Cobra Arch).

The Wave (Coyote Buttes North)	Cottonwood Teepees (Coyote Buttes South)
Buckskin Gulch (Paria Canyon area)	Cobra Arch (Paria Canyon area)

GO TO: [Coyote Buttes North & South] [Paria Canyon coming soon] [Links]
BACK TO: [Hiking in Northern Arizona]

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