Coyote Buttes, Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, Arizona

The Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness takes it name from the 30-mile-long coral-colored band of high Navajo Sandstone cliffs which mark the southern edge of this wilderness area. These cliffs are the main backdrop for the Lee’s Ferry put-in for floating the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. While these famous cliffs lend their name to this 89,400 acre wilderness area, there is much more to the Vermilion Cliffs wilderness than the cliffs themselves. Much of the plateau top above these cliffs is a fantastic landscape of deep sand dunes, wildly-carved beehive formations such as this, and sandstone basins. In the northern half of Vermilion Cliffs wilderness, the Paria River and its tributaries cut deep narrow canyons in one of Utah’s few BLM wilderness areas. This black & white photograph was captured in late evening light.