Walk-in lottery resumes for popular northern Arizona hike

VERMILION CLIFFS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has restored a walk-in lottery for one of the most exclusive and dramatic hiking spots in the southwestern United States.

Half of the 20 daily permits for the Wave typically are awarded in-person and half online.

The walk-in lottery had been suspended since March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bureau of Land Management says it was restored Monday with protections for the public's health and safety.

The Wave takes visitors through a wide, sloping basin of searing reds, oranges and yellows in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument along the Arizona-Utah border.