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Feds propose letting five times more hikers into The Wave

Hiker access to The Wave and Coyote Buttes North, two of the most coveted hiking destination on the Colorado Plataeu, could increase nearly fivefold, from only 20 visitors a day to 96, under a draft plan the Bureau of Land Management has released.

The plan would chart a new management direction for the designated wilderness that wraps around the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument straddling the Utah-Arizona state line between Kanab and Page, Ariz. Many thousands come hoping to explore The Wave via a 6.4-mile round-trip hike from the Wire Pass Trailhead, but the vast majority cannot not get permits.