Multicolored, eroded rock formations dominate most of southeast Utah, though particularly outstanding is the desert either side of the Paria River, beneath the Vermilion Cliffs - seen for example along the Cottonwood Canyon Road or at the Paria Rimrocks. The kaleidoscopic scenery extends a little way south into Arizona, before the land becomes more sandy and barren, and all can be visited free of charge and with no access restrictions apart from the Paria canyon system and one small area spanning the UT/AZ border (mostly in AZ); this is Coyote Buttes, which was unknown before the mid 1990s but is now quite popular because of just one formation, 'The Wave', a small ravine between eroded sandstone domes formed of amazingly beautiful rocks containing thin, swirling strata.
The location was first publicized in Germany, in magazine articles and a movie ('Faszination Natur' by Gogol Lobmayr, 1995), and then was visited only by a small number of Europeans, becoming widely known just in the last few years. Because the BLM considers the formations to be particularly delicate, Coyote Buttes has recently been subject to fees and entry limitations, with only 20 people per day allowed to visit.
