The Wave

Few places on earth stop people in their tracks quite like The Wave, a swirling sandstone formation tucked along the Arizona-Utah border within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Shaped over millions of years by wind and water eroding Jurassic-age rock, its undulating red and orange bands look less like a natural landscape and more like something out of a fever dream. Getting there, however, is no easy feat: the Bureau of Land Management caps daily visitors at just 64 people, making permits notoriously hard to come by through a competitive lottery system. For those lucky enough to win a spot, the 6.4-mile round-trip hike delivers one of the most otherworldly experiences the American Southwest has to offer.