Coyote Buttes South

[gpsjoe]

Thursday, 5/7/2009, we were at the Paria Ranger Station before 8:30 AM Utah time (7:30 AM Arizona time) to play permit bingo. Based on the crowd size and posted attendance over the past week we decided to go for the South Buttes rather than the North Buttes. 56 numbered balls were put into the bingo cage for the North. After just 4 numbers were called the 10 available spaces were gone and the remaining 52 numbers got shut out. For the South Buttes there were 13 people looking to fill 10 spaces and our number was the first called. On many days there is no lottery for the South because fewer than 10 people enter so everyone goes.

Our permit was for Friday so we made a quick trip up Cottonwood Canyon road and hiked the Lower Hackberry Canyon trail 3 miles each way and then the Cottonwood Narrows loop for about 5 more miles, both fun hikes.

Then it was off to the Stateline Campground on House Rock Valley road 2 miles past the Wire Pass trailhead. This campground has 4 sites (2 with covered picnic table with bench seats). There is a toilet but no water or trash removal at this site. There are no fees. It is the northern end of the Arizona Trail. We saw about 6 entries in the logbook by hikers proudly announcing they had completed the Arizona Trail. Thursday we got there at 5:00 PM and took site 1. Ten minutes later site 2, the last available, was taken. We stayed there Friday night as well and the last site was not taken till 7:00 PM.

Early Friday morning we drove 4 miles south on House Rock Valley to road 1080 marked by a small post on the right side of House Rock with the number 1080 and a left turn arrow on it. House Rock Valley road is in noticeably better condition in Arizona than in Utah. Road 1080 is the sandy road going to Paw Hole where the South Buttes hike starts. GB drove her Expedition about a mile on the sandy road to where the sand started getting deep and parked. We hiked the rest of 1080 for 1.5 miles to the start of the hike. All other hikers did the same thing that day. A young couple (non-hikers) in a Toyota FJ cruiser drove the whole way both ways and didn’t seem to have any problems. It is desirable to drive the whole way if your vehicle will permit since the road hiking is overhead you can live without.

The hike is 95 percent in sand and will tire you out. We hiked a total of 7 miles, 4 miles in the Buttes and 3 miles on the road. There are many trails there and you can make up your own hike and go as far as you want. The South Buttes is a great hike. It’s not as great as the North Buttes (“The Wave”) but still rates 4 stars compared to the 5 star North Buttes. Pictures are in the gallery.
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[desertgirl]

your discussion of the bingo brought back fond memories of handing a permit away for the North side after we were actually drawn for it...go figure
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Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
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[gpsjoe]

You probably could get a good price for that in todays market. November to February the Paria Station is closed and permits are issued at Kanab (as well as advanced reservations via the internet). Crowds are down considerably and permit getting is easier. I have a close personal realtionship with 2 hikers who went in during that time period without a permit and had no problem but I would never advise that.
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