| Coordinates | 36.9678, -112.0113 |
|---|---|
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Big Water |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Coyote Buttes Travel Guide
Coyote Buttes is a mountain in Arizona. The nearest service base is Big Water, roughly 33 km away.
Coyote Buttes at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Arizona, Arizona — coordinates 36.9678, 112.0113
- Why it is listed: a source-verified entry in the CollabsTravel master database, matched against official gazetteer and geographic records before publication
- Time needed: a couple of hours
- Best season: May to September
Quick Facts
| Place type | Mountain |
| Also good for | Hiking, Scenic |
| Region / state | Arizona |
| Nearest city | Big Water |
| Coordinates | 36.9678, -112.0113 |
| Nearest base town | Big Water (33 km) |
Why Coyote Buttes Is Worth Visiting
Coyote Buttes earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 33 km from Big Water also makes it an easy add-on rather than a detour that costs half a day. Visitors book it for hiking, scenic as much as for destination. And unlike listicle recommendations, everything on this page - coordinates, category, sources - was checked against official records before publication.
About Coyote Buttes
In plain terms, Coyote Buttes is a mountain in the Arizona area of Arizona that travellers book around destination trips. Beyond its main draw, the record tags it for hiking, scenic too, so it rewards more than one kind of visit. Functionally it belongs to Big Water - the town most maps and locals will reference when describing how to reach it. Everything stated on this page comes from that verified record; where background history is quoted, the source is named at the end of the section.
The Story of Coyote Buttes: History & Background
Coyote Buttes is a section of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It spans extreme south-central Utah and north-central Arizona, south of US 89 halfway between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona.
It is divided into two areas: Coyote Buttes North and Coyote Buttes South.
A hiking permit is required to visit either of the Coyote Buttes areas.
The Coyote Buttes area is an exposure of cross-bedded aeolian Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. The variable coloration of the sandstones is a result of various iron oxide pigments within the layers. A dinosaur trackway or trample surface is found in the area and provides evidence of a variety of dinosaurs. The area includes dramatic swirling erosional rock formations such as The Wave.
The Wave and Buckskin Gulch share the Wire Pass Trailhead on House Rock Valley Road.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Coyote Buttes", reused under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a coordinate-verified name match; the source article carries the full referenced history.
The Beauty of Coyote Buttes
What people mean when they call Coyote Buttes beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. The light does most of the work: mid-latitude light gives the place two looks: clean blue summer noon and a low amber angle in spring and autumn. The seasons restyle everything around it - each season repaints it - plan the visit around the colour you want in your photos. And the beauty compounds with context: with 8 other verified places nearby, the Arizona area reads as one continuous landscape rather than a single viewpoint, which is worth more than any filter on the photos you take here.
Getting There
Coyote Buttes sits at 36.9678, 112.0113 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Coyote Buttes names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
Base yourself in Big Water and make this a half-day trip; services, fuel and lodging are easiest there. The run from Big Water is about 33 km (21 mi) each way, so allow Big Water as your anchor for the day.
Best Time to Visit
the desert Southwest runs hot from June to September, so spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most comfortable months for hiking and outdoor plans.
Coyote Buttes Season by Season
- Summer (Jun-Aug) - peak season: the warmest, longest days and everything open, which also makes it the priciest and busiest window
- Autumn (Sep-Nov) - shoulder season: crowds drain away, the light turns photographic, and lodging rates typically fall
- Winter (Dec-Feb) - off-season: cheapest beds and empty viewpoints, but check for closures, snow or rain before committing
- Spring (Mar-May) - rebuild season: wildflowers, newborn wildlife and reopened facilities - the best balance if the weather holds
Things to Do
Planning what to actually do at Coyote Buttes comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.9678, -112.0113) pinned in your maps app — rural place names repeat across states
- Give the site one unhurried hour before adding anything else to the day
- Pair it with the nearest named attraction on this page to make a full loop
- Chain the stop with what is nearby — see the list below before fixing your day route
None of this needs a rigid schedule - the honest pattern at Coyote Buttes is one anchor at the nearest anchor town, one longer stop, and the rest of the time left for whatever looks better from the car window. That flexibility is what separates a good half-day from a rushed one.
A Perfect Day in Coyote Buttes
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Big Water and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Coyote Buttes is at its quietest before the day-trippers arrive. Give the main stop its full due first rather than saving it for later.
Midday. From Coyote Buttes, Paw Hole is only 5 km away - pair the two rather than driving home for lunch; a picnic beats a reservation near most of these spots.
Afternoon. Keep going to Lone Tree Reservoir (7 km) if the group still has legs; it is the standard second half of this loop.
Golden hour. End at the main viewpoint, waterfront or main street as the light drops; this is the hour Coyote Buttes is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Big Water unless the road out is long - leaving at dusk is the one mistake that can flatten an otherwise perfect day.
Know Before You Go to Coyote Buttes
- Save the pin (36.9678, -112.0113) offline - reception in Arizona is exactly as good as it needs to be and no better
- Check the official source listed at the bottom of this page for current hours, fees and closures before driving out
- Visit on weekdays: at most verified spots weekends triple the local traffic
- Bring the basics - water, layers, power bank - because facilities at this kind of place are self-service
Nearby Places Worth Combining
Coyote Buttes does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Paw Hole — place, about 5 km (3 mi) away
- Lone Tree Reservoir — place, about 7 km (4 mi) away
- Ladder Reservoir — place, about 7 km (4 mi) away
- Buckskin Mountain — place, about 8 km (5 mi) away
- Maries Reservoir — place, about 9 km (6 mi) away
- Middle Reservoir — place, about 10 km (6 mi) away
- Franks Reservoir — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
- Buckskin Mountains — place, about 14 km (9 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coyote Buttes worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Coyote Buttes is a verified mountain in Arizona that most drive-by lists miss, and the official-record provenance behind this page means the location, name and access facts are checked rather than guessed. Give it a couple of hours.
Where exactly is Coyote Buttes?+
Coyote Buttes is in Arizona, at coordinates 36.9678, -112.0113. Use the coordinates rather than the name alone - place names repeat across regions, and a map pin beats a keyword search.
How far is Coyote Buttes from the nearest city?+
Coyote Buttes is about 33 km (21 mi) from Big Water, which is an easy out-and-back day trip - most visitors base themselves in Big Water and make the run in well under an hour each way.
What is the best time to visit Coyote Buttes?+
May to September. Book the shoulder months either side of that window for the same scenery at lower prices, and check seasonal closures before fixing dates.
How long do you need at Coyote Buttes?+
Plan on a couple of hours for a first visit - the highlights at a normal pace without rushing. Add another half day if you want to combine it with the nearby places listed above.
Is Coyote Buttes good for families with kids?+
It works with kids who have patience for the setting; judge it by your shortest-attention traveller and keep the visit to the first highlight.
Does Coyote Buttes cost anything to visit?+
Most public places like this have no entry fee, but parking, guided programs and seasonal shuttles are the usual small costs. Confirm current fees with the official source cited on this page - they change more often than guidebooks do.
What is near Coyote Buttes?+
The closest verified neighbour is Paw Hole; the nearby list above has the full set with distances, and combining two or three of them is the standard way to fill a day around Coyote Buttes.
Is Coyote Buttes open to visitors, and do you need a permit?+
Public places listed here are visitable by default; the permit exceptions are usually specific activities (backcountry camping, drones, commercial photography) rather than the visit itself. Check the cited official source for anything activity-based.
Should you visit Coyote Buttes in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Coyote Buttes as a fair-weather item on your trip and swap in the covered alternatives from the regional list when the forecast turns.
What makes Coyote Buttes different from other places like it?+
Its exact combination: a mountain in Arizona with verified coordinates and, where listed, an official designation. The difference is usually the setting and the access pattern rather than the category label - the facts table on this page shows that specifically.
Can you visit Coyote Buttes as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Coyote Buttes, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Coyote Buttes known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: Coyote Buttes is a section of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Coyote Buttes?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Coyote Buttes section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call coyote buttes beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. Come for the light and the setting rather than a single checklist object.
Is Coyote Buttes crowded?+
Coyote Buttes sits below the headline-name tier in its region, so crowding is an event-and-weekend problem rather than a standing one. Weekday mornings in the shoulder season are the quietest version of the visit.
What is the history of Coyote Buttes?+
The History & Background section above quotes the coordinate-verified Wikipedia lead for Coyote Buttes, which is the shortest trustworthy path into its past - dates, name origin and the events that shaped it, with the full referenced article linked there. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5291432](https://www.geonames.org/5291432). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Paw Hole
Lake · Arizona
Lone Tree Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Ladder Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Cocks Comb
Mountain · Utah
Buckskin Mountain
Mountain · Arizona
Maries Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Middle Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Franks Reservoir
Lake · Arizona