'The Wave' sandstone formation with pools of water in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
© Dennis Frates/Alam
A sea of swirling stone
By showing you this coveted sight, we're saving you a bit of an ordeal. For a close-up view like this of 'The Wave,' a whorled sandstone formation in the northern Arizona wilderness, you'd have to navigate a rugged and mostly trail-free route with a permit in your pocket (only a small number are available, offered via a daily lottery). But that's just one day hike of many in the expansive Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, which encompasses almost 300,000 acres of Arizona and Utah canyonland.
Related Images
A carving of artist W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp in the Pura Meduwe Karang temple in Bali, Indonesia
The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Brightly colored powder for sale during Holi
Artist Laura Buckley with her mixed-media sculpture 'Fata Morgana,' Saatchi Gallery, London
A Diego Rivera painting to celebrate Labor Day
Street art from the Pasadena Chalk Festival 2013, California
View of Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina
Mars Express image of the icy cap at Mars’ south pole
Bing Today Images
Salt evaporation ponds on the island of Gozo, Malta
Feb 05, 2026
Scottish Blackface sheep, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Feb 05, 2025
Monarch butterflies, Goleta, California
Feb 05, 2024
Monarch butterflies at Pismo Beach, California
Feb 05, 2023
Iceberg floating off the coast of Antarctica
Feb 05, 2018
King penguins at Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands
Feb 05, 2017
