Unit 12B, Arizona

Elevation ranges from roughly 4,000 feet along the Colorado River corridor at Glen Canyon to approximately 7,000 feet on the Paria Plateau. The terrain transitions from flat to rolling sagebrush-dominated valley floors (House Rock Valley) and the soft-sand Paria Plateau to steep, rocky canyon country along the Vermilion Cliffs escarpment and the remote drainage systems that cut toward the Colorado River. The Buckskin Mountains contain the highest deer densities in the unit. The Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness includes highly rugged cliff faces and deep slot canyons accessible only on foot or horseback.

The unit is administered primarily by the BLM Arizona Strip Field Office (headquartered in St. George, Utah) with the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness (~112,500 acres) and portions of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument also within its bounds. The Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area form the southern and eastern borders. The Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians holds sovereign tribal lands that are legally excluded from the unit boundary. US Highway 89A traverses the southern edge of the unit at the base of the Vermilion Cliffs, connecting Marble Canyon and Jacob Lake and serving as the primary paved access corridor. BLM Road 1065 (House Rock/Coyote Valley Road) provides the main north-south route into the interior, running from US 89A north through House Rock Valley to the Utah state line; four-wheel drive is required on sandy segments and on the Paria Plateau. Off-road vehicle travel is restricted to existing roads on all BLM lands. The Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness is closed to all motorized vehicles; access within it is limited to foot and horseback travel. No roads penetrate most of the Paria Plateau from the east; that area is approached via BLM 1065 from the west. Dispersed camping is available on BLM land but is prohibited within one-quarter mile of water sources. Developed campgrounds are located outside the unit in Fredonia, Kanab (Utah), Page, and at Marble Canyon Lodge. There are no hospitals or grocery stores within 20 miles of most of the unit. The unit is divided in the regulations into 12B West (west of BLM Road 1065/US 89A/Kaibab NF boundary to Kanab Creek) and 12B East (east of BLM Road 1065) for certain deer and all bighorn sheep hunts.

Primary cover types are pinyon-juniper woodland and cliffrose on the hills and rocky canyons, large sagebrush flats across the valley floors and benches, and scattered sagebrush with soft sandy soils on the Paria Plateau. Valley floors support grasses and desert scrub. Riparian stringers are sparse but present along Kanab Creek. There is no ponderosa pine zone within the unit; the adjacent Kaibab Plateau ponderosa forest lies within the Kaibab National Forest boundary that forms the unit's southwestern edge.

Mule deer are the primary big game species; the unit functions largely as migratory winter range for deer that summer on the Kaibab Plateau (Unit 12A and adjacent Utah units including the Paunsaugunt). Some resident bucks inhabit the Paria Plateau year-round. The rut typically begins in late October and can extend through late December. Desert bighorn sheep maintain stable populations on the remote cliffs and rocky rims of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness (12B East subunit), averaging approximately mid-150s Boone and Crockett scores over recent five-year periods. Pronghorn antelope are present in relatively small numbers, concentrated primarily in the open flats of House Rock Valley. American bison from the Kaibab Plateau Herd range through portions of 12B alongside units 12A and 13A; the herd is managed conservatively with cow-only permits. Elk numbers are very low and scattered; AZGFD explicitly states hunt success is expected to be very low and the Kaibab units are not traditional elk habitat. Chukar partridge occupy the canyon walls and cliff talus throughout the unit.