The Narrows: Zion National Park
It seems The Narrows need no introduction. It is one of the most popular trails in Zion National Park, if you can call it a trail since it’s virtually all underwater. Like Angels Landing, this is one of those hikes that is on many people’s bucket list. It is a destination for many. For me, it remains on my bucket list because our recent visit taught us some important lessons that will make our next visit even better.
The Narrows is a trail that follows the Virgin River upstream beginning where it emerges from sheer red rock cliffs. The trailhead is at the top of Zion’s main canyon. You’ve almost certainly seen the iconic photos of people wading through the water, dwarfed by the cliff walls that seem to be always just within arm’s reach in this very narrow canyon. I remember hiking through here on a family vacation when I was a kid, and was excited to finally make it back as an adult.
A Few Things To Know
There are a few important things to know abut The Narrows before you go.
First, this is a slot canyon. It’s narrow and the river almost always fills the entire width of the canyon. That means that other than the water, there is nowhere to go. That leads to the second important point:
It is susceptible to flash flooding. If there is rain upstream — upstream means virtually anywhere in the watershed that feeds the Virgin River — even if it’s not near where you will be hiking, there is risk of flash flooding. Since you are hiking through a slot canyon, you have no escape route. This makes for a potentially dangerous situation and you must watch the weather.
Third, you will be in the water. There’s no way around it. You won’t be crossing the water every once in a while. You will be hiking upstream (and back downstream) through the river almost the entire time. Be prepared for that with your footwear as well as how you manage your gear. It is a good idea to invest in an inexpensive dry bag.
The Reward
In exchange for all these warnings, you have the opportunity to a truly remarkable experience. There’s nothing like feeling so small against those towering canyon walls. The pleasure of finding a hanging garden where water weeps out of the sandstone is an experience that you cannot have in many other places in the world. And if you can make it deep enough into the canyon you can enjoy real solitude from the crowds.
The Hike
Getting to The Narrows is easy. It does not require a permit unless you go beyond a point about 4.5 miles into the canyon called Big Springs. Ride the shuttle up the main canyon to the last stop: The Temple of Sinewava. From here, the first 0.9 miles upstream is next to the river on The Riverside Walk trail. At the end of this trail is where The Narrows really begins — this is where the only way to continue is to get your feet wet.
From here on out you can expect to be in the water full time. The crowds will remain thick for a few turns of the river, but quickly fade away just a half mile into the canyon.
Since it’s a water hike, people take a couple of different approaches with their footwear. Many who have spent time in Southern Utah’s canyons will wear Teva-style sandals. This protects the bottom of your feet, but makes it easy to work in the water. That’s what I did. Many trail guides recommend wearing hiking boots that can get wet. That’s what Middle Aged Wife did. If I had it to do again I would follow the hiking boot advice.
When we visited, it had rained the day before, and you could see it in the river. The water was still brown and murky with all the silt it was carrying down through the canyon from above. This made it so we could not see the ground beneath the water. This wouldn’t be too bad, except that the river bed here is basically just a field of rocks the size of cantelopes. Not being able to see beneath the water, you never knew where your foot would land. Were you coming down on a rock, between two rocks, on the side of a rock? Wearing the sandals, I had to step cautiously. Each and every step was a search for sure footing. It made the going very slow and tedious. Middle Aged Wife seemed to do better with her boots, which provided ankle support and toe protection.
This is one of the few times that I used trekking poles. I usually don’t like using them, but in this case they helped tremendously. This is especially true since the dirty water flowing in my peripheral vision tended to cause spatial disorientation. This made it easy to lose my balance.
We hiked upstream for quite a while and were pretty proud of ourselves for the progress we had made. The GPS tracker showed that we had made it at least 2 miles from where we entered the water, making for a pretty good hike. However, the GPS lies. When you are that deep in the canyon the signal gets reflected off the canyon walls or lost altogether. After the hike, as the evening went on, I grew more and more suspicious that we had not actually gone that far.
When I measured it out on Google Earth, it turns out we barely made it a mile into the canyon. This was a little demoralizing, given how much effort I felt we had put into the hike. Even still, it beats any day at the desk.
Lessons Learned
Our hike into The Narrows was still a great experience. But it leaves something more for us to look forward to on our next visit and it taught us a few lessons:
First, we did this hike as a “bonus hike” after climbing Angles Landing in the morning. We did alright, but it could have been better. In the future I would plan each of these major hikes as their own event for the day, leaving some of the many easier trails that Zion offers to finish off each day. I would plan one day specifically to attack The Narrows. That would leave time to warm up with an easy, gentle hike in the morning.
Second is footwear. If the water was clear I think the Tevas would have been a good choice. But with that murky water I think the hiking boots would have been a better experience this time around.
All in all, The Narrows was an enjoyable experience and I look forward to a more successful trek the next time I visit.
Stats
Total Distance: 4.2 Miles
Total Elevation Gain: Minimal
Total Time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
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