Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Utah →  Zion National Park → The Narrows

Location: Zion Main Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah

Distance: up to 10 miles round trip (to Big Spring)

Elevation Gain: very little (you’re walking the path of the river)

Time Required: 1 – 6 hours (depending on how far up canyon you hike)

Red Tape/Notes: No permit required for the bottom up hike. The park is open 24 hours a day; park passes are $30 per vehicle and are valid for 7 days. The hike is most easily accessed from the Zion Canyon Shuttle, stop #9 (Temple of Sinawava) – the final stop. For more information on hiking The Narrows, including details on the Top Down hike (not discussed here), visit the post on Joe’s Guide to Zion.

What’s Nearby?: Riverside Walk, Orderville Canyon, Weeping Rock, Hidden Canyon, Echo Canyon, Observation Point, Emerald Pools, Angel’s Landing

Zion’s main canyon gradually narrows as you get further into the park, until at the end of the Riverside Walk, there’s no longer room for anything but the Virgin River. Here, the river has carved sheer walls that are 1000 feet high, and sections of the canyon are only 20 feet wide. This is likely the most popular hike in Zion, so unless you’re on the first handful of buses into the park, it’ll be hard for you to have any privacy. Still, it’s worth doing at least a portion of the Narrows, because it is very pretty. On hot days, the cold water can be delightful, but you’ll enjoy it far more if you have on neoprene booties and hard-toed shoes like canyoneering boots (not to mention being able to move much faster) – the river is full of rocks, and it’s inevitable that you’ll stub your toes from time to time. I never carry a walking stick, but this is one place where I can imagine it would be helpful – I find that I can move much faster if I’m holding Tom’s hand, due to the additional stability of more points of contact, so presumably a walking stick would do something similar. You’ll definitely see people fall in the river (with or without walking sticks) as they attempt to navigate rapids or slip on rocks – it’s never very deep though, so the worst that happens is they get very wet. You can hike up the river as far as Big Spring, which is 5 miles – beyond that is the realm of top down permit holders; you can also hike to Orderville Canyon (3 miles up canyon) and head up Orderville as far as you’d like. Hiking in the river is slower than hiking on a trail, particularly heading up river (I’m always surprised at how much faster it is coming down river), so don’t plan on cranking out 15 minute miles even if that’s your normal hiking pace.

Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Utah →  Zion National Park → The Narrows