Hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Zion National Park was one of the reasons why I decided to go south for my cross-country road trip!  (Most sensible people would’ve chosen to go north to escape the desert. I wanted to hike Angels Landing and the Narrows though!)

Hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park

Distance: ~10 miles (out + back)
Elevation: 4163 ft
Difficulty: Difficult
Duration: ~7 hrs
Trailhead Address: Riverside Walk Trailhead, Riverside Walk, Springdale, UT 84767
Parking: Use the shuttle system + take it to the Temple of Sinawava stop!

You’ll be hiking in the Virgin River for pretty much all of this hike, save for the very beginning at the Riverwalk Trailhead.  If that isn’t your idea of a good time, this hike isn’t the best choice for you. It was knee to waist-level for us for most of this hike. (For reference, we are 5’4″ and 5’2″.)

You don’t need a permit if you’re doing this hike from the bottom up–just don’t go past Big Spring and you’ll be a-okay!

Late spring/early summer is probably the best time to hike this! That’s when the water isn’t as cold and the water level is much lower. There is a chance of flash floods though, so you definitely have to be aware of the weather. It’s significantly cooler hiking in the canyon too, so I’d recommend choosing the warmest day to hike this!

It’s also suuuper slippery — the rocks are like bowling balls that you’re constantly trying to find your footing on. I lost count of how many times I twisted my ankles on this hike. (Thankfully, I didn’t get much more than a mild sprain!)

I would highly, HIGHLY recommend renting the footwear package from Zion Adventures, which includes canyoneering shoes, neoprene socks, and a hiking pole. (You can pick it up the day before you plan to hike! Reservations aren’t needed unless you have a huge group going.)

I’m a biased party, but the above package was worth it for the hiking stick alone. I say this because my best friend almost died on this hike and I managed to save him only because we had that hiking stick.

Our plan had been to hike at least until we got to “Wall Street.” However, neither of us had looked at photos of any landmarks on this hike, so we didn’t actually knew what Wall Street looked like and just kept going and going. We got to points where we pretty much had to swim (partially because we’re short but also because of the water levels) and at one point, we were seated on a large boulder deciding whether or not to keep trekking (trying to be mindful of the return trip). At this point, we’d gone far enough that there was no one else around.

We decided to keep going. My friend jumped off the rock back into the river, but it was way deeper than anticipated and his backpack weighed him down. I tried bracing myself on the rock and pulling him back up, but wasn’t able to. This is about the point where we both realized with horror that there was a very real possibility that he might actually drown. Neither of us were willing to go down without a fight though. I was not about to lose my best friend out there, so I grabbed my hiking stick + plastered myself against the rock and we managed to bring him back to a shallower portion of the river.

Needless to say, we decided to turn back after that. We made a huge pot of “celebration of life” soup using fresh produce from the garden at the hostel. Thank goodness we lived to tell the tale! <3

• Have you ever had a near-death experience on a hike?
• Do you look up hikes/pictures of hikes before you go on them?