Note 1: if you want to find peace and solitude on this hike, this isn’t the adventure in Zion you are looking for.  Unless you are hiking from the Top Down, you could be hiking with hundreds or thousands of people. 

Note 2: Make sure you use the restroom before you head out on your hike in The Narrows.  Bring a waste disposal bag just in case you need to go #2.  The National Park Service says you MUST pack out your human waste.

Note 3: There is no cell service on this hike.  Make sure you tell someone where you are going and when to expect you back home.  If you get injured, you may need to rely on other hikers for help until they can get a hold of EMS.

It has been many years since I hiked The Narrows.  I had been planning on hiking it again and it just so happened that my day off this week was on a beautiful day and so I headed to Zion!  

I checked the flash flood warning potential and weather report for the day – it looked great.  Make sure you check these before hiking in The Narrows or other slot canyons in the park.  Make sure you have proper footwear.  It’s best to have shoes that provide substantial grip in water.  I highly suggest buying some type of canyoneering shoe or renting shoes from a vendor in the town of Springdale.  You will want a walking stick to keep your balance too.  Your feet will be wet for 90% of this adventure so you will want to make sure your feet are comfortable.  The water in the river can be cold in the shoulder months, so get some neoprene socks too if you need it. 

Don’t just go to Walmart and buy a $5 pair of water shoes – they just won’t work.  They won’t work because they aren’t designed for extremely rugged river hiking and they don’t have the proper grip to keep you from slipping.  They also don’t provide ankle support that you need.

Having worked for a concessionary for the national park, I have seen so many cheap Walmart water shoes thrown away in the garbage cans at the park.

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I took the shuttle from the Zion Visitor Center up to stop 9 The Temple of Sinawava to begin my adventure.  It was already very crowded as hundreds of people packed every shuttle bus.  I got to stop 9 and started hiking on the Riverside Walk Trail.  You must hike this trail for 1.1 mile until you are at the beginning of The Narrows.  The Riverside Walk Trail is very easy because it doesn’t gain much elevation and the entire trail is paved.

I love the Riverside Walk Trail.  It’s easily one of the most enjoyable in the park.  You will follow the Virgin River the whole way and see hanging gardens, squirrels, and a few springs.

Once at the end of the Riverside Walk the river fun begins!  Get prepared to get your feet wet from now on out.   You won’t necessarily be in the water 100% of the time going forward, because there are many spots to get on dry land along the way, but you will cross the river many, many times.

I saw someone hiking in bare foot!  It would seem painful to do this since you are stepping on branches and rocks in the river!

From the end of the Riverside Walk Trail, it’s another 1/4 mile to Mystery Spring.  Some people don’t want to spend all day hiking through a river, so they just hike up to Mystery Spring and turn around.  This is a great spot to watch for people rappelling down the waterfall as this is a popular canyoneering route.  Mystery Spring is at 1.35 mile marker.

Keep going for another 0.22 mile until the river makes a dramatic turn to the west (left).    This is the sharp bend in the Virgin River that’s really neat to see!  It was so crowded here that I knew I had to pass the main group of people or I would be stuck behind them for a while.  I hurried to the side and passed about 100 people.  I found a nice shallow stretch that I could walk fast on.

The sharp bend will then make another sharp bend, but to the right (east) this time.  The river will make a few more large bends until you come to the Orderville Canyon Junction (2.5 mile marker).

It’s really difficult to decide where to hike sometimes.  I was following a line of people who were going in a very deep part of the river.  I decided I didn’t want to get up to my neck in water so I went a different way and ended up only getting up to my knees wet.  This is how it goes for most of this hike.  You just kind of go slow and test your footing to see where the shallowest parts are.  It can be tiring and time consuming, but you just have to get it in your mind that you will be going slow and taking deliberate steps.  This is why you need good canyoneering shoes and a walking stick.

At the Orderville Canyon Junction, you should walk down the short ways to the little falls in the Orderville Canyon.  It’s neat to see, but you aren’t allowed to hike up more than a 1/4 mile without a permit.

Most people turn around at the Virgin River/Orderville Junction, but I say “continue onward!”  Some of the best stuff is literally jut around the corner.  Wall Street begins just after the Orderville junction.  It’s some of the best scenery as the walls of the canyon narrow down quite a bit more than usual.

It was nice not having as many people around.  The crowds died down and it was great to not trip over people in the river. 

I LOVED This part!  I loved this giant crack down the center of the river!  I stopped here for lunch.

I hiked up as far as the Imlay Canyon Guardian.   I named it that, but it really doesn’t have a name.  It’s just a rock feature that looks like a head of some creature at the end of Imlay Canyon (this was at 2.80 mile marker).

I went up just a little bit more beyond this and then hiked back down.  A few people continued hiking up to Big Spring, which is about 9 miles roundtrip.  Big Spring is as far as you can go in The Narrows without needing a permit.  

When I got home, I realized something.  I took over 200 photos and had someone in almost all of my pictures.  You just have to resign yourself to the fact that you will probably have someone in all of your photos too.   If I had to guess, I bet over 1000 people were hiking The Narrows when I did it!