Backpacking The Narrows — Zion National Park

Hiking the Narrows is essentially about hiking in the Virgin River, lined by majestic slot canyons on both sides — an experience like no other. The best part is that it can be tailored to suit all fitness and skill levels. While researching ways to explore the Narrows, we discovered that spending a night under the towering canyon walls is an option — and we would not have it any other way.

The Three Ways to Hike the Narrows

Permits

A permit is required to hike top-down (both day hike and overnight). Secure a permit at recreation.gov and choose "Virgin Narrows Day-use trail from Top (12)" in the resource area. Overnight camping permits are highly competitive — apply as early as possible.

Our Experience — Top-down Overnight

We started from the visitor center at 5:45am. Being a Memorial Day weekend, the parking lot was already filling up. We reached Chamberlain's Ranch trailhead at around 8:00am — there's a small restroom there, which you should use because it's the last one for a very long time.

The next stretch is where the true shape and size of the slot canyons start unfolding. There really was nothing more we could ask for — cruising through narrow sections of gorge and having it completely to ourselves in the early morning hours.

After about 8.5 miles, we reached the top of North Fork Falls — a waterfall that seemed to block the trail entirely. There is a narrow, almost hidden passage to the left of the falls that gets you to the bottom. By this point our backpacks had really started making their presence felt.

A little over half a mile further we reached the confluence of Deep Creek, where the river is joined by a major tributary and water volume increases significantly. This is also the location of Campsite 1.

We reached our campsite at around 3:00pm and had the entire evening to immerse ourselves in the sound of the river echoing through the canyon. The experience of the Narrows aside, it was one of the most memorable camping experiences we've had — falling asleep to the sound of flowing water inside a slot canyon.

Day Two — Wall Street & The Final Miles

The next morning we were packed and hiking by 9:00am, all the toil from the day before washed away. As we hiked downstream, water volume increased considerably as more tributaries joined the Virgin River.

Around Campsite 12 (the last campsite) we encountered waist-deep water for the first time. Several pools required getting at least waist-deep to cross. It's possible to circumvent most spots by scrambling along the canyon walls, but some crossings are unavoidable.

Big Springs — a second waterfall — is the turnaround point for most bottom-up day hikers. From here you start to encounter a lot more people heading up from Temple of Sinawava.

The next stretch, often called Wall Street, is where the Narrows gets deeper and darker. Canyon walls become more imposing, water levels rise, and it becomes — by every measure — the most gorgeous section of the entire hike.

Beyond Wall Street there's a junction on the left where Orderville Canyon joins — for the adventurous, this is a technical side canyon worth exploring if you have time and energy.

The Narrows concludes at the Riverside Walk. Stop, look around, and soak in the expansive views of the valley before hiking the final half-mile paved trail back to the shuttle stop.