The “Narrows” are upstream from the main Zion Canyon, where the walls squeeze to slot canyon dimensions: 1,500 feet tall and as narrow as 30 feet wide in places. In these spots, the water flows from wall to wall so hiking it involves a lot of wading through the Virgin River.
The Narrows span a distance of 16 miles but to hike the whole thing you need a permit, and more time than we had. Without a permit, you can hike up from the end of the Gateway to the Narrows Trail (Riverside Walk) to Big Springs, about 3.6 miles one way. We rented drypants, neoprene socks, shoes, and walking sticks from the Zion Adventure Company who gave us a quick lecture on the Narrows and said that if we hiked all the way to Big Springs we would most likely run into some spots where we had to swim. Not looking to get that x-treme this time, we set our sights on getting to “Wall Street”, the section where the canyon is most narrow, which is only a couple miles in and requires no swimming.
So, the Narrows have much more to offer than what you will see here, but even a quick trip offers amazing and unique scenery.