Visitors Wading through the Narrows at Zion National Park
When I was musing to someone how I wanted to visit Zion National Park someday, it turned out that he has actually been there and was raving about the place. Needless to say, he was encouraging me to go there someday, and that someday is finally here. One of the places which was recommended to me was the Narrows. What exactly is it? As you know, Zion National Park was carved out of sandstone by the Virgin River. The Virgin River is one of the major landmarks here in the park and it cuts right through it. Along the way to the Narrows, you can see sheer cliffs on both sides of the river, giving you an idea of how powerful the river is. Eventually, visitors walking along the path would come to a dead end – the Narrows.
Virgin River at the Narrows at Zion National Park
It isn’t a true dead end. The path actually goes on. As you can imagine, the Narrows is a narrow part of the Virgin River where you have imposing cliffs on either side of the river. Visitors have a choice to make here – turn back, or continue on. One of the popular activities here in Zion National Park is to go through the Narrows. That means getting into the water and start wading. IF you plan on going to the Narrows and into the river, you will need proper gear for this. There are shops within the park that rent out wading equipment. Much as I was curious as to what the Narrows were, I decided against renting equipment. I know I am traveling alone and although there are a lot of people making their way to the Narrows, I think I didn’t want to risk something happening to me or my equipment.
It was almost winter and the water level isn’t high at all. The park has warnings if there would be a change in the situation but they would say how deep the water is and that includes the current. I perched myself on a rock where the Narrows begin and just took my photos from there. There was a continuous stream of visitors in full wading attire and making their way to the river. I am sure that there would be way more people here in the summer but I wonder about the water level in the summer. I would expect that spring would be when the river would be most full owing to snow melting upstream.
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