Hiking the Narrows in Zion with Kids: Tips and Tricks

My family just returned from a three-day visit to Zion National Park in Utah. It's a truly stunning place, with gorgeous views and scenery everywhere you turn, but if I had to pick a hike to highlight, it would be The Narrows, which can be enjoyed with even young children. We went with another family and there were four kids in our group, ages 6 to 9.

What is the Narrows?

The Narrows is the classic Zion hike, and it totally lives up to the hype. The hike takes place in the Virgin River, in the most narrow section of Zion Canyon. So you're basically wading through the flow of the river the whole time, with the walls of the gorge towering up on either side of you. It's pretty unreal. If your kids like splashing in water — and, really, what kid doesn't? — this is the hike for them.

What to Expect

To access the Narrows from the bottom up (which is what you should do if you have kids, no permit required), you first have to take the park shuttle to the last stop, Temple of Sinewa (map of the shuttle route here), then walk down a paved, one-mile path to the trailhead by the river. The walk goes by quickly because it's downhill and scenic. We even spotted deer along the way.

After reaching the trailhead, that's when the real fun begins. You enter the river and simply start walking through the water, against the current.

You can go as far as you'd like, then turn around to head back. Most families with children get as far as Mystery Falls — a waterfall that seems to just come out of the rock — before turning back (map of the trail here).

The water starts off ankle-deep and can get up to knee-deep on adults (or waist-deep on kids). You can, of course, go farther down the river, where the water rises significantly, but you probably won't if you have kids in tow.

Allot at least 5 hours for the entire trip, including approximately 1.5 hours roundtrip on the shuttle, 1 hour roundtrip on the paved path to reach the trailhead, 2 hours roundtrip in the river, and half an hour for a snack break or lunch. Check this weather website for flood alerts in Zion, as rain will make or break this hike. You don't want to be anywhere near the river if a flash flood is likely.

Plan to hike the Narrows in the early morning. Not only is the chance of thunderstorms less likely in the morning, but it's also considerably less crowded. We started at 8:00 in the morning, and there were just a few other hikers with us at that time. By the time we returned to the trailhead around 1:00 in the afternoon, tons of people were just getting in the river, and the scene was starting to resemble a water park.

Zion's website describes hiking in the Narrows as "walking on slippery bowling balls," but I didn't find it to be that slippery. The bigger problem seemed to be finding your footing in general, as the rocks are all different shapes and sizes and it's easy to misjudge where your foot will land with each step. A walking stick definitely helps you keep your balance.

Once you start on the hike, there's no way out except the way you came, so make sure you use the bathroom at the shuttle stop before starting.

How to Dress

The most important thing you can do to prepare for the hike is wear proper shoes. Strappy sport sandals (like the ones made by Keen or Teva) or water shoes work well, and it's super important to have a hard, closed toe because you'll be stubbing your toes against the rocks a lot.

You may also want to consider wearing neoprene socks to keep your feet warm, as the water stays cold even if the temperature outside is in the 90s. If you'd rather not pack all these things for your trip, you can rent them all from a local outfitter like Zion Adventure Company. Assuming that you're hiking in the summer, it's not necessary to rent dry pants or dry suits.

As for your kids' clothes, I recommend a rash guard and swim bottoms, as they'll likely be getting wet. It can be cold when you're first starting out, though, so a cover-up is probably a good idea. It can also get sunny and hot as the day goes on, so hats are also a good bet.

What to Bring

The four things I'd recommend bringing in a lightweight backpack are bottled water, snacks, a camera, and a walking stick (although you may get lucky and score some abandoned sticks at the trailhead). There are spots along the hike where you can sit on elevated rocks and take a break, so that's when you'll get to eat your snacks. Make sure you bag everything in Ziplocks so that they don't get wet if you fall — it's entirely possible that you will!

We also packed a lunch to eat after the hike was over. We enjoyed our sandwiches and chips at the Temple of Sinewa shuttle stop (there are many benches available there) before climbing aboard the bus to head back to the visitor center.

Check out my more detailed itinerary for visiting Zion National Park with kids for other family-friendly hikes in the park.

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Bryce Canyon National Park: Best Hikes and Activities for Kids

Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah is a terrific side trip from Zion National Park, where we spent three days in late August. Being at the higher elevation of Bryce brought a respite from the heat of Zion as well as new and different sights, particularly the world-famous collection of hoodoos. I’d seen plenty of photographs of the hoodoos prior to the trip, but it takes being there to realize the immense beauty of the scenery. It’s a different type of beauty than the lush grandeur of Zion — more dry and alien — but also breathtaking. One to two days is all you need to get a taste of this spectacular national park.

Where to Stay 

We stayed one night at the Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon (not to be confused with the Best Western Ruby's Inn), just a few minutes from the park entrance, and it seemed to be the nicest option in the area. The hotel's interior was designed to resemble a grand lodge, and there are little details that made us feel at home, including a heated outdoor pool, free breakfast, and a laundry room. Plus, the management was super nice about us canceling a night of our stay (without penalty) on account of the weather, even though I was asking the morning of.

What to Do

We started off our visit by getting an overview of Bryce's main attraction — the display of hoodoos in the canyon — by hiking the Rim Trail. The whole trail is 5.5 miles long and runs along the rim of the canyon, giving you an opportunity to view it from above, but we only hiked the most popular section, from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point, which is only half a mile (map here). If you don't want to hike back to your car after reaching Sunset, you have the option of hopping aboard the park's shuttle bus for a free ride back.

After getting a sense of the canyon from above, we went on a hike that took us right into it. The Queen's Garden Trail and Navajo Loop combination is just under 3 miles long, and is a stunning experience that descends into the canyon and brings you up close to the hoodoos. Parts of the trail bring you right up against the ledge, so hold onto your kid's hand!

Hiking in is all downhill, of course, depositing you on the canyon floor, where it's cool and shaded by different varieties of pine trees. It's the climbing out that's the challenge, but the experience of switch-backing up Wall Street (the final leg of the Navajo Loop) is so amazing that you almost forget how hard you're working your legs!

If 3 miles is too long for your kids, opt for just the Navajo Loop (1.3 miles), which is the more dramatic — and steepest — portion of the hike, and also offers you prime views of Thor's Hammer, the park's mascot hoodoo.

Another way to experience the hoodoos is on horseback. Canyon Trail Rides takes you right into the canyon on a two- or three-hour ride (kids must be at least 7 to do the shorter ride). We'd already done a trail ride in Zion on this trip so we didn't book this tour, but after watching a line of riders pass us on their way into the canyon, I kind of wished we did.

Some rain on our trip prevented us from doing all the things we had planned for Bryce. One thing on my itinerary that we didn't get to do was the drive through the entire park (about 35 minutes one way; map here), with a stop at Rainbow Point to hike the one-mile Bristlecone Loop. Another activity was the astronomy presentation that the rangers offer on Thursday and Saturday evenings, where you can use high-powered telescopes to examine the night sky. Oh, well; next time!

Where to Eat

For a fun activity in the area, I recommend the dinner and show at Ebenezer's Barn and Grill. You eat a barbecue buffet meal while listening to live country music being performed on a full-size stage, and the musicians are quite talented. We got to hear classics by Dolly Parton, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Patsy Kline, and more.

The band put on a high-quality show, particularly the fiddler. I'd been expecting something more hokey and geared toward children, but it was more like an adult concert that the kids also happened to enjoy. At one point, they were invited up to the stage to dance to a song. The food is by no means fine dining, but it was tasty enough and something different from the rest of the offerings in the area. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend an evening.

What's Nearby

In addition to nearby Zion National Park, the town of Page in Arizona makes a great day trip from Bryce Canyon. That's where you'll find Antelope Canyon (technically in the Navajo Nation of LeChee), a sandstone slot canyon that needs to be seen to be believed. Here are my family-friendly itineraries for Page and Zion.

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Zion National Park: Best Hikes and Activities for Kids

Zion National Park in Utah is like the Disney World of U.S. National Parks. There's a shuttle bus that takes you through the park (cars aren't allowed to drive around during the high season), and at each of the nine stops, there are a bunch of fun and interesting hikes, several of them perfect for kids. We combined a three-day visit to Zion with a day in nearby Bryce Canyon National Park and a day in Page, Arizona, in late August, and it was a wonderful mix of adventure, beautiful scenery and, of course, plenty of time at the hotel pool.

Where to Stay

Unlike at Yellowstone, it's not terribly important to stay within the park to enjoy it, and we found the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale to be perfect, just three minutes from the park entrance and within walking distance to dozens of restaurants and adventure outfitters. The rooms are spacious, clean and comfortable, with kitchenettes and small tables for dining. We had a room looking out onto the large pool, with a majestic view of Zion's towering red peaks. There's nothing more awesome than sitting in the hot tub and looking at that view.

Plus, on the premises there's a laundry room and an excellent restaurant called Moki. You never have to leave the hotel — except to go hiking at Zion, of course!

What to Do

Our first activity in the park was to take a one-hour horseback ride with Canyon Trail Rides (Bus Stop 5: Zion Lodge). The path we took followed the Virgin River — the horses actually had to cross the river, which was thrilling! — to the Court of the Patriarchs, a set of three towering sandstone peaks. Kids have to be 7 years old to ride, and the horses were very well behaved. If you're visiting in the summer, I recommend booking one of the earlier rides that start at or before 11am, to avoid the afternoon heat.

Right across from the Zion Lodge is the Emerald Pools, a kid-friendly hike that can be adjusted for age and hiking ability. There are three levels of pools: lower, middle and upper. Our original plan was to hike all of them by doing a loop from The Grotto (Bus Stop 6), along Kayenta Trail to all three pools (map here), but weather-related closures relegated our hike to just the Lower Pool. As it turns out, that's about all we could manage in the mid-afternoon heat — a one-mile out-and-back. The entire trail to the Lower Pool is paved, making it easy to navigate with small children, and the payoff at the end is a wet path that leads behind a small waterfall. Getting sprinkled on by the falling water is a real relief in the heat.

The Narrows is a classic Zion hike (along with the decidedly less kid-friendly Angel's Landing), and we all had a blast with it. The entire hike takes place in the Virgin River, so proper footwear is definitely required (trek shoes or water shoes with a hard toe). My friends who came with us got their kids neoprene socks to go with their trek shoes. A walking stick is also an excellent idea for keeping your balance on the slippery rocks and against the stronger currents.

The Narrows bottom-up hike begins at the last shuttle stop (No. 9), then requires a one-mile walk down a paved path to the river. Once you're in the river, that's when the real fun begins. You start off wading through shallow waters, then the river starts to get deeper in parts, and the walls of the canyon start to close in. Still, there are many sections where you can take a break along a sandy shore, and the water never rose above my knees (or my kids' waists), so it's manageable for elementary-aged children. My 7-year-old son was able to do the hike just fine.

The Narrows goes on and on, becoming deeper and more treacherous, so at one point you'll have to turn back if you're bringing along kids. We hiked for about an hour in, then another hour out, with a snack break in between. Here are more of my tips and tricks for hiking the Narrows with kids.

A short hike that kids can easily do on a hot afternoon is Weeping Rock Trail (Bus Stop 7). The entire out-and-back hike is about half a mile, but it's a steep climb up a paved path. The payoff is worth it, though, a stone patio that looks out from under a "weeping" rock — a curved alcove with water permanently dripping off the top. In addition to cooling off there, you get a stunning view of the peaks from the patio; that's where I took the photo at the top of this post.

The last hike we did in Zion was slightly more death-defying, but if you've got kids who can follow directions and are willing to hold your hand, it's perfectly safe. The Canyon Overlook Trail is found off the glorious Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, which snakes from one side of the park to the other (and is worth the drive for the astounding panoramas). The out-and-back trail is only one mile long, but what a mile it is! As you go up, up, up toward the scenic overlook, your journey takes you onto the slickrock and across several hair-raising paths, where you're separated from a plunge into the slot canyon below by just a railing. It's sort of like Angel's Landing Lite, and perfect for adventurous little hikers.

Then there's the view at the top of the trail, which is so beautiful it feels unreal. There are also several small peaks for rock scrambling at the top. We spent an hour at the Canyon Overlook viewing area alone, taking pictures from every angle. We weren't there at sunset, but were told that it's spectacular there.

The last thing we did before leaving the Zion area was go on a half-day family canyoneering excursion with Zion Adventure Company. This activity is meant for families with kids ages 4 to 12 and is the perfect introduction to rappelling, rock climbing, and rock scrambling. I've done all these things before (without the kids), and even I learned a lot about the mechanics of canyoneering. Usually on these sorts of tours, the guides will hook you up on their ropes system and send you off, but with this company, the guides have you attach yourself to the rope system (always making sure you're getting it right) so that you really learn how to do everything. Even the kids were able to follow our guides' precise and kid-friendly instructions.

And boy, were those guides patient. We had two, Ross and Benton. My son was so scared during the first rappel that he started to cry. But Ross patiently talked him through everything, and by the end of the excursion, he was happily climbing up a steep rock wall called Copperhead. We also got to scramble through the most narrow slot I've ever seen, only wide enough to fit one person walking sideways at a time. It was an amazing four hours, and I can't recommend this excursion highly enough!

Where to Eat

We sampled many of the restaurants around Springdale, the town right outside of Zion, for lunch and dinner, and many were very tasty. Some of our favorites included MeMe's Cafe, Oscar's Cafe, and the above mentioned Moki. We also loved the creamy and flavorful ice cream at the Bumbleberry Gift Shop and Springdale Candy Company.

Inside the park, we had lunch at the Red Rock Grill by Zion Lodge. The food wasn't as good as at the restaurants outside the park, but it's an easy place to grab a bite if you're between activities within the park and don't want to give up a parking spot at the visitor center.

What's Nearby

If you're flying into the area, the Las Vegas airport is the closest one to Zion and you may end up spending a night or two there. While Vegas is decidedly adult-oriented, there are some activities that kids can enjoy as well. Here are my recommendations on what to do, see, and eat in Vegas when you have children in tow.

And as I mentioned, Zion is a great home base for a day trip (or longer visit) to nearby Bryce Canyon. The town of Page in Arizona is also close by, and I highly recommend making the trip out there to experience the otherworldly Antelope Canyon.

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