Or should I say, "soles" in the Narrows?

My family and I are hiking the Narrows this summer and I'm wondering if your typical water shoes from Walmart will work or if you could feel every rock on the soles of your feet? Is it best to bring old tennis shoes instead? Not wanting to spend too much money for a day hike.

i would suggest your old tennis shoes with socks - mainly because they lace. Sometimes the water shoes will slide on your foot and sometimes they could get sucked off.

Just rent the shoes from Zion Adventure Company. They have 2 locations in Springdale(right at the parks entrance). They have the special shoes 5/10 Canyoneers. You CAN definately tell a huge difference. This is one hike I highily recommend taking a hiking stick along too.
BTW, I always try to hike "the best" trail in the national parks. We have been to nearly all of them in 48 states. Angels Landing and The Narrows both are in my Top 5 all time favorite hikes. Truly awesome! Do not attempt The Narrows if weather/rain has occured or is forecasted. Even a small chance of rain would keep me from doing it, it's that serious in my opinion.

Ok, I take it from both of your comments that Walmart watershoes are a no-go.
Never thought about renting shoes but that's something I will definitely look into.
Regarding rain and The Narrows: I know that a strong thunderstorm, even miles away can potentially come through the canyon but is it really that serious if it's not a downpour? I mean, last year I heard about three people dying on The Wave hike . . . I've even heard about people dying in the Slots but never have I heard about any deaths at the Narrows? Wouldn't the Park Rangers be vigilant and close it if it were that serious?

Pretty much everyone rent their shoes, wet suits, and dry suits from Zion Adventure Co. I don't think there is another outfitter in town, but there might be.
I think the most deadly hikes in the National Park Systems are Mist Trail in Yosemite, Abram Falls in Smokies, Bright Angel Trail Grand Canyon, Angels Landing & The Narrows in Zion. The main reason for most of these is being to close to the edge and slipping or drowning.
Most people think just like your statement and think the park service is there to protect them. While somewhat true, the park service is there really to protect the park from people not the other way around. Thunderstorm can literally come out of nowhere. If you've never seen a flash flood its hard to describe. There is a lot of controversy on hikes like The Narrows and The Mist Trail or even hikes in the Grand Canyon in July and August when the heat is cranked up(also The Wave). It is up to each group/individual to be prepared. I think all the hikes are perfectly safe if a person uses good judgement and common sense. I always mention being safe in a slot canyon, because most people are not really aware.
For the record, I think there has been like 10-15 deaths in The Narrows and 10-15 on Angels Landing in Zion in the past 75 years. I think there was a big group(maybe 8 people) that died at one time several years ago in The Narrows.

Wow, never heard about that group that died in the Narrows. I know there was a large group that died from a flash flood in the slot canyons never Page several years ago.
Regardless, thanks for the advice and I will be sure to check out Zion Adventure.
By the way, I did see an article recently that said Abram Falls was on a list of dangerous hikes. I went on the hike as a kid . . . don't remember much about it except the Falls . . . what is so deadly about that hike?

People jumping off the cliffs near the falls and drowning is why Abram is one of the more deadly hikes. All the hikes mentioned have tons of people on them. Almost every instance of deaths on these hikes is from people taking risks that they shouldn't be taking. They have signs up saying no jumping/diving. Just like they have signs up at Yosemite and barriers, but people cross the chains/fenced "to get a little closer"

I'm assuming kids when you say family. Their ages may determine how far into the Narrows you go. Some of the water gets fairly deep -- but them I'm fairly short (and old) so it bothered me a bit.

If you already tennis shoes, I wouldn't bother renting from an outfitter. just my humble opinion

I am always of the opinion that proper gear is more comfortable, works better for the sport it is designed for, and even safer.
The canyoneer shoes grip much better than a tennis shoe and don't become water-logged.

jill_h,
Do your kids play basketball, baseball, football, hike, run track, and then go to church all in the same shoe? You can also play in the snow in tennis shoes but a nice pair of waterproof warm shoes sure is nice.


I think the price is about $5 to rent the shoes. They also rent wetsacks, so if you wanted to take a camera or sandwiches you might get one of those.

I would say most people do not have "proper gear" in The Narrows(we were there in October and it was pretty darn cold and so was the water). We had wetsuit pants, shoes, and socks we had rented. Most people were seriously worried about exposure after a short walk. We hiked the entire thing and were never cold at all, nor did any of the 3 of us fall(the rocks are pretty slick and we did have a few slips). We saw lots of people with very reddish/purplish looking feet.

http://www.zionadventures.com/zion-n...ntal-packages/

Apparently, they now rent it as a Package Deal only.

that makes sense about Abram Falls . . . and thanks for the input Jill . . . the outfitter looks great but $100 for 4 might be a bit steep.

To me it all depends on the water level and air/water temps. If it is 100 in the valley then it'll be 80-85 in the Narrows - still plenty warm. If the water level is low, I'd be ok in those conditions to hike in an old pair of sneakers and forgo renting the water shoes. This is especially true if don't plan to hike very far.

I would NEVER hike in slip on water shoes. No ankle support, and worse, no sole protection.

I definitely recommend renting a wooden hiking pole, and make sure you have a waterproof case for your camera to put in the backpack. Be prepared to get wet. It's part of the fun especially if it's hot out.

Zion Adventures is the best equipped store for hiking equipment as noted above. Not the cheapest place especially for their hiking stick. Last time it was about $8 - rental - bordering theft. They have a very good into video that must be viewed.

Narrows and water. Use this site
http://www.utah.com/hike/zion_narrows.htm

Average hiking times with average water flow from Chamberlain Ranch:
Time/distance: miles (km)/landmark.
00.00/0.00 (00.00) - At Trailhead
03.30/6.10 (09.82) - First Narrows
04.15/8.30 (13.36) - Waterfall
05.00/8.90 (14.32) - Deep Creek
05.45/9.80 (15.77) - Kolob Creek
06.35/10.9 (17.54) - Goose Creek
07.20/11.5 (18.51) - Big Spring
10.00/13.5 (21.73) - Orderville Canyon
12.20/16.2 (26.70) - Temple of Sinawava

Your current major problem is not the hike, but getting permit and campsite reservations. Do not attempt a single day hike unless you are a pro hiker and highly conditioned. If you live at sea level, there is an altitude problem at Zion.

Camera - be versed on your camera's option. In the canyon, bottom is dark while top is bright. Have to compensate or 'stack/layer' your photo in Photoshop.

Vaga

Vaga,
I assume they are hiking from bottow up not the full hike that is from the top going down. The Bottom Up hike does not require any permits.

IMOP, There is absolutely NO Altitude Problem in Zion whatsoever.

Our pictures were fine without doing a bunch of photoshop on them. I don't think there are really any worries there either.

No need for permits in that we are only entering from the backend. I don't recall any altitude issues in Zion - Bryce was at a higher elevation.

We did this trip in April and I reviewed our Zion Adventure package rental in my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...april-2014.cfm

I disagree with spirobulldog's assessment that their rental shoes are worth getting. But I am not that helpful because I can't recommend a better alternative. Dayhikers we saw had everything from bare feet (NOT recommended) to hiking boots. Water shoes are not sturdy enough in my opinion--they tend to be flimsy and don't have good soles for the slippery parts.

But a stick is a must. You CAN rent items from Zion Adventure a la cart just scroll to the bottom of spirobulldog's link.

Someone else out there is renting stuff because we saw folks with waders and a different type of river shoe (multiple people, same gear so likely to have been rented) but I don't know what that company was. Maybe a really good combing of google results can reveal the answer.

Here it is--the folks we saw had adidas shoes so they must have rented here:
http://zionoutfitter.com/prices/

http://climb-utah.com/Misc/gear.htm

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...hread_id=61092

http://www.ucanyon.com/4029/2012-can...-shoe-overview

I am certainly no expert, but I have been 4 times(one of them super serious in Oregon). I've been on my on in The Narrows and then with www.deserthighlights.com in Moahe also guides in Oregon on special trips). Anyway, they provide 5.10 canyoneers too on their trips as does ZAC. The third link I provided does some comparing to other shoes. I have never had any kind of issue. I am pretty sure I wore Neoprene type sockes on every trip. I'm not sure how well my feet would have held up with 2 days worth of The Narrows(I haven't done it from the Top Down).

Zion Lodge is 4200 feet. I've never heard of anyone having problems at that level. Most people don't have a problem until at least 8,000. I think some of it is in a persons head to begin with. The only REAL way of knowing is to have an oximeter(fairly inexpensive). Altitude sickness is something that can effect anyone at any age and not be the same each trip. Drinking water and avoiding caffeine and liquor is a good place to begin, along with adequate rest. Most people acclimate after a couple of days(when around 10,000ft). I think it's suggested after 6,000 feet of difference where you came from that you allow a day for every 1,000-3,000 feet.

Re renting hiking poles. We did have our own, but there were many hiking "sticks" at the beginning that people had just left. If you don't want to rent, there will more than likely be plenty at the "trailhead".

No spiro, my kids did not play sports, but tennis shoes will probably work fine for a one-time trip down the Narrows. IMHO

RE: Photographs in Zion Narrows.

I used a Zone VI 4x5 box camera (wide angle Schneider lens) that allows correction of steep vertical slant and many other focusing problems. Of course, Fuji film.

If you are just taking narrow perimeter photographs, then there is no problem. If you want to photograph 'top to bottom', then there is a problem - assuming sun is shining at 5,000 to 6000 kelvin on a clear day.
Sorry, in this case the top is very bright and bottom is dark having a full Ansel Adam's spectrum of 11 zones (or almost). I used a 1 degree Minolta spot meter to measure all zones.

For a better understanding of photographing slot canyons, I suggest this basic site.

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/h...l#.U5kpfp3n-dI

Vaga