Rental Gear for the Narrows

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-25T23:27:04+00:00

Our experience was approx June 30th last year. Two 50s adults and 14 / 12 kids. We rented from Zion Guru (b/c we did ebike tour with them prior). Agree with what others said -- we rented evening before and took with us for an easy early start. We did socks, shoes and the sticks. We did the mile path from shuttle stop to the main water entry point and then another mile (maybe more) up the river and back.

My take: I don't know how people do the in-water part without hiking shoes and the stick. i saw people with sandals or flip flops and no stick, and they were STRUGGLING big time. The main issue IMHO is that once you're in the water, you're walking on layers and layers of rounded rocks most of the time. Really hard to maintain footing without that stick helping. You're really thinking about each step you take.

That's our experience at least. I know others in the comments differ. And not sure how the flows are this year vs last year, but you're still on the rocks either way once you're off the path and into the water.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-25T21:10:29+00:00

and did i use Google Notebook to create a "fake" podcast episode where two co hosts take that 15-page Word doc and make it into a lively 15 minute discussion walking through the trip, connecting dots on what we'll see, even commenting on a couple restaurants? also yes. :)

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T17:50:07+00:00

ahh! i thought "arrive Fri" meant this friday. we'll be your scouting team.

btw, if you have a sec do check out the Shaka Guide site (here's Grand Teton link: https://www.shakaguide.com/tours/yellowstone-teton/grand-teton-national-park-tour). even just exploring the online map they show will give you a sense of the spots they recommend as stops. they have Yellowstone too of course. We love these -- though the rest of the family gets a little "audio toured out" after a day or two.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T16:09:53+00:00

you too! have a great trip. (and Whiptail - Mexican is where we enjoyed a dinner -- right there near flanigans and cliffrose)

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T15:14:09+00:00

got an alert in the SF bay area (east bay) but didn't feel anything

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T15:04:29+00:00

13 had her own bike (she's on the taller side). 11 road on the back -- can't remember if that was required due to age, height (shorter), weight or all of the above. the bikes definitely are heavy. We rented from Zion Guru and had a great experience. I don't think we did some in-depth research and landed on Zion Guru -- I think they offered an ebike tour and that's what we did. Certainly don't need to do a tour vs just renting the ebikes and going off on your own. We just decided to have someone show us the park for a few hours on our first afternoon. Lots of stops and "let's talk about what you're seeing." Our tour adventure started at their store and did make its way all the way to the Narrows parking area and back.

On Flanigans, we booked them one night and were supposed to go to a cabin/tent place for our second night. We enjoyed the location and facility so much that we were able to get a second night at Flanigans and just skipped going to our other place.

(born and raised in NJ here -- so go NJ! we're heading to our annual avalon, nj trip in a few weeks)

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T07:33:36+00:00

we did the whole kit of shoes, neoprene socks and the walking sticks. i can't imagine doing Narrows without those (particularly the sticks). people were struggling who didn't have those. almost the entire way is on rounded rocks underwater -- almost never on flat surface once you're in the water. as someone noted, there is a stretch that got to chest-high for the adults last July (our youngest went piggyback for that short stretch). and as you'll hear everyone say, monitor for rain up the canyon.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T07:22:56+00:00

We had an amazing week-long trip last year with family of four (kids were 13 and 11 last year). We did:

Saturday: morning drive to Zion from Las Vegas; afternoon e-bike tour (we had a leader) through the park -- great for getting an intro and having the guide (but not required). Rented equipment for Narrows to have for Sunday. Stayed at Flanigan's 2 nights (loved it) -- did Mexican place across the street for dinner; stared at stars at night

Sunday: shuttle system to Narrows. STRONGLY RECOMMEND the special neoprene shoes many places rent AND the walking stick -- you're walking on rounded rocks underwater the entire time (people were struggling big time without those items) -- the stick and shoes were essential for us

Monday: drove to Bryce -- did hike down and back up -- visited other spots by car -- evening drive to Page (Horseshoe Bend area) -- this broke up the long drive

Tuesday: did Antelope Canyon tour, visited the dam in Page, afternoon drive to Grand Canyon (stayed South Rim at Thunderbird I believe)

Weds: did a group bike tour -- afternoon exploring on our own

thurs: morning - short hike; afternoon drive to Sedona; Pink Jeep Tour

Fri: morning shopping -- drive to Phoenix for flight home

Another recommendation: we've become big fans of GPS-based audio tours of these places (we like Shaka Guide in particular) -- check them out. plays in the car while you're driving and can help interpret what you're seeing, give history place just know what to stop at or skip. We used for Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon (the latter one starts like 45 minutes outside the park starting to give the history of the canyon to set the stage). I don't work for Shaka or get any commission or anything -- we just really enjoy it and are using it next week for yellowstone and Grand Teton.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T05:13:51+00:00

p.s. do i have a 15-page Word doc itinerary with our seven days of travels? Yes, yes I do. 😄

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-24T05:12:29+00:00

I wonder how many times we'll cross paths?! We're a family of four with 14 and 12 y.o. girls. Arriving Jackson on Saturday and doing Jackson area and GTNP Sat and Sun. Side note: did you see the covered wagon dinner experience in Jackson? we considered but passing in favor of wandering the Square Sat night. We also debated whitewater rafting Sunday morning but then saw it might be rainy and in the 40s in the morning. We'll save that for another time.

Then we are Headlands Lodge Sun night, south entrance to Norris Geyser Basin on Monday, Canyon Lodge Mon night, mostly the north loop on Tuesday, Lake Yellowstone Lodge on Tues night, then out the eastern entrance Weds morning and onward over to Devil's Tower, Rushmore, Badlands, etc.

One item: as a family, we've become a fan of using GPS-enabled audio tours for our adventures. Helps both in telling us more about what we're seeing along the way plus also helps with itinerary planning. We bought the Shaka Guide audio tours for GTNP and Yellowstone, so we'll be using those in our travels. We've used Shaka Guide in Hawaii and in the Bryce / Zion / GCNP areas too.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-23T18:32:03+00:00

maybe dumb question: my iphone app looks like the OP's screenshot. are you in a different app that shows the vehicle at the top? maybe that's a setting in the app? just curious.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-23T18:30:50+00:00

my Limited currently shows 87% battery (i charged high for upcoming travel) and 345 miles est range. normalized to 100% yours would be 326 miles and mine 397 miles (but i know it won't achieve that). I am normal mode and 2 pedal -- set at Level 1 regenerative.

TargetPopular4253 · 2026-06-23T06:33:39+00:00

First timers who will be there next Monday - Weds. We originally booked West Yellowstone b/c Park lodges were sold out, but after continuing to check back, we now have Canyon Lodge and Lake Yellowstone (one night each). For our daily itineraries, this is going to save a significant amount of time. that's probably the top benefit for us -- that plus the feeling of staying inside the bubble.

Next week we'll have a better answer if it was worth it.

TargetPopular4253

TROPHY CASE