The Narrows is the narrowest part of Zion Canyon, carved by the North Fork of the Virgin River into a deep sandstone slot where walls can stand only 40 to 100 feet apart, and in its tightest stretch the river runs wall to wall beneath sheer cliffs. It is also one of Zion’s best-known hikes, approached either from the Temple of Sinawava upstream or by a full descent from Chamberlain’s Ranch through an ever-deepening gorge. Entering written history with Nephi Johnson’s 1858 visit and named by Grove Karl Gilbert in 1872, it later became famous for its striking beauty, physical demands, and flash-flood danger.