Toobing Down the virgin river
Exploring Zion National Park
Get rewired at Zion National Park. Bounce, spin, tumble, slide, trek, swing, flow, lounge, stretch, hike, walk, cruise… Zion will definitely rewire the mental stasis of “it’s just a big rock formation.” My mother often tells me when my anxiety starts to increase, “Hang up the phone and go for a run.” Although she will never say, go jump off a rock or climb, especially one at an incline of some 70 degrees and 1500 feet above the already 5,000 feet above sea level. But… She will always tell me to have fun. So far our visits to Zion have been super fun! Many have consisted of hiking The Narrows. Once I made it to the infamous Wall Street… Three attempts up Angel’s Landing, lastly reaching the summit… Exploring the park in the snow (when hardly no one is there)… A slow and steady hike to Observation Point… A misty day under the Weeping Rocks … The day after a rock fell onto the Upper Emerald Pool path blocking the trail… Back-flips off the rocks into the secret waterfalls on a hidden trail… Ultimately one of our favorites… Tubing down the Virgin River.
Outfitting Zion Visitors in Springdale
We moved here to the southern Utah area in 2016. I found an outfitter group, called Zion Outfitters, that rented inner tubes from their location in Springdale UT. You start the 2 mile float-trip at their location, and their truck picks up the used inner tubes at a park, below. A shuttle stop is close by the exit location on the river. The Zion Outfitter pickup for the inner tubes stops around 18:00 while the ZNP and Springdale shuttles stop around 21:00 (times vary with seasons). Each year I called to see if they were allowing tubing from their location. Each year, I was turned down due to low water flow. After a long wait and massive snowfall in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, THIS WAS OUR YEAR!!!
Water Flow and Water Fall
Two visits in one week, it has to be good. With so much grand landscape and epic views of Zion, flowing with the snow-melt in the tributary of the Colorado River just seemed to be something we had to explore. After all… Utah is the state where “life [is] elevated.” We had to get a piece of the action fast. Unfortunately we only had one week to go with the flow. So we did… twice. Once it drops to 60 cubic feet per second, Zion Outfitters stops renting the inner-tubes.
You will spend most of your time getting stuck on the rocks in the river when the flow is slow. Our second visit the flow was 65. It was nice but I got off the tube and walked around the rocks so I could follow the flow better. I’m not sure how much the water was flowing in the river our first visit was incredible fun. I had a blast getting bounced around the banks like a pinball spinning right and left. Stay alert! Some areas have fallen trees and branches placed just enough in the channel they will definitely carve some grooves in your skin.
Another super fun aspect is the small “waterfalls.” On an inner-tube the small “waterfalls” can turn you over onto a rock. Not cool for lack of helmet head. The helmet is not necessary because you can actually stand up on the riverbed for the most part of the tubing area (guessing one foot to six feet). While having super amounts of fun on the river, it’s sometimes harder to really pay attention to everything going on around you.
The view of Zion is so spectacular. I get caught in its elegance of natural wonder so many times I forget to watch for the next set of rapids. Falling into the river is not that bad unless of course, you fall into the rapids and hit your head on one of the rocks or an elbow! On one trip, our friend had her elbows placed on the outside trim of the inner-tube so she hit her elbow hard enough we ended up with a hospital visit.
The first time I wore an UPF50 long sleeve shirt but the second time I did not. I am writing this two weeks after our last adventure and I still have pretty bad rash on my forearms from using my hands in the water to navigate. The first time I kept the lining of the tube inside and it left a bad rash on the back of my legs. The water was very cool, even in June, July, August, and September. I advise wearing a rash guard, if you have one.
Never Enough
Visitors miss out when they are limited to one long day at ZNP. Since we live in the area, we are going at least once twice a month during peak season and a few times during the off peak season. Seriously… The best trip thus far to Zion (even though we still love The Narrows) has been tubing in the Virgin River. Don’t forget to swing on the rope swing and maybe hang out on the beach. You are required to wear closed-toe shoes when you rent the tubes. I wore water shoes, my partner and my friend wore regular tennis shoes.
Bathing suits are fine and welcomed. Here’s the biggest downfall: the water flow is limited to a certain time of year. This year toobing the Virgin River at Zion Outfitters was active only a few weeks from the end of June until the first of July. Snow on the Rocky Mountains was pretty amazing this year. So it took a while to start melting. Sometimes the water flow is not great enough to rent the tubes. Although, you are welcome to bring your own float or inner-tube and go with the flow. It may just be a leisurely float down a few feet of river run but it’s super refreshing to be in the water and it boasts some miraculous views of Zion National Park that will definitely leave a lasting neurological change to connect you with the way it used to be. Have fun! Get some sun! Stay connected! Stay refreshed!