Virgin, N. Fork

4 friends and I did this run may 23rd 2019. We went in 12 foot Aire 2 man kayaks. It took 4 hours at 480cfs and was a ton of fun. We got out at court of the patriarchs (near the horse stables) and we're super thankful we did. The rapids past that blind turn we're super scary. After the 1.5 mile portage we dropped back in for the lower part. It was considerably more difficult if you struggled on the top half pull out and don't do the portage. We were able to raft into the watchman campground. Found the exit by looking for rv's. River temp was 38°f air temp was 55°f and we were comfortable in 4/3 wetsuits, wool socks + neoprene socks. Biggest lesson learned is that Zion will not allow inflatable kayaks on the shuttle despite what the wilderness desk says. Ask for a car permit to drop off your kayaks.

Fun run at 300 cfs. A little more water would make things more fun.

hello all, I ran this run on Sun, may 11th. it was a blast! however, this is my review: The river is very easy from the temple of Sinwava for 5 miles then at the 3rd walking bridge get out if your a rookie.... I should have but I'm really good at making bad decisions. Haha. I took my Seahawk sport 400 raft the whole way down, and it was exciting to say the least. So From the 3rd walking bridge (the court of the patriarcs) you will go over a super fun diversion dam its a 20 ft slide to a 3 ft. drop from that point on its a different river. After the dam are a ton of boulders to manuver around and non stop action for quite a while (lots of 3ft drops and shutes) I guess this is Satans Staircase. Be sure to portage after the first left after the first dam, there is a huge tree blocking the only path. After that it was all clear as my girlfriend and I thrashed this pretty durable 10ft raft, the cfs was 230 and thats the biggest craft you'll get down this run at this level. Watch out for Landslide Rapid! This is man made and designed to slow the river, it is a 5 ft drop and a nasty hole. I fell out of my raft and got recycled for a min. I was pretty shaken up and I'll steer clear of this in the future. The river will make a bend to the right And there is a 30ft man made wall on the left, get out here on the left to scout go up on the road to check it out, you'll here it. If you go over it get some damn momemtem!! After that is a bunch of fun rapids until you reach another diversion dam about 1/2 mile after landslide rapid. Get through that and is pretty much smooth sailing down to camp. Super fun day and best scenery ever!! Thanks for reading about my weekend warrior adventure. Joe Dematzzzzzzzzz

Just upstream from the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava.
Looking upstream from the bridge on the Emerald Pool trail, shows the placid nature of the river along much of this section.
Looking downstream at the NF Virgin from the trail to Emerald Pools. The trail foot bridge is in the center of the picture.
A low water view from the road somewhere along the Satan's Staircase section. The creek gets steep and congested in this section.

gets a bit pushy at this level