Deepening Canyon
Although the canyon grows wider toward Springdale, a
very different dynamic is at work upstream from this site.
There, steep walls of Navajo Sandstone tower overhead,
and at The Narrows they are only 20 feet aprat. Sunlight
reaches the canyon floor only rarely, creating a cooler,
subterranean world.
Confined exclusively withing tough Navvajo Sandstone,
the Virgin River cuts down instead of sideways. Similar
downcutting action has formed spectacular slot canyons,
including Hidden and Echo canyons near Weeping
Rock. In the very long view, the river will eventually slice
all the way down through the sandstone to the softer
mudstone Kayenta Layer, and then The Narrows will
begin to resemble the landscape downstream.
