Planning to buy these for my husband. He and I have rented these shoes a few times in Zion and love them, especially for hikes like the Narrows and Subway. River hiking is more difficult or impossible without the right shoe, and these shoes grip the slippery rocks really well and give a lot of ankle support. They are meant to be worn with neoprene socks and the combination of the two will really protect your feet. On one of our most brutal hikes in water and on rocks all day, my feet felt very raw by the end (and would have in any shoe)...I was afraid to look and see the damage, but when I did my feet were perfectly fine, hardly a blister! I wouldn't do any river hiking without these boots.