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canyonyas
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Eldgjá

The canyon atlas

The deepest cuts on Earth, measured to the floor.

Every canyon and gorge sliced to scale from the relief: how deep, how wide, the river that carved it, how hot it gets down there, and the best months to walk in.

The deepestWhen to goMap

Eldgjá · Ilya Grigorik · CC BY-SA 3.0

898canyons and gorges known
729full guides
74countries
7languages

Canyons at the same scale

Famous canyons at the same vertical scale: the depth is real, the width is stretched to fit.

0 m−1,000 m−2,000 m−3,000 m1,413 mGrand Canyon913 mTara River Canyon654 mVerdon Gorge1,047 mVikos Gorge2,897 mTiger LeapingGorge614 mBlyde River Canyon807 mSumidero Canyon100 mFjaðrárgljúfur0 m−1,000 m−2,000 m−3,000 m1,413 mGrandCanyon913 mTaraRiver Ca…654 mVerdonGorge1,047 mVikosGorge2,897 mTigerLeaping…
Verdon Gorge654 mFrance

Verdon Gorge

654 m deep · 25 km longBest in May.See the guide
Quebrada de Humahuaca911 mArgentina

Quebrada de Humahuaca

911 m from rim to floorBest from February to April and from August to September.See the guideTara River Canyon913 mBosnia and Herzegovina

Tara River Canyon

913 m deep · 82 km longBest in May and in September.See the guide

More to explore.

236 mOlduvai GorgeTanzaniaTanzania24 km wide95 mIronbridge GorgeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom2.2 km wide · World Heritage162 mCharyn CanyonKazakhstanKazakhstan85 km · 2.1 km wide2,140 mDarial GorgeRussiaRussia10 km wide

When to go

Good to hike in July

Canyons where the floor is pleasant that month: not too hot, not frozen, few rainy days.

236 mOlduvai GorgeTanzaniaTanzania24 km wide · Good month95 mIronbridge GorgeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom2.2 km wide · World Heritage · Good month2,140 mDarial GorgeRussiaRussia10 km wide · Good month480 mValley of GeysersRussiaRussia1.9 km wide · Good month121 mÁsbyrgiIcelandIceland24 km wide · World Heritage · Good month163 mJökulsárgljúfurIcelandIceland24 km · 5.8 km wide · World Heritage · Good month614 mBlyde River CanyonSouth AfricaSouth Africa4.5 km wide · Good month1,116 mLeutasch GorgeGermanyGermany1.0 km · 14 km wide · Good month

All the canyons to hike in July

The deepest

Hanging from the same line.

The deepest canyons with a page, each cut measured on the relief and drawn to the same vertical scale.

0 m−1,000 m−2,000 m−3,000 m−4,000 m3,873 mKaliGandaki G…3,059 mYarlungTsangpo G…3,058 mCotuahusicanion2,897 mTigerLeaping G…2,737 mCañón delPato2,198 mGorges duDurnand2,140 mDarialGorge1,976 mKurobeGorge1,966 mTarokoGorge1,964 mGorges duTrient1,959 mArgunRiver rav…1,950 mGreatCanyon1,947 mGoye diHône1,880 mCottonwoodCanyon0 m−2,000 m−4,000 m3,873 mKaliGandaki…3,059 mYarlungTsangpo…3,058 mCotuahusicanion2,897 mTigerLeaping…2,737 mCañón delPato

All the deepest canyons

The longest

Kilometres of walls.

The longest canyons by published length.

All the longest canyons

1Greenland's Grand CanyonGreenland750 km2Grand CanyonUnited States446 km3Chicamocha CanyonColombia227 km4Charyn CanyonKazakhstan85 km5Tara River CanyonBosnia and Herzegovina82 km6EldgjáIceland75 km7Barskaun CanyonKyrgyzstan60 km8Gorges du DoubsSwitzerland40 km

World Heritage

Canyons the world agreed to keep.

Canyons that are, or lie within, UNESCO World Heritage sites.

1,413 mGrand CanyonUnited StatesUnited States446 km · 11 km wide · World Heritage270 mEldgjáIcelandIceland75 km · 15 km wide · World Heritage911 mQuebrada de HumahuacaArgentinaArgentina24 km wide · World Heritage913 mTara River CanyonBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina82 km · 4.7 km wide · World Heritage95 mIronbridge GorgeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom2.2 km wide · World Heritage2,897 mTiger Leaping GorgeChinaChina10 km wide · World Heritage121 mÁsbyrgiIcelandIceland24 km wide · World Heritage321 mSiqJordanJordan1.9 km wide · World Heritage

By country

Where the canyons are.

United States120Austria60France60Germany47Canada33Japan31Spain30Greece29Italy23Switzerland22Russia21New Zealand17Australia16Iceland16Iran14United Kingdom12Turkey11Ukraine11Mexico9Norway8Bulgaria7Peru7Slovakia7Georgia6All countries

Where the numbers come from

Measured, not guessed.

Every number on Canyonyas comes from a public, citable dataset — the same ones scientists and mapmakers use. The depths are measured on the European relief model; nothing is invented, and nothing is a forecast.

All the sources and licences

  • Copernicus DEMthe relief: depth, width, the cut and the 3D model
  • Wikidatanames, published measures, rivers and parks
  • HydroATLASthe flow of the river, month by month
  • NASA POWERtemperature, rain and sun, 1991–2020
  • OpenStreetMapviewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here