United States Canyon

Boquillas Canyon

334 m of rock, cut by the Río Bravo / Rio Grande.

The cut

334 metres, to scale.

A slice through Boquillas Canyon where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.

334m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

2.5km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

33°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

534m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

4 °C warmer at the bottom.

In June the afternoon reaches 40 °C on the floor, against 36 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from December to January. The floor passes 35 °C from May to September: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from June to September.

rim · 1,064 mfloor · 534 m

21°18°Jan
25°21°Feb
29°26°Mar
34°31°Apr
38°34°May
40°36°Jun
39°35°Jul
38°35°Aug
35°32°Sep
32°29°Oct
26°23°Nov
22°18°Dec

Hike: Dec–JanFloor above 35 °C: May–SepWettest: Jun–Sep

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Canyon in Brewster County, Texas, United States

Boquillas Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Río Bravo / Rio Grande. The relief model measures 334 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 530 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 2.5 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.8 km from the floor
Piedras Negras International Airport (PDS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 238 km in a straight lineCar hire at PDS airport (Piedras Negras)Discover Cars · sponsored link
From December to Januarybest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at PDS airport (Piedras Negras)Discover CarsSee prices

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The river

The Río Bravo / Rio Grande runs highest from August to October.

The Río Bravo / Rio Grande carries about 129 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from August to October. It is lowest from February to April.

86 m³/sJan
60 m³/sFeb
52 m³/sMar
45 m³/sApr
76 m³/sMay
128 m³/sJun
185 m³/sJul
247 m³/sAug
290 m³/sSep
267 m³/sOct
208 m³/sNov
143 m³/sDec

From about 45 m³/s in the lowest month to 290 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 198,864 km².

Follow the Rio Grande from source to mouth on Riveryas

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Boquillas Canyon seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 1.4 km

ViewpointsInformationCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.5 × 5.5 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

2viewpoints within 5 kmBoquillas Canyon Overlook
1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
3campsites within 8 kmRio Grande Village Group Campground, Rio Grande Village Campground, Rio Grande Village RV Park

marked hiking routes within 4 km
via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
swimming spots within 3 km
named waterfalls within 4 km
caves within 3 km
car parks within 3 km
bus stops within 2 km
hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
restaurants and cafés within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

In our other atlases

What else is around Boquillas Canyon.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Riveryas4 rivers in the canyon

Rio Grande3,051 km · 85 m³/s Pecos River1,560 km · 8.0 m³/sRio SaladoRío San Juan (Nuevo León)

Peakyas9 mountains within 15 km

Sierra El Terminal · 3.4 kmCordon del Terminal · 6.3 kmSierra El Ojo · 8.2 kmPico de Cerda · 9.8 kmCerro Cruz de Oro · 11 kmLoma Los Barrancos Cortados · 12 kmCerro La Pirucha · 14 kmLomas Cortadas · 15 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon · floor	21	25	29	34	38	40	39	38	35	32	26	22
Afternoon · rim	18	21	26	31	34	36	35	35	32	29	23	18
Night · rim	2	4	8	13	17	21	22	21	18	13	7	2
Rain (mm)	14	8	12	13	35	43	46	49	47	27	15	13
Rainy days	3	2	2	3	6	8	9	9	7	5	3	2
Sun hours/day	7.9	8.9	10.0	11.0	11.6	11.6	10.3	9.9	9.0	9.1	8.4	7.9
Snow on the ground (cm)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	21	18	2	14	7.9
Feb	25	21	4	8	8.9
Mar	29	26	8	12	10.0
Apr	34	31	13	13	11.0
May	38	34	17	35	11.6
Jun	40	36	21	43	11.6
Jul	39	35	22	46	10.3
Aug	38	35	21	49	9.9
Sep	35	32	18	47	9.0
Oct	32	29	13	27	9.1
Nov	26	23	7	15	8.4
Dec	22	18	2	13	7.9

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (534 m) and the rim (1,064 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Boquillas Canyon Lightning — ArchiPhoto · CC BY-SA 4.0

Canoeing into Boquillas Canyon — NPS Photo · Public domain

Boquillas Canyon — Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	117%	89%	155%	16%	65%	161%	25%	27%	112%	1%	0%	429%
2021	52%	199%	0%	50%	66%	37%	65%	161%	42%	94%	175%	60%
2022	2%	138%	2%	20%	73%	27%	31%	160%	47%	163%	49%	19%
2023	22%	142%	290%	11%	233%	27%	12%	77%	17%	137%	118%	69%
2024	24%	37%	10%	16%	86%	48%	75%	33%	72%	1%	12%	5%
2025	26%	0%	43%	50%	46%	114%	108%	41%	34%	14%	24%	0%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Boquillas Canyon

United States

334 mDepth
2.5 kmRim to rim
—Length
33°Steepest wall

Santa Elena Canyon

Mexico · 68 km

448 mDepth
5.8 kmRim to rim
—Length
42°Steepest wall

See the guide

McKittrick Canyon

United States · 353 km

182 mDepth
18 kmRim to rim
—Length
30°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q35358451) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basin	HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby	Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas