South Africa Abu Shawka · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
534 metres, to scale.
A slice through Buffelspoort 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 · Empire State · 443 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.
534m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
2.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
50°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
420m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
5 °C warmer at the bottom.
In January the afternoon reaches 33 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from May to September.
- 33°28°Jan
- 33°28°Feb
- 30°26°Mar
- 26°22°Apr
- 22°18°May
- 19°14°Jun
- 19°14°Jul
- 20°15°Aug
- 23°18°Sep
- 26°22°Oct
- 29°24°Nov
- 31°27°Dec
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.
Ravine in Swartberg Mountain, Western Cape, South Africa
Buffelspoort is a canyon in South Africa, cut by the Buffelsrivier river. The relief model measures 534 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 701 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 2.0 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- George Airport (GRJ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 146 km in a straight lineCar hire at GRJ airport (George)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
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 Buffelsrivier runs highest in April, from July to August and in November.
The Buffelsrivier carries about 2.0 m³/s on average here. It runs highest in April, from July to August and in November.
- 0.8 m³/sJan
- 0.9 m³/sFeb
- 1.7 m³/sMar
- 2.6 m³/sApr
- 1.9 m³/sMay
- 2.1 m³/sJun
- 2.4 m³/sJul
- 3.5 m³/sAug
- 1.9 m³/sSep
- 2.1 m³/sOct
- 2.6 m³/sNov
- 1.6 m³/sDec
From about 0.85 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.5 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 4,662 km².
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.
N
1.2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.0 × 5.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1campsites within 8 kmWagendrift Lodge and Camping
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmWagendrift Lodge
- viewpoints within 5 km
- 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 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 Buffelspoort.
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.
Peakyas5 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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 | 33 | 33 | 30 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 29 | 31 |
| Afternoon · rim | 28 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 27 |
| Night · rim | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 32 | 34 | 41 | 40 | 26 | 30 | 31 | 41 | 24 | 40 | 45 | 32 |
| Rainy days | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 12.0 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 8.4 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 8.2 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 11.5 | 12.1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 28 | 10 | 32 | 12.0 |
| Feb | 33 | 28 | 11 | 34 | 11.1 |
| Mar | 30 | 26 | 9 | 41 | 10.0 |
| Apr | 26 | 22 | 7 | 40 | 8.4 |
| May | 22 | 18 | 4 | 26 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 19 | 14 | 1 | 30 | 6.9 |
| Jul | 19 | 14 | 0 | 31 | 7.4 |
| Aug | 20 | 15 | 1 | 41 | 8.2 |
| Sep | 23 | 18 | 3 | 24 | 9.5 |
| Oct | 26 | 22 | 5 | 40 | 10.4 |
| Nov | 29 | 24 | 7 | 45 | 11.5 |
| Dec | 31 | 27 | 9 | 32 | 12.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (420 m) and the rim (1,121 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
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 | 151% | 73% | 67% | 52% | 87% | 37% | 68% | 86% | 129% | 139% | 99% | 48% |
| 2021 | 56% | 29% | 148% | 53% | 263% | 56% | 107% | 138% | 63% | 106% | 170% | 207% |
| 2022 | 147% | 93% | 69% | 56% | 80% | 134% | 50% | 54% | 61% | 52% | 49% | 248% |
| 2023 | 74% | 103% | 158% | 63% | 273% | 192% | 114% | 31% | 337% | 162% | 6% | 155% |
| 2024 | 47% | 84% | 136% | 189% | 43% | 217% | 108% | 108% | 153% | 141% | 75% | 18% |
| 2025 | 64% | 120% | 114% | 109% | 66% | 135% | 67% | 13% | 77% | 38% | 32% | 31% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Buffelspoort
South Africa
- 534 mDepth
- 2.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 50°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q24233967) · 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 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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