United States Canyon
Canyon Diablo
145 m of rock, cut by the Little Colorado River.
Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
The cut
145 metres, to scale.
A slice through Canyon Diablo 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: Big Ben · 96 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
145m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
22.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
10°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,423m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 35 °C. The best months to hike are from March to April and in October. The floor passes 35 °C in July: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are from July to August.
- 9°8°Jan
- 12°11°Feb
- 18°17°Mar
- 22°21°Apr
- 28°27°May
- 35°34°Jun
- 35°34°Jul
- 34°33°Aug
- 30°29°Sep
- 23°22°Oct
- 16°15°Nov
- 9°8°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.
Canyon north of Two Guns in Northern Arizona
Canyon Diablo is a canyon in United States, cut by the Little Colorado River. The relief model measures 145 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 23 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,660 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (FLG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 64 km in a straight lineCar hire at FLG airport (Flagstaff)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From March to April and in Octoberbest 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 Little Colorado River runs highest from January to March and in August.
The Little Colorado River carries about 3.9 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to March and in August. It is lowest from May to June.
- 12 m³/sJan
- 15 m³/sFeb
- 13 m³/sMar
- 7.5 m³/sApr
- 3.2 m³/sMay
- 0.7 m³/sJun
- 6.3 m³/sJul
- 11 m³/sAug
- 8.3 m³/sSep
- 6.1 m³/sOct
- 5.7 m³/sNov
- 9.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.67 m³/s in the lowest month to 15 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 3,006 km².
Follow the Little Colorado River 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.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 10car parks within 3 km
- 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 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 Canyon Diablo.
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.
Peakyas1 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 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 28 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 30 | 23 | 16 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | 8 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 27 | 34 | 34 | 33 | 29 | 22 | 15 | 8 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 6 | 0 | -4 |
| Rain (mm) | 32 | 28 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 52 | 58 | 29 | 24 | 23 | 38 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.5 | 8.6 | 10.3 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 13.8 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 8.6 | 7.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 8 | -4 | 32 | 7.5 |
| Feb | 12 | 11 | -3 | 28 | 8.6 |
| Mar | 18 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 10.3 |
| Apr | 22 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 11.7 |
| May | 28 | 27 | 9 | 14 | 12.7 |
| Jun | 35 | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13.8 |
| Jul | 35 | 34 | 19 | 52 | 10.2 |
| Aug | 34 | 33 | 18 | 58 | 9.8 |
| Sep | 30 | 29 | 13 | 29 | 10.4 |
| Oct | 23 | 22 | 6 | 24 | 9.7 |
| Nov | 16 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 8.6 |
| Dec | 9 | 8 | -4 | 38 | 7.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,423 m) and the rim (1,587 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
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 | 13% | 44% | 241% | 165% | 48% | 0% | 29% | 22% | 3% | 9% | 53% | 10% |
| 2021 | 119% | 21% | 188% | 60% | 14% | 37% | 254% | 41% | 101% | 116% | 9% | 112% |
| 2022 | 16% | 56% | 100% | 8% | 0% | 589% | 188% | 141% | 144% | 145% | 72% | 107% |
| 2023 | 200% | 160% | 404% | 15% | 100% | 32% | 53% | 135% | 110% | 20% | 45% | 23% |
| 2024 | 88% | 214% | 341% | 100% | 27% | 184% | 36% | 140% | 17% | 228% | 31% | 0% |
| 2025 | 19% | 82% | 171% | 192% | 85% | 274% | 45% | 75% | 115% | 253% | 214% | 34% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Canyon Diablo
United States
- 145 mDepth
- 23 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 10°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon
United States · 134 km
- 1,413 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- 446 kmLength
- 56°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1033992) · 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
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