Algeria Gorge

Chiffa Gorges

389 m of rock, cut by the Oued Chiffa.

The cut

389 metres, to scale.

A slice through Chiffa Gorges 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 · Eiffel Tower · 330 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.

389m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

11.1km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

30°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

140m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

4 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 30 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from March to April and in November. The wettest months are from November to March.

rim · 702 mfloor · 140 m

15°12°Jan
16°12°Feb
18°15°Mar
21°18°Apr
25°21°May
30°26°Jun
34°30°Jul
34°30°Aug
30°26°Sep
26°22°Oct
20°16°Nov
16°12°Dec

Hike: Mar–Apr, NovWettest: Nov–Mar

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.

Gorge in Algeria

Chiffa Gorges is a gorge in Algeria, cut by the Oued Chiffa. The relief model measures 389 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 562 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Chiffanearest town · 7.4 km in a straight line
Parking 2,900 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 52 km in a straight lineCar hire in AlgiersDiscover Cars · sponsored link
From March to April and in Novemberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire in AlgiersDiscover 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 Oued Chiffa runs highest from November to March.

The Oued Chiffa carries about 1.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to March. It is lowest from June to September.

3.8 m³/sJan
3.3 m³/sFeb
2.9 m³/sMar
2.4 m³/sApr
1.5 m³/sMay
0.7 m³/sJun
0.3 m³/sJul
0.2 m³/sAug
0.5 m³/sSep
1.2 m³/sOct
3.0 m³/sNov
3.6 m³/sDec

From about 0.20 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.8 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 351 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.

Chiffa Gorges seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 6 km

Parking

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.

3car parks within 3 km
8hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHôtel Clean, قاعة حفلات هدى, Hôtel Militaire Blida and 5 more
8restaurants and cafés within 4 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

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).

Towns nearby

Chiffa7.4 km in a straight line
Boû Arfa8.2 km in a straight line
Blida9.5 km in a straight line
Mouzaïa10 km in a straight line
Draâ Esmar15 km in a straight line
El Affroun15 km in a straight line
Médéa15 km in a straight line
Beni Tamou16 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Chiffa Gorges.

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.

Peakyas32 mountains within 15 km

Koudiat Sidi el Mokhfi · 3.7 kmKoudia Tounes · 3.8 kmDjebel Mouzaïa · 6.5 kmKoudiat Sidi Abd el Kader · 7.5 kmDjebel Sidi Mohammed · 10 kmKoudiat Tafersiouant · 11 kmRiaïne el Koddam · 12 kmKoudiat Tifraouine · 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	15	16	18	21	25	30	34	34	30	26	20	16
Afternoon · rim	12	12	15	18	21	26	30	30	26	22	16	12
Night · rim	4	4	6	8	12	16	19	19	16	13	8	5
Rain (mm)	73	63	61	56	40	13	4	11	33	50	83	72
Rainy days	10	9	8	8	6	3	1	3	7	8	11	10
Sun hours/day	5.2	5.9	7.1	8.0	9.4	11.6	11.6	10.6	8.5	7.3	5.3	4.9
Snow on the ground (cm)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	15	12	4	73	5.2
Feb	16	12	4	63	5.9
Mar	18	15	6	61	7.1
Apr	21	18	8	56	8.0
May	25	21	12	40	9.4
Jun	30	26	16	13	11.6
Jul	34	30	19	4	11.6
Aug	34	30	19	11	10.6
Sep	30	26	16	33	8.5
Oct	26	22	13	50	7.3
Nov	20	16	8	83	5.3
Dec	16	12	5	72	4.9

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (140 m) and the rim (702 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Chiffa شفة - panoramio (3) — habib kaki · CC BY 3.0

Autoroute Chiffa Berrouaghia الطريق السريع شفة البرواقية (48216295672) — habib kaki 2 from Zeralda · Public domain

Autoroute Chiffa Berrouaghia الطريق السريع شفة البرواقية (48216300287) — habib kaki 2 from Zeralda · Public domain

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	42%	0%	63%	114%	29%	16%	—	29%	36%	46%	49%	115%
2021	53%	16%	58%	40%	64%	73%	—	78%	79%	11%	331%	58%
2022	17%	33%	162%	260%	90%	23%	—	20%	33%	81%	48%	27%
2023	102%	55%	13%	2%	150%	386%	—	11%	58%	9%	67%	65%
2024	36%	152%	31%	44%	16%	25%	—	66%	84%	91%	43%	38%
2025	117%	55%	36%	64%	173%	7%	—	3%	95%	43%	41%	68%

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

Compare with the neighbours.

Chiffa Gorges

Algeria

389 mDepth
11 kmRim to rim
—Length
30°Steepest wall

El Kantara Gorge

Algeria · 297 km

581 mDepth
16 kmRim to rim
—Length
32°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q23816535) · 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