Egypt Ahmed Emad Hamdy · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
469 metres, to scale.
A slice through Coloured 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: 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.
469m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
29°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
301m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 40 °C on the floor, against 36 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from December to February. The floor passes 35 °C from May to September: walk at dawn and carry water.
- 20°16°Jan
- 22°18°Feb
- 26°23°Mar
- 31°27°Apr
- 36°32°May
- 38°35°Jun
- 40°36°Jul
- 40°36°Aug
- 37°33°Sep
- 33°29°Oct
- 26°22°Nov
- 21°18°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 in South Sinai
Coloured Canyon is a canyon in Egypt. The relief model measures 469 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 591 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Nuwaybi‘anearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Taba International Airport (TCP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 53 km in a straight lineCar hire at AQJ airport (Aqaba)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December to Februarybest 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.
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.
- 5campsites within 8 kmBlue wave, Lami Beach and Hotels Strip and 3 more
- 3hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMaagana Camp, فريدوم, Rock Sea Camp
- 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).
Towns nearby
- Nuwaybi‘a12 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Coloured 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.
Peakyas11 mountains within 15 km
Coastya2 beaches 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 | 20 | 22 | 26 | 31 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 40 | 37 | 33 | 26 | 21 |
| Afternoon · rim | 16 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 32 | 35 | 36 | 36 | 33 | 29 | 22 | 18 |
| Night · rim | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 4 |
| Rain (mm) | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Rainy days | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.0 | 8.9 | 10.4 | 11.4 | 12.4 | 13.7 | 13.4 | 12.6 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 8.0 |
| Feb | 22 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 8.9 |
| Mar | 26 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 10.4 |
| Apr | 31 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 11.4 |
| May | 36 | 32 | 14 | 0 | 12.4 |
| Jun | 38 | 35 | 17 | 0 | 13.7 |
| Jul | 40 | 36 | 19 | 0 | 13.4 |
| Aug | 40 | 36 | 19 | 0 | 12.6 |
| Sep | 37 | 33 | 16 | 0 | 11.4 |
| Oct | 33 | 29 | 14 | 2 | 9.9 |
| Nov | 26 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 8.9 |
| Dec | 21 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 8.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (301 m) and the rim (892 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Coloured Canyon
Egypt
- 469 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 29°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5149228) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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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