United States Canyon
Death Canyon
349 m of rock, cut by the Death Canyon Creek.
Buidhe · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
349 metres, to scale.
A slice through Death 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.
349m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
24°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,991m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 27 °C on the floor, against 19 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to September. The rim freezes at night from September to June. The wettest months are in December.
- -3°-11°Jan
- -2°-10°Feb
- 2°-6°Mar
- 7°-1°Apr
- 14°6°May
- 21°12°Jun
- 27°19°Jul
- 26°18°Aug
- 20°12°Sep
- 11°2°Oct
- 2°-6°Nov
- -3°-12°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 located in Grand Teton National Park
Death Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Death Canyon Creek. The relief model measures 349 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,278 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Moose Wilson Roadnearest town · 14 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,180 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.1 km from the floor
- Jackson Hole Airport (JAC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 8 km in a straight lineCar hire at JAC airport (Jackson)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June 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.
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.
- 3viewpoints within 5 kmPhelps Lake Overlook, Lake Creek Overlook
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmAspen Ridge Trail, Valley Trail
- 21footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmDeath Canyon Trail, Boulder Ridge Trail, Lake Creek Trail and 18 more
- 5car parks within 3 km
- 3information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 8campsites within 8 kmGroup Camp, Platform Campsites, South Fork and 5 more
- 42hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGrand Teton Climbers' Ranch, Alpenhof Lodge, Crystal Springs Lodge and 39 more
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags 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
- 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
- Moose Wilson Road14 km in a straight line
- Wilson18 km in a straight line
- Jackson20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Death 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.
Cascadyas5 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas36 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas4 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures 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 | -3 | -2 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 27 | 26 | 20 | 11 | 2 | -3 |
| Afternoon · rim | -11 | -10 | -6 | -1 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 2 | -6 | -12 |
| Night · rim | -22 | -22 | -17 | -12 | -7 | -2 | 3 | 2 | -3 | -10 | -16 | -22 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 62 | 60 | 63 | 63 | 50 | 24 | 31 | 46 | 54 | 61 | 73 |
| Rainy days | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 10.7 | 12.1 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 52 | 64 | 52 | 25 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 30 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -3 | -11 | -22 | 69 | 5.5 |
| Feb | -2 | -10 | -22 | 62 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 2 | -6 | -17 | 60 | 7.4 |
| Apr | 7 | -1 | -12 | 63 | 8.5 |
| May | 14 | 6 | -7 | 63 | 8.5 |
| Jun | 21 | 12 | -2 | 50 | 10.7 |
| Jul | 27 | 19 | 3 | 24 | 12.1 |
| Aug | 26 | 18 | 2 | 31 | 10.6 |
| Sep | 20 | 12 | -3 | 46 | 8.8 |
| Oct | 11 | 2 | -10 | 54 | 6.1 |
| Nov | 2 | -6 | -16 | 61 | 4.6 |
| Dec | -3 | -12 | -22 | 73 | 4.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,991 m) and the rim (3,269 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 | 132% | 106% | 127% | 102% | 87% | 188% | 100% | 26% | 62% | 85% | 113% | 45% |
| 2021 | 56% | 101% | 30% | 40% | 125% | 11% | 130% | 220% | 53% | 126% | 54% | 102% |
| 2022 | 60% | 13% | 45% | 100% | 106% | 85% | 29% | 235% | 104% | 54% | 112% | 91% |
| 2023 | 78% | 89% | 138% | 66% | 82% | 195% | 105% | 250% | 132% | 133% | 54% | 68% |
| 2024 | 103% | 138% | 158% | 56% | 92% | 45% | 60% | 131% | 89% | 37% | 59% | 100% |
| 2025 | 53% | 170% | 110% | 65% | 97% | 25% | 92% | 119% | 89% | 160% | 46% | 194% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Death Canyon
United States
- 349 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 24°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5247093) · 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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