France LucasD · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
295 metres, to scale.
A slice through Défilé de Donzère 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.
295m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
20°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
50m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 30 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and in October. The wettest months are from October to November.
- 9°7°Jan
- 10°8°Feb
- 15°12°Mar
- 19°17°Apr
- 23°21°May
- 29°26°Jun
- 32°30°Jul
- 31°29°Aug
- 26°24°Sep
- 20°18°Oct
- 14°12°Nov
- 10°7°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.
Défilé de Donzère is a canyon in France, cut by the Rhône river. The relief model measures 295 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Donzèrenearest town · 1.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 470 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.4 km from the floor
- Avignon Caumont airport (AVN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 63 km in a straight lineCar hire at FNI airport (Nîmes/Garons)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May 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 Rhône runs highest from November to January.
The Rhône carries about 1,417 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to January. It is lowest in August.
- 1,538 m³/sJan
- 1,255 m³/sFeb
- 1,319 m³/sMar
- 1,384 m³/sApr
- 1,385 m³/sMay
- 1,156 m³/sJun
- 919 m³/sJul
- 778 m³/sAug
- 945 m³/sSep
- 1,355 m³/sOct
- 1,848 m³/sNov
- 1,775 m³/sDec
From about 778 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,848 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 70,402 km².
Follow the Rhône 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.
- 11viewpoints within 5 kmJoannade, Belvédère de la Vierge and 9 more
- 10marked hiking routes within 4 kmDe Saint-Étienne au Grau-du-Roi, Du col de Dieu-Grâce à Viviers, SPHC, étape 16 and 7 more
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 5rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmPortage Kayak Barrage de Donzère and 4 more
- 3caves within 3 km
- 38car parks within 3 km
- 9information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 8bus stops within 2 km
- 9campsites within 8 kmAire Camping-Cars de Donzère, Aire Domaine de L'Olivet, Le Domaine de Cousignac and 6 more
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmDomaine du Colombier, Hôtel Relais du Vivarais, La Méjeonne and 12 more
- 18restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls 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
- Donzère1.9 km in a straight line
- Viviers3.0 km in a straight line
- Châteauneuf-du-Rhône3.6 km in a straight line
- Malataverne5.1 km in a straight line
- La Garde-Adhémar8.1 km in a straight line
- Allan8.3 km in a straight line
- Pierrelatte9.2 km in a straight line
- Le Teil9.8 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Défilé de Donzère.
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 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 29 | 32 | 31 | 26 | 20 | 14 | 10 |
| Afternoon · rim | 7 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 29 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 7 |
| Night · rim | -1 | -1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 44 | 51 | 62 | 69 | 47 | 38 | 43 | 68 | 92 | 104 | 59 |
| Rainy days | 9 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.0 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 10.5 | 11.3 | 9.9 | 8.0 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 7 | -1 | 53 | 4.0 |
| Feb | 10 | 8 | -1 | 44 | 5.3 |
| Mar | 15 | 12 | 2 | 51 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 19 | 17 | 6 | 62 | 7.3 |
| May | 23 | 21 | 10 | 69 | 8.3 |
| Jun | 29 | 26 | 14 | 47 | 10.5 |
| Jul | 32 | 30 | 16 | 38 | 11.3 |
| Aug | 31 | 29 | 16 | 43 | 9.9 |
| Sep | 26 | 24 | 12 | 68 | 8.0 |
| Oct | 20 | 18 | 8 | 92 | 5.7 |
| Nov | 14 | 12 | 3 | 104 | 4.1 |
| Dec | 10 | 7 | 0 | 59 | 3.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (50 m) and the rim (382 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 | 58% | 49% | 90% | 74% | 95% | 156% | 25% | 106% | 97% | 92% | 36% | 168% |
| 2021 | 87% | 81% | 23% | 140% | 130% | 116% | 157% | 78% | 106% | 116% | 54% | 122% |
| 2022 | 19% | 44% | 42% | 58% | 24% | 89% | 23% | 110% | 140% | 40% | 123% | 193% |
| 2023 | 27% | 24% | 59% | 42% | 87% | 174% | 43% | 54% | 69% | 115% | 63% | 112% |
| 2024 | 74% | 156% | 301% | 73% | 152% | 136% | 95% | 44% | 159% | 112% | 32% | 48% |
| 2025 | 88% | 49% | 77% | 45% | 31% | 33% | 43% | 45% | 56% | 34% | 33% | 65% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Défilé de Donzère
France
- 295 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 20°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q122144684) · 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
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lakes
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Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here