Argentina / Brazil Canyon World Heritage
Devil's Throat
111 m of rock, cut by the Iguazu River.
Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0 de
The cut
111 metres, to scale.
A slice through Devil's Throat 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.
111m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
2.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
20°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
108m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In January the afternoon reaches 32 °C. The best months to hike are from June to August. The wettest months are in October and in December.
- 32°32°Jan
- 32°32°Feb
- 32°31°Mar
- 29°29°Apr
- 24°24°May
- 22°22°Jun
- 22°22°Jul
- 25°24°Aug
- 28°27°Sep
- 30°29°Oct
- 31°30°Nov
- 32°32°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.
Part of the Iguazu falls
Devil's Throat is a canyon in Argentina, cut by the Iguazu River. The relief model measures 111 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 2.2 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Iguazú National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Puerto Iguazúnearest town · 18 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,990 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.5 km from the floor
- Cataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 6 km in a straight lineCar hire at IGR airport (Puerto Iguazu)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to Augustbest 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 Iguazu River runs highest from May to June and from October to January.
The Iguazu River carries about 1,826 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June and from October to January.
- 1,910 m³/sJan
- 1,791 m³/sFeb
- 1,626 m³/sMar
- 1,628 m³/sApr
- 1,880 m³/sMay
- 1,880 m³/sJun
- 1,743 m³/sJul
- 1,427 m³/sAug
- 1,478 m³/sSep
- 1,925 m³/sOct
- 2,089 m³/sNov
- 2,167 m³/sDec
From about 1,427 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,167 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 67,201 km².
Follow the Iguazu 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
1.2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.0 × 5.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 29viewpoints within 5 kmMirante Foz do Iguaçu, Torre Tanque, Mirador Salto Eva and 26 more
- 21footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPaseo Superior, Circuito Superior and 19 more
- 19named waterfalls within 4 kmSalto Mbiguá, Salto Mitre, Saltos Tres Mosqueteros and 16 more
- 3car parks within 3 km
- 9information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 6bus stops within 2 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmCamping El Ñandú
- 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGran Meliá Iguazú, Belmond Hotel das Cataratas
- 7restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- 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
- caves within 3 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
- Puerto Iguazú18 km in a straight line
- Foz do Iguaçu22 km in a straight line
- Presidente Franco23 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Devil's Throat.
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.
Cascadyas2 waterfalls nearbyComing 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 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Afternoon · rim | 32 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 32 |
| Night · rim | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 22 |
| Rain (mm) | 147 | 129 | 117 | 124 | 163 | 108 | 85 | 70 | 121 | 211 | 159 | 179 |
| Rainy days | 17 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 16 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.2 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 8.1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 32 | 23 | 147 | 8.2 |
| Feb | 32 | 32 | 23 | 129 | 7.5 |
| Mar | 32 | 31 | 22 | 117 | 7.7 |
| Apr | 29 | 29 | 19 | 124 | 7.1 |
| May | 24 | 24 | 15 | 163 | 5.6 |
| Jun | 22 | 22 | 13 | 108 | 5.2 |
| Jul | 22 | 22 | 12 | 85 | 5.8 |
| Aug | 25 | 24 | 14 | 70 | 6.6 |
| Sep | 28 | 27 | 16 | 121 | 6.3 |
| Oct | 30 | 29 | 19 | 211 | 6.5 |
| Nov | 31 | 30 | 20 | 159 | 8.0 |
| Dec | 32 | 32 | 22 | 179 | 8.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (108 m) and the rim (223 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 | 117% | 95% | 54% | 38% | 133% | 137% | 43% | 204% | 24% | 24% | 42% | 116% |
| 2021 | 181% | 22% | 60% | 11% | 20% | 115% | 54% | 69% | 74% | 132% | 43% | 6% |
| 2022 | 83% | 73% | 165% | 137% | 98% | 75% | 69% | 224% | 175% | 182% | 46% | 30% |
| 2023 | 100% | 146% | 54% | 113% | 68% | 65% | 130% | 100% | 99% | 160% | 155% | 80% |
| 2024 | 71% | 97% | 62% | 125% | 117% | 132% | 199% | 47% | 69% | 58% | 83% | 105% |
| 2025 | 50% | 68% | 35% | 53% | 38% | 199% | 97% | 145% | 92% | 78% | 82% | 106% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11699394) · 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.
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lakes
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mountains
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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