Japan 玄史生 · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
651 metres, to scale.
A slice through Dorokyō 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 · Empire State · 443 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.
651m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
41°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
44m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
5 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 27 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and from October to November. The rim freezes at night from January to February. The wettest months are from June to October.
- 8°4°Jan
- 10°6°Feb
- 14°9°Mar
- 19°15°Apr
- 24°19°May
- 27°22°Jun
- 31°26°Jul
- 32°27°Aug
- 28°24°Sep
- 23°18°Oct
- 17°12°Nov
- 11°6°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.
Dorokyō is a canyon in Japan, cut by the Kitayama River. The relief model measures 651 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 8.9 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Yoshino-Kumano National Park.
Getting there.
- Komorinearest town · 13 km in a straight line
- 瀞峡 (Doro-kyo Gorge)nearest viewpoint · 3.2 km from the floor
- Nanki Shirahama Airport (SHM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 55 km in a straight lineCar hire at KIX airport (Osaka)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May and from October to Novemberbest 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 Kitayama River runs highest from June to October.
The Kitayama River carries about 43 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from June to October.
- 18 m³/sJan
- 20 m³/sFeb
- 33 m³/sMar
- 43 m³/sApr
- 50 m³/sMay
- 63 m³/sJun
- 65 m³/sJul
- 61 m³/sAug
- 76 m³/sSep
- 77 m³/sOct
- 49 m³/sNov
- 28 m³/sDec
From about 18 m³/s in the lowest month to 77 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 672 km².
The Kitayama River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 20 × 20 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 4viewpoints within 5 km北山峡 (Kitayama-Kyo Gorge), 瀞峡 (Doro-kyo Gorge) and 2 more
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmYamabiko Bridge
- 3car parks within 3 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmおくとろ公園キャンプ場, 小船キャンプ場
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
- 3restaurants 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
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres 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
- Komori13 km in a straight line
- Hongū14 km in a straight line
- Shimo-ichigi18 km in a straight line
- Shingū21 km in a straight line
- Kumano22 km in a straight line
- Udono22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Dorokyō.
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.
Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas5 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 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 24 | 27 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 23 | 17 | 11 |
| Afternoon · rim | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 10 | 4 | -1 |
| Rain (mm) | 77 | 95 | 140 | 173 | 204 | 269 | 262 | 246 | 304 | 253 | 121 | 86 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 4 | -4 | 77 | 3.8 |
| Feb | 10 | 6 | -3 | 95 | 4.3 |
| Mar | 14 | 9 | 0 | 140 | 5.3 |
| Apr | 19 | 15 | 4 | 173 | 6.0 |
| May | 24 | 19 | 10 | 204 | 6.2 |
| Jun | 27 | 22 | 14 | 269 | 4.7 |
| Jul | 31 | 26 | 19 | 262 | 5.3 |
| Aug | 32 | 27 | 19 | 246 | 6.6 |
| Sep | 28 | 24 | 16 | 304 | 5.1 |
| Oct | 23 | 18 | 10 | 253 | 4.7 |
| Nov | 17 | 12 | 4 | 121 | 4.4 |
| Dec | 11 | 6 | -1 | 86 | 3.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (44 m) and the rim (747 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 | 180% | 83% | 97% | 128% | 67% | 92% | 198% | 18% | 115% | 147% | 48% | 27% |
| 2021 | 151% | 73% | 168% | 117% | 145% | 62% | 113% | 195% | 123% | 36% | 100% | 131% |
| 2022 | 40% | 30% | 98% | 107% | 91% | 69% | 93% | 76% | 136% | 58% | 167% | 32% |
| 2023 | 65% | 33% | 98% | 117% | 188% | 215% | 46% | 189% | 58% | 53% | 100% | 51% |
| 2024 | 79% | 162% | 174% | 123% | 139% | 133% | 68% | 148% | 84% | 115% | 143% | 6% |
| 2025 | 44% | 30% | 89% | 80% | 217% | 101% | 114% | 36% | 84% | 120% | 55% | 107% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Dorokyō
Japan
- 651 mDepth
- 8.9 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 41°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11566280) · 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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islands
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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