Italy Canyon
Gole del Cardinello
1,675 m of rock, cut by the Torrente Valle del Do.
Paebi · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,675 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gole del Cardinello 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
1,675m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
10.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
53°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,240m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
12 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 21 °C on the floor, against 10 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from July to August. The rim freezes at night from September to June. The wettest months are from June to August.
- 0°-12°Jan
- 1°-11°Feb
- 4°-8°Mar
- 9°-3°Apr
- 15°3°May
- 20°8°Jun
- 21°10°Jul
- 21°9°Aug
- 17°5°Sep
- 12°0°Oct
- 6°-6°Nov
- 1°-11°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.
Gole del Cardinello is a canyon in Italy, cut by the Torrente Valle del Do. The relief model measures 1,675 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Pianazzonearest town · 4.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 360 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Acque Rossenearest viewpoint · 0.6 km from the floor
- Lugano Airport (LUG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 61 km in a straight lineCar hire at BGY airport (Orio al Serio)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From July 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.
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 kmPizzo Tamborello, Cima di Val Loga Centrale, Pizzo Latta and 8 more
- 12marked hiking routes within 4 kmVia Spluga, Percorso C15 and 10 more
- 17footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPonte degli Svizzeri, Via Spluga and 15 more
- 3named waterfalls within 4 kmTorrente Valle Groppera, Cascata di Borghetto, Cascata del Suretta
- 39car parks within 3 km
- 4information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 5bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmStellplatz Montespluga, Campodolcino Camping
- 27hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmCasa Alpina di Motta, Albergo Mangusta, Locanda Cardinello and 24 more
- 11restaurants and cafés 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
- Pianazzo4.1 km in a straight line
- Campodolcino7.0 km in a straight line
- Mesocco11 km in a straight line
- Piuro16 km in a straight line
- Prosto16 km in a straight line
- Chiavenna17 km in a straight line
- San Vittore18 km in a straight line
- Prata Centro18 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gole del Cardinello.
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.
Peakyas151 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 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| Afternoon · rim | -12 | -11 | -8 | -3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 0 | -6 | -11 |
| Night · rim | -21 | -21 | -16 | -11 | -6 | -2 | 0 | 0 | -4 | -8 | -13 | -19 |
| Rain (mm) | 64 | 55 | 73 | 98 | 142 | 148 | 143 | 166 | 110 | 114 | 122 | 77 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.1 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 59 | 69 | 62 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 39 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -12 | -21 | 64 | 4.1 |
| Feb | 1 | -11 | -21 | 55 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 4 | -8 | -16 | 73 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 9 | -3 | -11 | 98 | 5.9 |
| May | 15 | 3 | -6 | 142 | 5.7 |
| Jun | 20 | 8 | -2 | 148 | 7.4 |
| Jul | 21 | 10 | 0 | 143 | 7.9 |
| Aug | 21 | 9 | 0 | 166 | 7.1 |
| Sep | 17 | 5 | -4 | 110 | 6.1 |
| Oct | 12 | 0 | -8 | 114 | 4.7 |
| Nov | 6 | -6 | -13 | 122 | 3.4 |
| Dec | 1 | -11 | -19 | 77 | 3.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,240 m) and the rim (3,049 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 | 38% | 89% | 94% | 54% | 76% | 134% | 76% | 148% | 96% | 194% | 11% | 191% |
| 2021 | 228% | 105% | 61% | 71% | 112% | 72% | 219% | 105% | 98% | 65% | 90% | 66% |
| 2022 | 38% | 93% | 17% | 74% | 83% | 107% | 90% | 61% | 126% | 100% | 51% | 81% |
| 2023 | 47% | 27% | 109% | 116% | 141% | 87% | 111% | 150% | 106% | 175% | 101% | 164% |
| 2024 | 89% | 192% | 257% | 108% | 148% | 169% | 123% | 44% | 183% | 154% | 30% | 58% |
| 2025 | 181% | 49% | 116% | 102% | 117% | 114% | 160% | 108% | 173% | 56% | 64% | 36% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gole del Cardinello
Italy
- 1,675 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 53°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q28000692) · 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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