France Canyon
Gorges du Guil (Hautes-Alpes)
1,792 m of rock, cut by the Le Guil.
TouN · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
1,792 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges du Guil (Hautes-Alpes) 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.
1,792m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
20.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
32°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
882m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
15 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 28 °C on the floor, against 13 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and in September. The rim freezes at night from September to May. The wettest months are in May and in November.
- 5°-10°Jan
- 6°-9°Feb
- 10°-5°Mar
- 14°0°Apr
- 19°4°May
- 24°10°Jun
- 28°13°Jul
- 27°13°Aug
- 22°8°Sep
- 17°2°Oct
- 10°-5°Nov
- 6°-9°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.
Gorges du Guil (Hautes-Alpes) is a canyon in France, cut by the Le Guil river. The relief model measures 1,792 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 2,251 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 20 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Guillestrenearest town · 1.4 km in a straight line
- Parking 520 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.8 km from the floor
- Cuneo International Airport (CUF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 79 km in a straight lineCar hire at TRN airport (Caselle Torinese)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and in 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.
The river
The Le Guil runs highest from April to May and in November.
The Le Guil carries about 8.6 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to May and in November, fed by melting snow.
- 9.8 m³/sJan
- 8.9 m³/sFeb
- 15 m³/sMar
- 19 m³/sApr
- 20 m³/sMay
- 14 m³/sJun
- 6.9 m³/sJul
- 3.7 m³/sAug
- 5.5 m³/sSep
- 9.9 m³/sOct
- 15 m³/sNov
- 13 m³/sDec
From about 3.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 20 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 592 km².
Follow the Durance 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.
- 29viewpoints within 5 kmGuile Canoe entry point 1, La Butte, Peyre Haute and 26 more
- 88marked hiking routes within 4 kmVia Alpina Red R130, Via Alpina Red R131, Via Domitia, Montgenèvre - Eygalières and 85 more
- 7climbing crags within 3 kmBloc aux Marmotte 1, Bloc aux Marmotte 2, Flavie and 4 more
- 11footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmLa Rue des Masques, Sentier du Cavalier 104 and 9 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmFontaine pétrifiante de Réotier
- 54car parks within 3 km
- 21information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 68bus stops within 2 km
- 20campsites within 8 kmAire du Val d'Escreins, Camping La Fontaine, La Place and 17 more
- 45hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAuberge des Quatre Vents, Vacances Léo Lagrange LE 1850, Le Chardon Bleu and 42 more
- 27restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 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
- Guillestre1.4 km in a straight line
- Embrun17 km in a straight line
- Saint-Martin-de-Queyrières18 km in a straight line
- Villar-Saint-Pancrace22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges du Guil (Hautes-Alpes).
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.
Peakyas19 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 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 24 | 28 | 27 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 6 |
| Afternoon · rim | -10 | -9 | -5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 2 | -5 | -9 |
| Night · rim | -18 | -18 | -14 | -10 | -6 | -2 | 0 | 0 | -4 | -8 | -12 | -17 |
| Rain (mm) | 44 | 44 | 54 | 63 | 78 | 59 | 43 | 43 | 53 | 71 | 96 | 61 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.0 | 5.7 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 10.8 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 22 | 23 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | -10 | -18 | 44 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 6 | -9 | -18 | 44 | 5.7 |
| Mar | 10 | -5 | -14 | 54 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 14 | 0 | -10 | 63 | 6.9 |
| May | 19 | 4 | -6 | 78 | 7.6 |
| Jun | 24 | 10 | -2 | 59 | 9.8 |
| Jul | 28 | 13 | 0 | 43 | 10.8 |
| Aug | 27 | 13 | 0 | 43 | 9.8 |
| Sep | 22 | 8 | -4 | 53 | 8.1 |
| Oct | 17 | 2 | -8 | 71 | 6.0 |
| Nov | 10 | -5 | -12 | 96 | 4.4 |
| Dec | 6 | -9 | -17 | 61 | 4.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (882 m) and the rim (3,133 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 | 68% | 50% | 111% | 104% | 134% | 192% | 79% | 166% | 81% | 134% | 17% | 119% |
| 2021 | 188% | 63% | 19% | 82% | 79% | 59% | 134% | 65% | 85% | 43% | 83% | 62% |
| 2022 | 8% | 28% | 30% | 50% | 63% | 46% | 79% | 139% | 72% | 37% | 43% | 98% |
| 2023 | 52% | 20% | 44% | 57% | 148% | 167% | 59% | 148% | 86% | 89% | 50% | 62% |
| 2024 | 80% | 173% | 214% | 69% | 143% | 101% | 78% | 46% | 196% | 154% | 22% | 17% |
| 2025 | 92% | 26% | 144% | 130% | 78% | 47% | 99% | 94% | 113% | 31% | 29% | 78% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gorges du Guil (Hautes-Alpes)
France
- 1,792 mDepth
- 20 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 32°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q49097042) · 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
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