Australia Canyon

Juukan Gorge

133 m from rim to floor.

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

The cut

133 metres, to scale.

A slice through Juukan Gorge 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.

133m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

15.4km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

14°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

504m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

Afternoons, up top and down below.

In December the afternoon reaches 40 °C. The best months to hike are from June to July. The floor passes 35 °C from October to March: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from January to March.

rim · 661 mfloor · 504 m

39°38°Jan
38°37°Feb
36°35°Mar
33°32°Apr
29°28°May
25°24°Jun
25°24°Jul
27°26°Aug
31°30°Sep
36°35°Oct
38°37°Nov
40°39°Dec

Hike: Jun–JulFloor above 35 °C: Oct–MarWettest: Jan–Mar

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.

Gorge in the Hamersley Range in Australia

Juukan Gorge is a canyon in Australia. The relief model measures 133 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 156 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Paraburdoo Airport (PBO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 86 km in a straight lineCar hire at PBO airport (Paraburdoo)Discover Cars · sponsored link
From June to Julybest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at PBO airport (Paraburdoo)Discover CarsSee prices

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.

Juukan Gorge seen from above (Sentinel-2)

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.

viewpoints within 5 km
marked hiking routes within 4 km
via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
footbridges and suspension bridges 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
car parks within 3 km
information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
bus stops within 2 km
campsites within 8 km
hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
restaurants and cafés 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).

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	39	38	36	33	29	25	25	27	31	36	38	40
Afternoon · rim	38	37	35	32	28	24	24	26	30	35	37	39
Night · rim	23	23	21	18	13	10	8	10	12	17	19	22
Rain (mm)	96	90	69	22	20	28	14	2	2	5	11	32
Rainy days	12	12	9	5	3	4	2	1	0	1	2	6
Sun hours/day	10.4	10.1	9.6	9.2	9.1	8.6	9.3	10.8	11.7	11.8	12.1	11.6

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	39	38	23	96	10.4
Feb	38	37	23	90	10.1
Mar	36	35	21	69	9.6
Apr	33	32	18	22	9.2
May	29	28	13	20	9.1
Jun	25	24	10	28	8.6
Jul	25	24	8	14	9.3
Aug	27	26	10	2	10.8
Sep	31	30	12	2	11.7
Oct	36	35	17	5	11.8
Nov	38	37	19	11	12.1
Dec	40	39	22	32	11.6

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (504 m) and the rim (661 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

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	43%	151%	54%	12%	81%	8%	115%	—	—	32%	8%	137%
2021	26%	51%	29%	123%	297%	33%	2%	—	—	0%	16%	1%
2022	4%	35%	12%	19%	514%	10%	0%	—	—	6%	0%	8%
2023	16%	57%	53%	12%	0%	65%	4%	—	—	0%	3%	3%
2024	14%	2%	37%	68%	8%	109%	9%	—	—	38%	70%	119%
2025	115%	22%	28%	7%	11%	71%	18%	—	—	6%	11%	17%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q102115281) · 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

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.