Turkey Engin Asil · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,069 metres, to scale.
A slice through Karanlık Canyon 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.
1,069m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
41°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
25km
Length
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 35 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in October. The floor passes 35 °C in August: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are from March to May.
- 5°-3°Jan
- 7°0°Feb
- 13°5°Mar
- 19°11°Apr
- 24°16°May
- 30°22°Jun
- 35°27°Jul
- 35°28°Aug
- 30°22°Sep
- 22°14°Oct
- 13°6°Nov
- 7°0°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.
Canyon in Turkey
Karanlık Canyon is a canyon in Turkey, cut by the Fırat river. The relief model measures 1,069 m from the floor to the lower rim. It runs for 25 km. Rim to rim it is 8.7 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Kemaliyenearest town · 0.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,550 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 99 km in a straight lineCar hire at MLX airport (Malatya)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In Octoberbest 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 Fırat runs highest from March to May.
The Fırat carries about 166 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from August to October.
- 241 m³/sJan
- 318 m³/sFeb
- 447 m³/sMar
- 543 m³/sApr
- 551 m³/sMay
- 369 m³/sJun
- 174 m³/sJul
- 46 m³/sAug
- 43 m³/sSep
- 121 m³/sOct
- 166 m³/sNov
- 179 m³/sDec
From about 43 m³/s in the lowest month to 551 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 20,490 km².
Follow the Euphrates 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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 19 × 19 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmBozkurt Hotel & Restaurant
- 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites 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).
Towns nearby
- Kemaliye0.8 km in a straight line
- Dutluca18 km in a straight line
- Başpınar19 km in a straight line
- İliç22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Karanlık Canyon.
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.
Peakyas4 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 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 24 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 22 | 13 | 7 |
| Afternoon · rim | -3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 27 | 28 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -12 | -10 | -5 | -1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | -4 | -9 |
| Rain (mm) | 43 | 36 | 47 | 53 | 53 | 24 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 41 | 43 | 37 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.1 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 11.8 | 13.0 | 11.9 | 10.2 | 7.1 | 5.2 | 3.9 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 19 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 17 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | -3 | -12 | 43 | 5.1 |
| Feb | 7 | 0 | -10 | 36 | 6.5 |
| Mar | 13 | 5 | -5 | 47 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 19 | 11 | -1 | 53 | 7.0 |
| May | 24 | 16 | 4 | 53 | 8.8 |
| Jun | 30 | 22 | 7 | 24 | 11.8 |
| Jul | 35 | 27 | 10 | 10 | 13.0 |
| Aug | 35 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 11.9 |
| Sep | 30 | 22 | 7 | 18 | 10.2 |
| Oct | 22 | 14 | 2 | 41 | 7.1 |
| Nov | 13 | 6 | -4 | 43 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 7 | 0 | -9 | 37 | 3.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (830 m) and the rim (1,990 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 | 97% | 143% | 138% | 72% | 116% | 89% | 65% | 95% | 57% | 13% | 106% | 62% |
| 2021 | 118% | 38% | 114% | 40% | 23% | 69% | 70% | 260% | 177% | 75% | 64% | 92% |
| 2022 | 119% | 72% | 142% | 53% | 117% | 131% | 83% | 81% | 121% | 68% | 81% | 45% |
| 2023 | 32% | 105% | 275% | 210% | 161% | 147% | 204% | 160% | 39% | 77% | 192% | 173% |
| 2024 | 112% | 87% | 112% | 60% | 116% | 43% | 366% | 105% | 123% | 60% | 92% | 92% |
| 2025 | 23% | 114% | 185% | 115% | 129% | 53% | 115% | 85% | 113% | 90% | 66% | 113% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Karanlık Canyon
Turkey
- 1,069 mDepth
- 8.7 kmRim to rim
- 25 kmLength
- 41°Steepest wall
Cehennem Deresi Canyon
Turkey · 359 km
- 1,613 mDepth
- 10 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 40°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q61077683) · 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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