Qfl247 ( talk ) (Transferred by Citypeek /Original uploaded by Qfl247 ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
675 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kings 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: 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
675m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
40°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,486m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
7 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 35 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The floor passes 35 °C in July: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from November to April.
- 6°-1°Jan
- 8°1°Feb
- 13°6°Mar
- 18°11°Apr
- 24°17°May
- 31°24°Jun
- 35°28°Jul
- 33°27°Aug
- 28°21°Sep
- 19°12°Oct
- 11°5°Nov
- 5°-2°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 within the Confusion Range in Millard County, Utah, USA
Kings Canyon is a canyon in United States. The relief model measures 675 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,020 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Cedar City Regional Airport (CDC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 159 km in a straight lineCar hire at PVU airport (Provo)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and 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 the river runs highest from March to April.
The the river carries about 0.13 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to April, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from July to September and from November to December.
- 0.1 m³/sJan
- 0.3 m³/sFeb
- 0.5 m³/sMar
- 0.5 m³/sApr
- 0.4 m³/sMay
- 0.1 m³/sJun
- 0.1 m³/sJul
- 0.0 m³/sAug
- 0.1 m³/sSep
- 0.1 m³/sOct
- 0.1 m³/sNov
- 0.0 m³/sDec
From about 0.03 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.53 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 104 km².
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.
- 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Kings 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.
Figures 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 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 24 | 31 | 35 | 33 | 28 | 19 | 11 | 5 |
| Afternoon · rim | -1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 24 | 28 | 27 | 21 | 12 | 5 | -2 |
| Night · rim | -11 | -10 | -7 | -4 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 6 | -2 | -7 | -11 |
| Rain (mm) | 21 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 26 | 12 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 16 | 24 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.5 | 6.7 | 8.5 | 9.9 | 11.1 | 12.9 | 11.8 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 8.6 | 6.7 | 5.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6 | -1 | -11 | 21 | 5.5 |
| Feb | 8 | 1 | -10 | 25 | 6.7 |
| Mar | 13 | 6 | -7 | 26 | 8.5 |
| Apr | 18 | 11 | -4 | 28 | 9.9 |
| May | 24 | 17 | 2 | 26 | 11.1 |
| Jun | 31 | 24 | 8 | 12 | 12.9 |
| Jul | 35 | 28 | 13 | 23 | 11.8 |
| Aug | 33 | 27 | 11 | 20 | 11.2 |
| Sep | 28 | 21 | 6 | 20 | 10.4 |
| Oct | 19 | 12 | -2 | 25 | 8.6 |
| Nov | 11 | 5 | -7 | 16 | 6.7 |
| Dec | 5 | -2 | -11 | 24 | 5.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,486 m) and the rim (2,506 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 | 36% | 48% | 95% | 76% | 15% | 55% | 23% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 63% | 52% |
| 2021 | 84% | 43% | 144% | 63% | 27% | 25% | 183% | 198% | 37% | 205% | 9% | 295% |
| 2022 | 23% | 60% | 73% | 29% | 37% | 18% | 103% | 198% | 115% | 58% | 244% | 201% |
| 2023 | 303% | 93% | 291% | 44% | 79% | 148% | 52% | 304% | 174% | 23% | 102% | 8% |
| 2024 | 130% | 169% | 262% | 64% | 31% | 78% | 56% | 148% | 9% | 70% | 183% | 35% |
| 2025 | 20% | 37% | 119% | 59% | 143% | 45% | 28% | 118% | 118% | 123% | 50% | 93% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q6412873) · 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.



