Japan 清兵衛 at Japanese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
404 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kiyotsu 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 · Eiffel Tower · 330 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.
404m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
4.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
31°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
318m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are in July and in December.
- 2°-2°Jan
- 3°-1°Feb
- 7°3°Mar
- 15°11°Apr
- 22°18°May
- 25°21°Jun
- 29°25°Jul
- 30°26°Aug
- 25°21°Sep
- 19°15°Oct
- 12°8°Nov
- 5°1°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.
Kiyotsu Gorge is a canyon in Japan, cut by the Kiyotsu River. The relief model measures 404 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 613 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 4.4 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Jōshin'etsu-kōgen National Park.
Getting there.
- Yuzawanearest town · 6.4 km in a straight line
- Parking 530 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.7 km from the floor
- Niigata Airport (KIJ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 114 km in a straight lineCar hire at KIJ airport (Niigata)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In Maybest 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 Kiyotsu River runs highest from March to April and from October to January.
The Kiyotsu River carries about 6.6 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to April and from October to January.
- 9.3 m³/sJan
- 5.8 m³/sFeb
- 8.4 m³/sMar
- 7.3 m³/sApr
- 4.2 m³/sMay
- 3.4 m³/sJun
- 6.0 m³/sJul
- 5.5 m³/sAug
- 6.2 m³/sSep
- 7.2 m³/sOct
- 8.2 m³/sNov
- 10 m³/sDec
From about 3.4 m³/s in the lowest month to 10 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 218 km².
The Uono River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 10 × 10 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 7viewpoints within 5 km
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 6car parks within 3 km
- 7information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 5campsites within 8 km七ツ釜キャンプ場, 清津川フレッシュパーク, 清田山キャンプ場 and 2 more
- 50hotels and guesthouses within 8 km音羽屋旅館, 湯沢ニューオータニホテル, YUZAWA SKI HOUSE and 47 more
- 14restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes 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
- named waterfalls within 4 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
- Yuzawa6.4 km in a straight line
- Ōwarino9.9 km in a straight line
- Shiozawa12 km in a straight line
- Sakae16 km in a straight line
- Muikamachi16 km in a straight line
- Minamiuonuma17 km in a straight line
- Tōkamachi18 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kiyotsu Gorge.
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.
Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas9 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 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 19 | 12 | 5 |
| Afternoon · rim | -2 | -1 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 1 |
| Night · rim | -7 | -8 | -5 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 0 | -4 |
| Rain (mm) | 194 | 118 | 118 | 95 | 92 | 134 | 206 | 160 | 170 | 169 | 168 | 223 |
| Rainy days | 26 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 24 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.6 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 1.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 34 | 42 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 18 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | -2 | -7 | 194 | 1.6 |
| Feb | 3 | -1 | -8 | 118 | 2.6 |
| Mar | 7 | 3 | -5 | 118 | 4.3 |
| Apr | 15 | 11 | 0 | 95 | 5.5 |
| May | 22 | 18 | 6 | 92 | 6.3 |
| Jun | 25 | 21 | 11 | 134 | 5.7 |
| Jul | 29 | 25 | 16 | 206 | 4.8 |
| Aug | 30 | 26 | 17 | 160 | 6.2 |
| Sep | 25 | 21 | 12 | 170 | 4.9 |
| Oct | 19 | 15 | 6 | 169 | 4.1 |
| Nov | 12 | 8 | 0 | 168 | 2.6 |
| Dec | 5 | 1 | -4 | 223 | 1.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (318 m) and the rim (932 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 | 96% | 104% | 110% | 142% | 76% | 104% | 179% | 42% | 130% | 81% | 65% | 94% |
| 2021 | 115% | 135% | 90% | 108% | 112% | 99% | 102% | 163% | 92% | 90% | 99% | 117% |
| 2022 | 70% | 116% | 76% | 128% | 124% | 67% | 100% | 140% | 114% | 57% | 102% | 122% |
| 2023 | 84% | 95% | 83% | 104% | 200% | 224% | 75% | 52% | 109% | 100% | 116% | 92% |
| 2024 | 99% | 121% | 162% | 105% | 151% | 88% | 94% | 114% | 144% | 135% | 132% | 105% |
| 2025 | 94% | 130% | 101% | 117% | 172% | 131% | 36% | 135% | 199% | 155% | 110% | 112% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kiyotsu Gorge
Japan
- 404 mDepth
- 4.4 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 31°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11561258) · 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?
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