Bulgaria Kiril Kapustin · CC BY 2.5
The cut
1,378 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kresna 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: 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
1,378m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
22.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
25°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
176m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
9 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 23 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in October. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are in June.
- 7°-2°Jan
- 10°0°Feb
- 14°4°Mar
- 19°10°Apr
- 24°15°May
- 28°19°Jun
- 32°23°Jul
- 32°23°Aug
- 27°18°Sep
- 21°12°Oct
- 15°6°Nov
- 9°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.
Ravine in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria
Kresna Gorge is a ravine in Bulgaria. The relief model measures 1,378 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 23 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Kresnanearest town · 3.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,450 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Sofia Airport (SOF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 105 km in a straight lineCar hire at SOF airport (Sofia)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 the river runs highest from March to June.
The the river carries about 56 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to June.
- 52 m³/sJan
- 70 m³/sFeb
- 107 m³/sMar
- 126 m³/sApr
- 129 m³/sMay
- 107 m³/sJun
- 66 m³/sJul
- 35 m³/sAug
- 26 m³/sSep
- 40 m³/sOct
- 43 m³/sNov
- 39 m³/sDec
From about 26 m³/s in the lowest month to 129 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 6,856 km².
Follow the Struma 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.
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 2car parks within 3 km
- 2campsites within 8 km
- 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmХотел Стримон ВВ Кресна, Еко селище „Дебели даб“, къща за гости Моника and 2 more
- 4restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- viewpoints within 5 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 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
- Kresna3.9 km in a straight line
- Stara Kresna4.2 km in a straight line
- Simitli13 km in a straight line
- Strumyani16 km in a straight line
- Pehčevo22 km in a straight line
- Sandanski25 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kresna 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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soonFigures 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 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 27 | 21 | 15 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | -2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -9 | -8 | -5 | -1 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 1 | -3 | -7 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 44 | 58 | 59 | 71 | 76 | 56 | 50 | 51 | 56 | 45 | 57 |
| Rainy days | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.4 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 8.9 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 3.7 | 2.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | -2 | -9 | 52 | 3.4 |
| Feb | 10 | 0 | -8 | 44 | 4.3 |
| Mar | 14 | 4 | -5 | 58 | 5.0 |
| Apr | 19 | 10 | -1 | 59 | 6.1 |
| May | 24 | 15 | 4 | 71 | 6.8 |
| Jun | 28 | 19 | 8 | 76 | 8.3 |
| Jul | 32 | 23 | 10 | 56 | 9.3 |
| Aug | 32 | 23 | 10 | 50 | 8.9 |
| Sep | 27 | 18 | 6 | 51 | 6.7 |
| Oct | 21 | 12 | 1 | 56 | 5.3 |
| Nov | 15 | 6 | -3 | 45 | 3.7 |
| Dec | 9 | 0 | -7 | 57 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (176 m) and the rim (1,586 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 | 47% | 137% | 193% | 112% | 73% | 93% | 86% | 189% | 70% | 118% | 19% | 127% |
| 2021 | 350% | 103% | 100% | 96% | 87% | 86% | 42% | 67% | 53% | 202% | 70% | 343% |
| 2022 | 60% | 115% | 46% | 92% | 69% | 136% | 117% | 180% | 108% | 39% | 103% | 76% |
| 2023 | 145% | 80% | 68% | 165% | 106% | 155% | 72% | 68% | 57% | 50% | 262% | 94% |
| 2024 | 250% | 67% | 98% | 82% | 141% | 59% | 39% | 69% | 101% | 40% | 135% | 181% |
| 2025 | 37% | 320% | 126% | 112% | 118% | 25% | 32% | 76% | 36% | 187% | 307% | 62% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kresna Gorge
Bulgaria
- 1,378 mDepth
- 23 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 25°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3110967) · 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.
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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here