Japan Yasu ( talk ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,976 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kurobe 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.
1,976m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
47°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
729m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
13 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 27 °C on the floor, against 14 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and in September. The rim freezes at night from October to May. The wettest months are in July.
- 0°-13°Jan
- 1°-12°Feb
- 5°-8°Mar
- 13°0°Apr
- 20°7°May
- 23°10°Jun
- 26°13°Jul
- 27°14°Aug
- 23°10°Sep
- 17°4°Oct
- 10°-3°Nov
- 4°-9°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.
Gorge in Japan
Kurobe Gorge is a canyon in Japan, cut by the Kurobe River. The relief model measures 1,976 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Chūbu-Sangaku National Park.
Getting there.
- Hakubanearest town · 17 km in a straight line
- Toyama Kitokito Airport (TOY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 44 km in a straight lineCar hire at TOY airport (Toyama)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and in Septemberbest 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 Kurobe River runs highest from March to May and from July to January.
The Kurobe River carries about 9.8 m³/s on average here.
- 9.8 m³/sJan
- 3.6 m³/sFeb
- 16 m³/sMar
- 19 m³/sApr
- 10 m³/sMay
- 6.7 m³/sJun
- 16 m³/sJul
- 11 m³/sAug
- 14 m³/sSep
- 14 m³/sOct
- 12 m³/sNov
- 14 m³/sDec
From about 3.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 19 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 237 km².
The Kurobe 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
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.
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 km水平歩道
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 km剱大滝
- 3campsites within 8 km劔沢キャンプサイト, 雷鳥沢キャンプ場, 阿曽原温泉
- 23hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmキレット小屋, 五竜山荘, 内蔵助山荘 and 20 more
- viewpoints within 5 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
- caves within 3 km
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 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
- Hakuba17 km in a straight line
- Ōmachi23 km in a straight line
- Dorosaki24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kurobe 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
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas53 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 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | -13 | -12 | -8 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 4 | -3 | -9 |
| Night · rim | -19 | -19 | -16 | -10 | -4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | -4 | -10 | -15 |
| Rain (mm) | 158 | 108 | 121 | 112 | 110 | 147 | 226 | 162 | 181 | 159 | 142 | 184 |
| Rainy days | 23 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 23 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.6 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 38 | 46 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -13 | -19 | 158 | 2.6 |
| Feb | 1 | -12 | -19 | 108 | 3.5 |
| Mar | 5 | -8 | -16 | 121 | 4.5 |
| Apr | 13 | 0 | -10 | 112 | 5.5 |
| May | 20 | 7 | -4 | 110 | 6.3 |
| Jun | 23 | 10 | 1 | 147 | 5.0 |
| Jul | 26 | 13 | 6 | 226 | 4.4 |
| Aug | 27 | 14 | 6 | 162 | 5.7 |
| Sep | 23 | 10 | 2 | 181 | 4.6 |
| Oct | 17 | 4 | -4 | 159 | 4.5 |
| Nov | 10 | -3 | -10 | 142 | 3.6 |
| Dec | 4 | -9 | -15 | 184 | 2.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (729 m) and the rim (2,715 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 | 87% | 95% | 105% | 114% | 59% | 144% | 203% | 42% | 98% | 91% | 60% | 100% |
| 2021 | 127% | 114% | 89% | 111% | 150% | 87% | 89% | 210% | 93% | 67% | 94% | 124% |
| 2022 | 70% | 110% | 73% | 127% | 90% | 66% | 105% | 160% | 130% | 57% | 97% | 108% |
| 2023 | 71% | 77% | 90% | 122% | 217% | 217% | 80% | 48% | 77% | 86% | 115% | 88% |
| 2024 | 95% | 135% | 167% | 124% | 177% | 124% | 92% | 134% | 136% | 166% | 164% | 94% |
| 2025 | 91% | 110% | 112% | 86% | 148% | 159% | 43% | 163% | 173% | 157% | 96% | 109% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kurobe Gorge
Japan
- 1,976 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 47°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11179607) · 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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islands
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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