Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
135 metres, to scale.
A slice through Laurel 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: Big Ben · 96 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.
135m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
22.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
24°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
75m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 30 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from December to April. The wettest months are from December to March.
- 19°17°Jan
- 19°17°Feb
- 21°19°Mar
- 23°20°Apr
- 26°23°May
- 29°26°Jun
- 32°29°Jul
- 32°30°Aug
- 31°29°Sep
- 27°25°Oct
- 23°21°Nov
- 19°16°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.
Neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States
Laurel Canyon is a canyon in United States. The relief model measures 135 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 383 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 23 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Universal Citynearest town · 3.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 710 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Inspiration Pointnearest viewpoint · 3.0 km from the floor
- Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope Airport (BUR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 10 km in a straight lineCar hire at BUR airport (Burbank)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December to Aprilbest 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.
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.
- 22viewpoints within 5 kmHollywood Bowl Overlook, Dead Man Overlook, Autry Overlook and 19 more
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmHollywood Walk of Fame
- 54footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmLaurelgrove Bridge (L.A. River) and 53 more
- 4rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 181car parks within 3 km
- 5information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 21bus stops within 2 km
- 270hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHollywoodHostels, Hollywood Highland Hotel & Hostel, Rodeway Inn and 267 more
- 377restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- campsites within 8 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
- Universal City3.1 km in a straight line
- West Hollywood3.3 km in a straight line
- Studio City4.0 km in a straight line
- Hollywood4.9 km in a straight line
- Beverly Hills5.4 km in a straight line
- North Hollywood6.1 km in a straight line
- Larchmont6.8 km in a straight line
- Sherman Oaks7.8 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Laurel 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 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 23 | 19 |
| Afternoon · rim | 17 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 21 | 16 |
| Night · rim | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 73 | 75 | 42 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 25 | 65 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.1 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 10.6 | 11.7 | 12.9 | 12.8 | 12.5 | 11.1 | 9.4 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 19 | 17 | 6 | 73 | 7.1 |
| Feb | 19 | 17 | 7 | 75 | 7.8 |
| Mar | 21 | 19 | 8 | 42 | 9.2 |
| Apr | 23 | 20 | 9 | 19 | 10.6 |
| May | 26 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 11.7 |
| Jun | 29 | 26 | 14 | 1 | 12.9 |
| Jul | 32 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 12.8 |
| Aug | 32 | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Sep | 31 | 29 | 16 | 3 | 11.1 |
| Oct | 27 | 25 | 13 | 17 | 9.4 |
| Nov | 23 | 21 | 10 | 25 | 8.1 |
| Dec | 19 | 16 | 6 | 65 | 6.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (75 m) and the rim (458 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 | 11% | 8% | 320% | 478% | 39% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 27% | 54% |
| 2021 | 71% | 1% | 77% | 6% | 14% | — | — | — | — | 126% | 0% | 360% |
| 2022 | 4% | 6% | 79% | 30% | 3% | — | — | — | — | 34% | 207% | 149% |
| 2023 | 290% | 171% | 451% | 10% | 197% | — | — | — | — | 4% | 61% | 100% |
| 2024 | 61% | 367% | 241% | 95% | 32% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 17% | 1% |
| 2025 | 26% | 110% | 130% | 30% | 53% | — | — | — | — | 213% | 552% | 241% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q462539) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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.



