India Canyon

Marble Rocks

130 m of rock, cut by the Narmada River.

The cut

130 metres, to scale.

A slice through Marble Rocks 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.

130m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

21.9km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

16°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

334m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

Afternoons, up top and down below.

In May the afternoon reaches 44 °C. The best months to hike are from November to January. The floor passes 35 °C from March to June: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from June to September.

rim · 483 mfloor · 334 m

27°26°Jan
31°30°Feb
36°35°Mar
41°40°Apr
44°43°May
38°37°Jun
31°30°Jul
30°29°Aug
30°29°Sep
30°28°Oct
28°27°Nov
27°26°Dec

Hike: Nov–JanFloor above 35 °C: Mar–JunWettest: Jun–Sep

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 and fall of the Narmada River

Marble Rocks is a canyon in India, cut by the Narmada River. The relief model measures 130 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 22 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Bherāghātnearest town · 0.5 km in a straight line
Canyon viewpointnearest viewpoint · 2.9 km from the floor
Jabalpur Airport (JLR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 27 km in a straight lineCar hire at DEL airport (New Delhi)Discover Cars · sponsored link
From November to Januarybest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at DEL airport (New Delhi)Discover CarsSee prices

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 Narmada River runs highest from August to September.

The Narmada River carries about 337 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from August to September. It is lowest from November to June.

20 m³/sJan
27 m³/sFeb
29 m³/sMar
21 m³/sApr
17 m³/sMay
212 m³/sJun
884 m³/sJul
1,441 m³/sAug
1,414 m³/sSep
789 m³/sOct
254 m³/sNov
24 m³/sDec

From about 17 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,441 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 17,221 km².

Follow the Narmada 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.

Marble Rocks seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 6 km

ViewpointsWaterfalls

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.

3viewpoints within 5 kmGhughra Falls, Waterfall, Canyon viewpoint
2named waterfalls within 4 kmDhuandhar Falls, Ghughra Falls

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
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).

Towns nearby

Bherāghāt0.5 km in a straight line
Karmeta13 km in a straight line
Khamaria14 km in a straight line
Shāhpura14 km in a straight line
Jabalpur16 km in a straight line
Amkhera17 km in a straight line
Bargi18 km in a straight line
Suhāgi19 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Marble Rocks.

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.

Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon

Narmada1,315 km · 1,218 m³/sKaveri River

Cascadyas3 waterfalls nearbyComing soon

Marble Rocks · 3.0 kmDhuandhar Falls · 4.7 kmDhuāndhār Falls · 4.7 km

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	27	31	36	41	44	38	31	30	30	30	28	27
Afternoon · rim	26	30	35	40	43	37	30	29	29	28	27	26
Night · rim	9	12	17	23	27	27	24	23	22	18	13	9
Rain (mm)	19	20	19	8	17	177	409	404	222	33	7	5
Rainy days	3	3	3	2	3	16	25	26	18	6	2	2
Sun hours/day	7.7	8.8	9.7	10.5	10.1	6.7	3.6	3.2	6.0	8.0	7.9	7.6

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	27	26	9	19	7.7
Feb	31	30	12	20	8.8
Mar	36	35	17	19	9.7
Apr	41	40	23	8	10.5
May	44	43	27	17	10.1
Jun	38	37	27	177	6.7
Jul	31	30	24	409	3.6
Aug	30	29	23	404	3.2
Sep	30	29	22	222	6.0
Oct	30	28	18	33	8.0
Nov	28	27	13	7	7.9
Dec	27	26	9	5	7.6

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (334 m) and the rim (483 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Marble Rocks - Jabalpur — Anshikasjv12 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Marble Rocks - River Narmada — Anshikasjv12 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Naturally formed marble rocks 3 — Siddhanth R. Menon · CC BY-SA 4.0

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	185%	107%	215%	162%	269%	120%	52%	173%	64%	103%	109%	100%
2021	6%	79%	53%	31%	506%	124%	58%	31%	150%	76%	55%	472%
2022	161%	82%	2%	0%	57%	106%	95%	120%	115%	287%	0%	32%
2023	3%	0%	141%	738%	178%	275%	85%	94%	108%	17%	445%	396%
2024	69%	112%	73%	327%	91%	85%	120%	100%	136%	40%	0%	670%
2025	5%	0%	6%	88%	255%	140%	148%	70%	88%	281%	9%	0%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q2722748) · 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