United States Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
45 metres, to scale.
A slice through Niles 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: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 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.
45m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
22°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
3m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and in November. The wettest months are from December to March.
- 15°12°Jan
- 16°14°Feb
- 18°15°Mar
- 20°17°Apr
- 23°21°May
- 27°25°Jun
- 30°28°Jul
- 30°28°Aug
- 30°27°Sep
- 25°23°Oct
- 19°17°Nov
- 15°12°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.
Canyon in San Francisco East Bay known for silent movie and first transcontinental railway
Niles Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Alameda Creek. The relief model measures 45 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 355 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Fremontnearest town · 4.2 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,040 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.2 km from the floor
- Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 24 km in a straight lineCar hire at SJC airport (San Jose)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May and in Novemberbest 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 Alameda Creek runs highest from December to March.
The Alameda Creek carries about 6.7 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from December to March. It is lowest from May to October.
- 27 m³/sJan
- 27 m³/sFeb
- 22 m³/sMar
- 12 m³/sApr
- 4.8 m³/sMay
- 1.4 m³/sJun
- 0.6 m³/sJul
- 0.5 m³/sAug
- 0.5 m³/sSep
- 2.1 m³/sOct
- 8.1 m³/sNov
- 25 m³/sDec
From about 0.47 m³/s in the lowest month to 27 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,640 km².
The Alameda Creek 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.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmBay Area Ridge Trail - 02 - East Bay, Live Oak Loop Trail, Bay Valley View Trail and 2 more
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 2rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 119car parks within 3 km
- 25information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 27bus stops within 2 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmArroyo Flats Group Camp, Eagle Spring Backpack Camp
- 17hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmStation Center Apartments, garden, Residence Inn Fremont Silicon Valley and 14 more
- 80restaurants 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
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
- Fremont4.2 km in a straight line
- Union City5.1 km in a straight line
- Newark8.7 km in a straight line
- Pleasanton12 km in a straight line
- Fairview13 km in a straight line
- Dublin14 km in a straight line
- Hayward14 km in a straight line
- Longwood - Winton Grove15 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Niles 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.
Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas7 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 kmComing 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 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 19 | 15 |
| Afternoon · rim | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 12 |
| Night · rim | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Rain (mm) | 88 | 91 | 77 | 40 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 53 | 114 |
| Rainy days | 10 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.1 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 9.9 | 11.9 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 12.7 | 11.0 | 9.0 | 6.6 | 4.9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 15 | 12 | 2 | 88 | 5.1 |
| Feb | 16 | 14 | 3 | 91 | 6.6 |
| Mar | 18 | 15 | 4 | 77 | 8.1 |
| Apr | 20 | 17 | 5 | 40 | 9.9 |
| May | 23 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 11.9 |
| Jun | 27 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 13.7 |
| Jul | 30 | 28 | 10 | 0 | 13.7 |
| Aug | 30 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 12.7 |
| Sep | 30 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 11.0 |
| Oct | 25 | 23 | 8 | 25 | 9.0 |
| Nov | 19 | 17 | 5 | 53 | 6.6 |
| Dec | 15 | 12 | 3 | 114 | 4.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (3 m) and the rim (358 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 | 48% | 0% | 90% | 116% | 136% | — | — | — | — | 1% | 44% | 38% |
| 2021 | 129% | 30% | 55% | 6% | 2% | — | — | — | — | 541% | 47% | 190% |
| 2022 | 7% | 2% | 27% | 93% | 4% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 101% | 258% |
| 2023 | 290% | 117% | 282% | 10% | 156% | — | — | — | — | 32% | 60% | 96% |
| 2024 | 176% | 176% | 129% | 96% | 165% | — | — | — | — | 10% | 150% | 104% |
| 2025 | 9% | 180% | 83% | 30% | 28% | — | — | — | — | 184% | 188% | 83% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Niles Canyon
United States
- 45 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 22°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
United States · 211 km
- 1,265 mDepth
- 6.9 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 48°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7037008) · 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
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