South Korea Gorge
Pocheon Hantan River Basalt Gorge and Bidulginan Waterfall
405 m from rim to floor.
Jjw · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
405 metres, to scale.
A slice through Pocheon Hantan River Basalt Gorge and Bidulginan Waterfall 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 · Eiffel Tower · 330 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.
405m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
2.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
32°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
56m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 29 °C on the floor, against 25 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are from July to August.
- 0°-4°Jan
- 3°0°Feb
- 9°6°Mar
- 16°13°Apr
- 23°19°May
- 27°24°Jun
- 28°25°Jul
- 29°25°Aug
- 24°21°Sep
- 18°15°Oct
- 10°6°Nov
- 2°-2°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.
Waterfall and gorge in Pocheon South Korea
Pocheon Hantan River Basalt Gorge and Bidulginan Waterfall is a gorge in South Korea. The relief model measures 405 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 539 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 2.9 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Gwaninnearest town · 9.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,660 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.2 km from the floor
- Seoul Gimpo International Airport (GMP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 69 km in a straight lineCar hire at GMP airport (Seoul)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and from September to 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 July to August.
The the river carries about 27 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from July to August. It is lowest in May and from November to March.
- 4.5 m³/sJan
- 6.6 m³/sFeb
- 12 m³/sMar
- 23 m³/sApr
- 22 m³/sMay
- 24 m³/sJun
- 82 m³/sJul
- 90 m³/sAug
- 61 m³/sSep
- 29 m³/sOct
- 17 m³/sNov
- 6.7 m³/sDec
From about 4.5 m³/s in the lowest month to 90 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,275 km².
The Hantan 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
1.6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.5 × 6.5 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 4viewpoints within 5 km전망대 and 3 more
- 7footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km포천한탄강하늘다리, 한탄강제2하늘다리, 한탄강 주상절리길 6코스 구라이길 and 4 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 km비둘기낭폭포
- 12car parks within 3 km
- 16bus stops within 2 km
- 6campsites within 8 km구라이골캠핑장, 비둘기낭팸핑장, 태화산캠핑장 and 3 more
- 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 km하이트모텔, 박스도로시모텔, 엑스파크모텔 and 2 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 4 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
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres 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
- Gwanin9.3 km in a straight line
- Yeoncheon12 km in a straight line
- Jeongok14 km in a straight line
- Cheorwon14 km in a straight line
- Sinseo15 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Pocheon Hantan River Basalt Gorge and Bidulginan Waterfall.
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 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 23 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 18 | 10 | 2 |
| Afternoon · rim | -4 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 6 | -2 |
| Night · rim | -14 | -11 | -6 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 12 | 4 | -3 | -11 |
| Rain (mm) | 20 | 30 | 36 | 72 | 84 | 116 | 372 | 282 | 140 | 61 | 55 | 23 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.2 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -4 | -14 | 20 | 5.2 |
| Feb | 3 | 0 | -11 | 30 | 5.9 |
| Mar | 9 | 6 | -6 | 36 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 16 | 13 | 0 | 72 | 6.6 |
| May | 23 | 19 | 7 | 84 | 7.0 |
| Jun | 27 | 24 | 13 | 116 | 5.8 |
| Jul | 28 | 25 | 17 | 372 | 3.0 |
| Aug | 29 | 25 | 18 | 282 | 4.2 |
| Sep | 24 | 21 | 12 | 140 | 5.4 |
| Oct | 18 | 15 | 4 | 61 | 6.2 |
| Nov | 10 | 6 | -3 | 55 | 4.8 |
| Dec | 2 | -2 | -11 | 23 | 5.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (56 m) and the rim (596 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 | 388% | 177% | 55% | 42% | 170% | 117% | 94% | 211% | 207% | 10% | 86% | 11% |
| 2021 | 71% | 19% | 271% | 142% | 196% | 74% | 38% | 106% | 112% | 225% | 99% | 95% |
| 2022 | 26% | 25% | 264% | 69% | 24% | 346% | 81% | 105% | 104% | 220% | 107% | 27% |
| 2023 | 166% | 29% | 28% | 68% | 112% | 135% | 61% | 104% | 115% | 62% | 166% | 477% |
| 2024 | 89% | 272% | 134% | 57% | 144% | 105% | 105% | 55% | 212% | 192% | 72% | 29% |
| 2025 | 75% | 11% | 162% | 127% | 108% | 107% | 52% | 70% | 230% | 477% | 38% | 130% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q16095974) · 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.