United States Canyon

Rainbow Canyon

616 m from rim to floor.

The cut

616 metres, to scale.

A slice through Rainbow 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: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 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.

616m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

21.3km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

29°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

537m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

7 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 42 °C on the floor, against 35 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in March and in November. The floor passes 35 °C from June to September: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to January.

rim · 1,633 mfloor · 537 m

16°9°Jan
18°11°Feb
22°15°Mar
27°19°Apr
32°25°May
39°32°Jun
42°35°Jul
41°34°Aug
36°29°Sep
28°21°Oct
21°14°Nov
15°8°Dec

Hike: Mar, NovFloor above 35 °C: Jun–SepFrost on the rim: Dec–Jan

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 Death Valley National Park, California

Rainbow Canyon is a canyon in United States. The relief model measures 616 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,096 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 21 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Death Valley National Park.

Getting there.

Padre Pointnearest viewpoint · 5.0 km from the floor
Eastern Sierra Regional Airport (BIH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 135 km in a straight lineCar hire in BishopDiscover Cars · sponsored link
In March and in Novemberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire in BishopDiscover 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 the river runs highest from January to March.

The the river carries about 0.05 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to March. It is lowest from May to November.

0.1 m³/sJan
0.1 m³/sFeb
0.1 m³/sMar
0.1 m³/sApr
0.0 m³/sMay
0.0 m³/sJun
0.0 m³/sJul
0.0 m³/sAug
0.0 m³/sSep
0.0 m³/sOct
0.0 m³/sNov
0.1 m³/sDec

From about 0.00 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.14 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 208 km².

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.

Rainbow Canyon seen from above (Sentinel-2)

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.

3viewpoints within 5 kmPadre Point, Father Crowley Vista Point
3car parks within 3 km
3information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
1campsites within 8 kmPanamint Springs Resort Camping & RV

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
named waterfalls within 4 km
caves within 3 km
bus stops within 2 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).

In our other atlases

What else is around Rainbow 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.

Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon

Darwin Falls · 7.2 km

Peakyas3 mountains within 15 km

Lake Hill · 8.3 kmZinc Hill · 9.5 kmOphir Mountain · 14 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	16	18	22	27	32	39	42	41	36	28	21	15
Afternoon · rim	9	11	15	19	25	32	35	34	29	21	14	8
Night · rim	-3	-2	1	4	10	15	19	18	14	7	1	-3
Rain (mm)	33	30	21	15	10	4	10	10	9	15	14	30
Rainy days	5	6	5	3	2	1	3	2	2	2	3	4
Sun hours/day	7.1	8.2	9.9	11.6	12.8	14.3	13.1	12.8	11.6	9.9	8.2	6.8
Snow on the ground (cm)	7	6	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	16	9	-3	33	7.1
Feb	18	11	-2	30	8.2
Mar	22	15	1	21	9.9
Apr	27	19	4	15	11.6
May	32	25	10	10	12.8
Jun	39	32	15	4	14.3
Jul	42	35	19	10	13.1
Aug	41	34	18	10	12.8
Sep	36	29	14	9	11.6
Oct	28	21	7	15	9.9
Nov	21	14	1	14	8.2
Dec	15	8	-3	30	6.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (537 m) and the rim (1,633 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

2013-09-20 17 27 07 Canyon near Father Crowley Point — Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0

Death Valley Scenic Byway - Rainbow Canyon and the Argus Mountains - NARA - 7717984 — Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · Public domain

Father Crowley Overlook U.S. Route 190 7 — Z3lvs · CC0

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	5%	15%	120%	278%	23%	—	0%	9%	0%	0%	17%	17%
2021	62%	12%	24%	2%	6%	—	127%	3%	10%	67%	6%	185%
2022	0%	6%	13%	18%	0%	—	100%	361%	42%	4%	102%	138%
2023	222%	84%	414%	4%	42%	—	9%	807%	74%	14%	32%	27%
2024	56%	243%	135%	42%	20%	—	24%	3%	3%	4%	136%	18%
2025	14%	132%	110%	22%	35%	—	18%	91%	165%	104%	426%	229%

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

Compare with the neighbours.

Rainbow Canyon

United States

616 mDepth
21 kmRim to rim
—Length
29°Steepest wall

Titus Canyon

United States · 55 km

319 mDepth
18 kmRim to rim
—Length
38°Steepest wall

See the guide

Deadman Canyon

United States · 106 km

942 mDepth
12 kmRim to rim
—Length
29°Steepest wall

See the guide

Last Chance Canyon

United States · 121 km

407 mDepth
17 kmRim to rim
—Length
21°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q30603510) · 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