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龍頭峡 - panoramio

Japan Japan Canyon

Ryūzu-kyō

639 m from rim to floor.

See the cutWhen to go

full moon69 · CC BY 3.0

The cut

639 metres, to scale.

A slice through Ryūzu-kyō where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

935 m869 m639 m9.5 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 1.5935 m869 m639 m9.5 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 3.0

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.

639m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

9.5km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

29°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

230m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

4 °C warmer at the bottom.

In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are from June to July and in September.

rim · 935 mfloor · 230 m
  1. 6°2°Jan
  2. 8°4°Feb
  3. 12°8°Mar
  4. 18°13°Apr
  5. 22°18°May
  6. 26°21°Jun
  7. 29°24°Jul
  8. 30°26°Aug
  9. 26°22°Sep
  10. 21°16°Oct
  11. 15°10°Nov
  12. 9°4°Dec
Hike: May, OctFrost on the rim: Dec–MarWettest: Jun–Jul, 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.

Canyon in Akiota, Yamagata district, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan

Ryūzu-kyō is a canyon in Japan. The relief model measures 639 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 9.5 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

  • Togōchinearest town · 3.4 km in a straight line
  • Parking 1,350 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport (IWK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 44 km in a straight lineCar hire in HiroshimaDiscover Cars · sponsored link
  • In May and in 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.

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.

Ryūzu-kyō seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 21 × 21 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

  • 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km八幡原橋, 可部線跡
  • 2car parks within 3 km
  • 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmフルハウス戸河内, 戸河内旅館
  • 5restaurants and cafés within 4 km
  • viewpoints within 5 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
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • caves within 3 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
  • bus stops within 2 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

  • Togōchi3.4 km in a straight line
  • Gion23 km in a straight line
  • Hatsukaichi23 km in a straight line
  • Hiroshima24 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Ryūzu-kyō.

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
Ōta River103 kmKyōbashi River
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Sandan Falls · 9.4 km
Peakyas10 mountains within 15 km
Tenjō Zan · 4.1 kmMount Shinnyū1,152 m · 10 kmJippō Zan1,319 m · 11 kmKanmuri Yama · 12 kmTōgō San · 12 kmMount Osorakan1,346 m · 12 kmMount Kyūrakan1,334 m · 13 kmMount Amida837 m · 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon · floor681218222629302621159
Afternoon · rim24813182124262216104
Night · rim-6-5-3271217181371-4
Rain (mm)63751091251462112601221701137984
Rainy days111012111014141213101011
Sun hours/day3.33.95.16.06.54.74.96.45.15.14.13.0
Snow on the ground (cm)983000000004
Afternoon · floorAfternoon · rimNight · rimRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan62-6633.3
Feb84-5753.9
Mar128-31095.1
Apr181321256.0
May221871466.5
Jun2621122114.7
Jul2924172604.9
Aug3026181226.4
Sep2622131705.1
Oct211671135.1
Nov15101794.1
Dec94-4843.0

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (230 m) and the rim (935 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

二段の滝 - panoramio
OS6 · CC BY-SA 3.0
奥の滝 - panoramio
OS6 · CC BY-SA 3.0

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020152%93%115%135%75%136%203%11%112%89%62%86%
2021118%80%107%90%163%70%109%454%138%29%140%50%
202243%36%106%111%32%48%96%106%130%45%63%44%
2023100%79%73%218%238%163%108%76%64%21%81%82%
2024103%193%159%135%130%147%108%134%47%210%271%25%
202531%67%151%89%168%128%34%219%195%125%62%73%

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

Compare with the neighbours.

Ryūzu-kyō

Japan

  • 639 mDepth
  • 9.5 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 29°Steepest wall

Sandan-kyō

Japan · 3 km

  • 695 mDepth
  • 12 kmRim to rim
  • 16 kmLength
  • 34°Steepest wall

See the guide

Tachikue Gorge

Japan · 94 km

  • 448 mDepth
  • 17 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 29°Steepest wall

See the guide

Kankakei

Japan · 187 km

  • 387 mDepth
  • 8.0 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 29°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and lengthWikidata (Q109595880) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here