Mexico / United States Canyon

Santa Elena Canyon

448 m of rock, cut by the Rio Grande.

Michael from Minnesota (@Michael) · CC BY-SA 2.0

The cut

448 metres, to scale.

A slice through Santa Elena 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: 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.

448m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

5.8km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

42°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

651m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

3 °C warmer at the bottom.

In June the afternoon reaches 40 °C on the floor, against 36 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from December to January. The floor passes 35 °C from May to August: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from July to September.

rim · 1,115 mfloor · 651 m

21°18°Jan
24°21°Feb
29°26°Mar
34°31°Apr
37°34°May
40°36°Jun
38°35°Jul
38°34°Aug
34°31°Sep
32°29°Oct
26°23°Nov
22°18°Dec

Hike: Dec–JanFloor above 35 °C: May–AugWettest: 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.

Santa Elena Canyon is a canyon in Mexico, cut by the Rio Grande. The relief model measures 448 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 5.8 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Cañón de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Protection Area.

Getting there.

Parking 430 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
Santa Elena Canyon Overlooknearest viewpoint · 1.0 km from the floor
General Roberto Fierro Villalobos International Airport (CUU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 235 km in a straight lineCar hire at CUU airport (Chihuahua)Discover Cars · sponsored link
From December to Januarybest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at CUU airport (Chihuahua)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 Rio Grande runs highest from August to October.

The Rio Grande carries about 115 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from August to October. It is lowest from February to May.

82 m³/sJan
62 m³/sFeb
51 m³/sMar
43 m³/sApr
61 m³/sMay
96 m³/sJun
163 m³/sJul
230 m³/sAug
279 m³/sSep
261 m³/sOct
199 m³/sNov
136 m³/sDec

From about 43 m³/s in the lowest month to 279 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 182,420 km².

Follow the Rio Grande 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.

Santa Elena Canyon seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 3 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 12 × 12 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

1viewpoints within 5 kmSanta Elena Canyon Overlook
1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
5car parks within 3 km
3information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
2campsites within 8 kmTerlingua Abajo, Ocotillo Grove

marked hiking routes within 4 km
via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 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 Santa Elena 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.

Riveryas4 rivers in the canyon

Rio Grande3,051 km · 85 m³/s Pecos River1,560 km · 8.0 m³/sRio SaladoRío San Juan (Nuevo León)

Peakyas13 mountains within 15 km

Cerro Aguja El Tule · 3.0 kmCerro Aguja El Pajarito · 7.0 kmCerro Agujita Negra · 9.7 kmCerro El Caido · 11 kmCerro Prieto · 11 kmCerro Castellan · 12 kmSierra Los Encinos · 14 kmCerro Las Congojas · 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	21	24	29	34	37	40	38	38	34	32	26	22
Afternoon · rim	18	21	26	31	34	36	35	34	31	29	23	18
Night · rim	2	5	8	13	17	21	22	21	18	13	7	3
Rain (mm)	13	7	9	10	28	35	47	47	44	24	14	11
Rainy days	2	2	2	2	6	7	10	9	8	4	2	2
Sun hours/day	7.9	8.9	10.0	11.0	11.6	11.6	10.3	9.9	9.0	9.1	8.4	7.9
Snow on the ground (cm)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	21	18	2	13	7.9
Feb	24	21	5	7	8.9
Mar	29	26	8	9	10.0
Apr	34	31	13	10	11.0
May	37	34	17	28	11.6
Jun	40	36	21	35	11.6
Jul	38	35	22	47	10.3
Aug	38	34	21	47	9.9
Sep	34	31	18	44	9.0
Oct	32	29	13	24	9.1
Nov	26	23	7	14	8.4
Dec	22	18	3	11	7.9

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (651 m) and the rim (1,115 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Dry Santa Elena Canyon in Summer - panoramio — iPhone Photography · CC BY 3.0

Gfp-texas-big-bend-national-park-flowing-into-santa-elena-canyon — Yinan Chen · Public Domain

Gfp-texas-big-bend-national-park-further-into-the-canyon — Yinan Chen · Public Domain

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	100%	115%	143%	9%	88%	84%	22%	32%	100%	1%	0%	258%
2021	51%	247%	0%	106%	59%	74%	48%	153%	38%	90%	81%	69%
2022	2%	124%	10%	9%	66%	66%	35%	146%	56%	140%	46%	29%
2023	27%	222%	383%	16%	282%	29%	12%	55%	27%	193%	146%	37%
2024	42%	47%	13%	19%	36%	37%	84%	33%	61%	1%	17%	8%
2025	42%	4%	87%	59%	53%	138%	126%	54%	31%	8%	31%	0%

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

Compare with the neighbours.

Santa Elena Canyon

Mexico

448 mDepth
5.8 kmRim to rim
—Length
42°Steepest wall

Boquillas Canyon

United States · 68 km

334 mDepth
2.5 kmRim to rim
—Length
33°Steepest wall

See the guide

McKittrick Canyon

United States · 331 km

182 mDepth
18 kmRim to rim
—Length
30°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q35276537) · 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