United States BAlvarius · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
289 metres, to scale.
A slice through Skeleton 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
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.
289m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
6.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
28°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,429m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In June the afternoon reaches 36 °C on the floor, against 34 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in March and in November. The floor passes 35 °C in June: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to January. The wettest months are from July to August.
- 13°11°Jan
- 16°14°Feb
- 20°18°Mar
- 25°23°Apr
- 30°28°May
- 36°34°Jun
- 33°31°Jul
- 32°30°Aug
- 30°28°Sep
- 25°23°Oct
- 18°16°Nov
- 13°11°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.
Landform located 30 miles (50 km) northeast of the town of Douglas, Arizona
Skeleton Canyon is a canyon in United States. The relief model measures 289 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 6.9 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Grant County Airport (SVC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 143 km in a straight lineCar hire at TUS airport (Tucson)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In March 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.
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
4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 15 × 15 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 4caves within 3 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- 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
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 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 Skeleton 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.
Peakyas3 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 36 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 18 | 13 |
| Afternoon · rim | 11 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 28 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 23 | 16 | 11 |
| Night · rim | -3 | -1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 2 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 19 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 81 | 63 | 40 | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| Rainy days | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.3 | 9.3 | 10.8 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 10.3 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 8.9 | 8.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | 11 | -3 | 19 | 8.3 |
| Feb | 16 | 14 | -1 | 15 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 20 | 18 | 2 | 12 | 10.8 |
| Apr | 25 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12.5 |
| May | 30 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13.3 |
| Jun | 36 | 34 | 17 | 12 | 12.9 |
| Jul | 33 | 31 | 18 | 81 | 10.3 |
| Aug | 32 | 30 | 17 | 63 | 9.9 |
| Sep | 30 | 28 | 14 | 40 | 9.6 |
| Oct | 25 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 9.8 |
| Nov | 18 | 16 | 2 | 17 | 8.9 |
| Dec | 13 | 11 | -3 | 20 | 8.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,429 m) and the rim (1,741 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 | 76% | 154% | 531% | — | 12% | 100% | 49% | 33% | 11% | 65% | 9% | 70% |
| 2021 | 88% | 21% | 103% | — | 0% | 74% | 122% | 156% | 99% | 30% | 63% | 172% |
| 2022 | 51% | 17% | 62% | — | 0% | 295% | 120% | 191% | 104% | 197% | 4% | 138% |
| 2023 | 169% | 126% | 116% | — | 118% | 13% | 30% | 38% | 44% | 56% | 5% | 98% |
| 2024 | 102% | 209% | 89% | — | 0% | 290% | 52% | 92% | 14% | 2% | 74% | 0% |
| 2025 | 10% | 2% | 68% | — | 0% | 177% | 88% | 94% | 135% | 121% | 109% | 6% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Skeleton Canyon
United States
- 289 mDepth
- 6.9 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 28°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q518332) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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?
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