South Africa Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
141 metres, to scale.
A slice through Skeleton Gorge 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
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.
141m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
4.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
10°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
49m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In February the afternoon reaches 22 °C. The best months to hike are from December to April. The wettest months are from June to August.
- 22°20°Jan
- 22°21°Feb
- 21°20°Mar
- 19°18°Apr
- 18°16°May
- 16°15°Jun
- 16°14°Jul
- 15°14°Aug
- 16°15°Sep
- 18°16°Oct
- 19°18°Nov
- 20°19°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.
Gorge on Cape Peninsula, Western Cape, South Africa
Skeleton Gorge is a gorge in South Africa, cut by the Upper Disa River. The relief model measures 141 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 187 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 4.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Newlandsnearest town · 2.7 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,220 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Pulpit Rocknearest viewpoint · 2.4 km from the floor
- Cape Town International Airport (CPT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 17 km in a straight lineCar hire at CPT airport (Cape Town)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December to Aprilbest 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
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 10 × 10 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 36viewpoints within 5 kmOld Cableway, Kloof Corner, Bel Ombre and 33 more
- 29marked hiking routes within 4 kmContour Path, Platteklip Gorge, Diagonal Route and 26 more
- 3climbing crags within 3 kmClassroom Boulder, Deadwood Boulder, Cecilia Boulder
- 19footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmBridge and 18 more
- 6named waterfalls within 4 kmCecilia Waterfall, Skeleton Waterfall, Silverstream Waterfall and 3 more
- 11caves within 3 km
- 16car parks within 3 km
- 33information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmOrange Kloof Tented Camp, Parkhaus
- 291hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmThe Vineyard Hotel, Garden Court Victoria Junction, Townhouse Hotel and 288 more
- 41restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 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
- Newlands2.7 km in a straight line
- Claremont4.3 km in a straight line
- Rondebosch5.6 km in a straight line
- Constantia5.7 km in a straight line
- Rosebank5.8 km in a straight line
- Cape Town6.0 km in a straight line
- Lansdowne7.3 km in a straight line
- Athlone7.8 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Skeleton Gorge.
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.
Peakyas37 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 kmComing soon
Coastya15 beaches 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 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| Afternoon · rim | 20 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 19 |
| Night · rim | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 |
| Rain (mm) | 14 | 9 | 17 | 37 | 51 | 91 | 81 | 76 | 40 | 31 | 30 | 12 |
| Rainy days | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Sun hours/day | 12.7 | 11.9 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 8.7 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 12.6 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 12.7 |
| Feb | 22 | 21 | 17 | 9 | 11.9 |
| Mar | 21 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 10.5 |
| Apr | 19 | 18 | 15 | 37 | 8.7 |
| May | 18 | 16 | 14 | 51 | 6.7 |
| Jun | 16 | 15 | 12 | 91 | 6.2 |
| Jul | 16 | 14 | 12 | 81 | 6.8 |
| Aug | 15 | 14 | 12 | 76 | 7.3 |
| Sep | 16 | 15 | 12 | 40 | 8.7 |
| Oct | 18 | 16 | 13 | 31 | 10.5 |
| Nov | 19 | 18 | 14 | 30 | 11.9 |
| Dec | 20 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 12.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (49 m) and the rim (236 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
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 | 207% | 81% | 33% | 103% | 93% | 104% | 152% | 154% | 141% | 56% | 137% | 66% |
| 2021 | 199% | 60% | 239% | 26% | 387% | 163% | 135% | 178% | 45% | 177% | 114% | 121% |
| 2022 | 41% | 102% | 107% | 30% | 83% | 177% | 57% | 104% | 102% | 30% | 23% | 299% |
| 2023 | 43% | 223% | 488% | 153% | 256% | 211% | 99% | 74% | 374% | 53% | 49% | 155% |
| 2024 | 37% | 156% | 127% | 160% | 78% | 80% | 355% | 150% | 110% | 65% | 29% | 84% |
| 2025 | 89% | 114% | 96% | 169% | 124% | 130% | 138% | 71% | 50% | 36% | 9% | 50% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Skeleton Gorge
South Africa
- 141 mDepth
- 4.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 10°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q32021079) · 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here