MohadShojaee · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
425 metres, to scale.
A slice through Vizhdarvan 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.
425m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
7.1km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
34°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
628m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 42 °C on the floor, against 38 °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 wettest months are from January to April and in November.
- 13°9°Jan
- 15°11°Feb
- 20°16°Mar
- 26°22°Apr
- 32°29°May
- 39°35°Jun
- 42°38°Jul
- 42°38°Aug
- 37°34°Sep
- 30°26°Oct
- 20°16°Nov
- 15°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.
Canyon in Iran
Vizhdarvan Canyon is a canyon in Iran, cut by the Kanjan Cham River. The relief model measures 425 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 587 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 7.1 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Mehrnearest town · 10 km in a straight line
- Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport (KSH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 123 km in a straight line
- 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.
The river
The Kanjan Cham River runs highest from January to March.
The Kanjan Cham River carries about 4.5 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to March. It is lowest from June to October.
- 8.7 m³/sJan
- 11 m³/sFeb
- 11 m³/sMar
- 7.7 m³/sApr
- 3.2 m³/sMay
- 1.0 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.3 m³/sAug
- 0.3 m³/sSep
- 1.2 m³/sOct
- 5.4 m³/sNov
- 6.9 m³/sDec
From about 0.30 m³/s in the lowest month to 11 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 523 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.
N
4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 16 × 16 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 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
- caves within 3 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).
Towns nearby
- Mehr10 km in a straight line
- Sarţāf14 km in a straight line
- Şāleḩābād16 km in a straight line
- Haft Cheshmeh19 km in a straight line
- Īlām21 km in a straight line
- Delgoshā23 km in a straight line
- Arkavaz24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Vizhdarvan 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.
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 | 13 | 15 | 20 | 26 | 32 | 39 | 42 | 42 | 37 | 30 | 20 | 15 |
| Afternoon · rim | 9 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 29 | 35 | 38 | 38 | 34 | 26 | 16 | 11 |
| Night · rim | -2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 56 | 49 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.7 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 11.0 | 13.6 | 12.7 | 12.1 | 11.2 | 8.6 | 7.0 | 5.9 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | 9 | -2 | 65 | 5.7 |
| Feb | 15 | 11 | 0 | 60 | 6.8 |
| Mar | 20 | 16 | 3 | 60 | 8.4 |
| Apr | 26 | 22 | 8 | 50 | 9.0 |
| May | 32 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 11.0 |
| Jun | 39 | 35 | 19 | 0 | 13.6 |
| Jul | 42 | 38 | 22 | 2 | 12.7 |
| Aug | 42 | 38 | 22 | 1 | 12.1 |
| Sep | 37 | 34 | 18 | 2 | 11.2 |
| Oct | 30 | 26 | 13 | 28 | 8.6 |
| Nov | 20 | 16 | 5 | 56 | 7.0 |
| Dec | 15 | 11 | 0 | 49 | 5.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (628 m) and the rim (1,214 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 | 99% | 226% | 168% | 52% | 19% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 206% | 70% |
| 2021 | 52% | 126% | 45% | 4% | 15% | — | — | — | — | 34% | 37% | 59% |
| 2022 | 73% | 74% | 18% | 84% | 66% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 64% | 142% |
| 2023 | 181% | 34% | 182% | 182% | 160% | — | — | — | — | 28% | 203% | 87% |
| 2024 | 48% | 149% | 168% | 96% | 861% | — | — | — | — | 1% | 130% | 98% |
| 2025 | 24% | 110% | 147% | 66% | 70% | — | — | — | — | 0% | 44% | 290% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q26908433) · 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 |
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.



