Kosovo Faton Haxhiavdyli · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
482 metres, to scale.
A slice through White Drin 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 · 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
482m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
23.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
34°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
308m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
7 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 25 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are in November.
- 5°-2°Jan
- 7°1°Feb
- 12°6°Mar
- 17°11°Apr
- 22°15°May
- 27°20°Jun
- 31°25°Jul
- 32°25°Aug
- 26°19°Sep
- 20°13°Oct
- 13°6°Nov
- 7°0°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.
Small canyon located in the southwestern Kosovo
White Drin Canyon is a gorge in Kosovo, cut by the Drini i Bardhë river. The relief model measures 482 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,038 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 24 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Gjakovënearest town · 9.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 270 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.0 km from the floor
- Priština Adem Jashari International Airport (PRN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 47 km in a straight lineCar hire at PRN airport (Prishtina)Discover 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.
The river
The Drini i Bardhë runs highest from November to May.
The Drini i Bardhë carries about 49 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to May. It is lowest in August.
- 104 m³/sJan
- 103 m³/sFeb
- 119 m³/sMar
- 111 m³/sApr
- 93 m³/sMay
- 61 m³/sJun
- 30 m³/sJul
- 18 m³/sAug
- 42 m³/sSep
- 77 m³/sOct
- 109 m³/sNov
- 99 m³/sDec
From about 18 m³/s in the lowest month to 119 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 3,090 km².
Follow the White Drin 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.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 7viewpoints within 5 km
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmUra e Terzive, Ura Tibetiane
- 12car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 2campsites within 8 km
- 8hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmKosova-4, Hotel Kosova, Teqeja e Halvetive-Shejh Ali Lala and 5 more
- 28restaurants and cafés within 4 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
- bus stops within 2 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
- Gjakovë9.5 km in a straight line
- Orahovac11 km in a straight line
- Mamuša16 km in a straight line
- Pagaruša18 km in a straight line
- Leshan20 km in a straight line
- Krumë20 km in a straight line
- Mališevo22 km in a straight line
- Prizren22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around White Drin 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.
Peakyas30 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 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 31 | 32 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 7 |
| Afternoon · rim | -2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -10 | -8 | -5 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 2 | -3 | -8 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 80 | 88 | 76 | 90 | 73 | 52 | 51 | 80 | 96 | 109 | 96 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.1 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 8.9 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 6.6 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 2.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | -2 | -10 | 87 | 3.1 |
| Feb | 7 | 1 | -8 | 80 | 4.0 |
| Mar | 12 | 6 | -5 | 88 | 5.0 |
| Apr | 17 | 11 | 0 | 76 | 6.1 |
| May | 22 | 15 | 5 | 90 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 27 | 20 | 9 | 73 | 8.9 |
| Jul | 31 | 25 | 11 | 52 | 9.9 |
| Aug | 32 | 25 | 12 | 51 | 9.4 |
| Sep | 26 | 19 | 6 | 80 | 6.6 |
| Oct | 20 | 13 | 2 | 96 | 5.3 |
| Nov | 13 | 6 | -3 | 109 | 3.6 |
| Dec | 7 | 0 | -8 | 96 | 2.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (308 m) and the rim (1,345 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 | 38% | 81% | 97% | 78% | 94% | 121% | 81% | 297% | 92% | 119% | 31% | 131% |
| 2021 | 325% | 106% | 98% | 214% | 53% | 49% | 93% | 66% | 77% | 91% | 69% | 141% |
| 2022 | 62% | 126% | 61% | 114% | 60% | 219% | 89% | 93% | 142% | 40% | 154% | 133% |
| 2023 | 176% | 41% | 89% | 119% | 100% | 250% | 69% | 97% | 47% | 53% | 215% | 78% |
| 2024 | 101% | 36% | 112% | 93% | 107% | 66% | 46% | 52% | 152% | 77% | 94% | 126% |
| 2025 | 72% | 24% | 93% | 83% | 85% | 20% | 61% | 65% | 50% | 173% | 201% | 28% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
White Drin Canyon
Kosovo
- 482 mDepth
- 24 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 34°Steepest wall
Tara River Canyon
Bosnia and Herzegovina · 163 km
- 913 mDepth
- 4.7 kmRim to rim
- 82 kmLength
- 46°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7994654) · 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
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