China Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
1,550 metres, to scale.
A slice through Wu 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
1,550m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
13.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
39°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
158m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 24 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in March and in November. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are from May to September.
- 12°2°Jan
- 15°4°Feb
- 20°10°Mar
- 25°15°Apr
- 29°18°May
- 32°22°Jun
- 34°24°Jul
- 34°24°Aug
- 30°20°Sep
- 24°14°Oct
- 19°9°Nov
- 13°3°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 in the Yangtze River
Wu Gorge is a canyon in China. The relief model measures 1,550 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Peishinearest town · 2.3 km in a straight line
- Shennongjia Hongping Airport (HPG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 71 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 the river runs highest from June to October.
The the river carries about 13,567 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from June to October. It is lowest from January to March.
- 6,023 m³/sJan
- 3,588 m³/sFeb
- 5,185 m³/sMar
- 10,638 m³/sApr
- 18,233 m³/sMay
- 24,585 m³/sJun
- 29,205 m³/sJul
- 27,768 m³/sAug
- 25,875 m³/sSep
- 22,748 m³/sOct
- 16,855 m³/sNov
- 11,645 m³/sDec
From about 3,588 m³/s in the lowest month to 29,205 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 968,642 km².
Follow the Yangtze River 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.
- 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
- Peishi2.3 km in a straight line
- Duping11 km in a straight line
- Baolong12 km in a straight line
- Sanxi12 km in a straight line
- Jianping15 km in a straight line
- Liangping15 km in a straight line
- Longjing20 km in a straight line
- Luoping20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Wu 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.
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 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 13 |
| Afternoon · rim | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 3 |
| Night · rim | -8 | -6 | -1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 5 | -1 | -6 |
| Rain (mm) | 21 | 30 | 60 | 109 | 167 | 187 | 198 | 135 | 142 | 108 | 57 | 16 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.5 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12 | 2 | -8 | 21 | 2.5 |
| Feb | 15 | 4 | -6 | 30 | 2.1 |
| Mar | 20 | 10 | -1 | 60 | 3.3 |
| Apr | 25 | 15 | 4 | 109 | 3.9 |
| May | 29 | 18 | 8 | 167 | 3.6 |
| Jun | 32 | 22 | 12 | 187 | 4.1 |
| Jul | 34 | 24 | 15 | 198 | 4.8 |
| Aug | 34 | 24 | 14 | 135 | 4.7 |
| Sep | 30 | 20 | 10 | 142 | 3.1 |
| Oct | 24 | 14 | 5 | 108 | 2.6 |
| Nov | 19 | 9 | -1 | 57 | 2.9 |
| Dec | 13 | 3 | -6 | 16 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (158 m) and the rim (1,720 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 | 372% | 186% | 152% | 97% | 102% | 174% | 218% | 82% | 99% | 179% | 92% | 81% |
| 2021 | 96% | 166% | 140% | 146% | 97% | 76% | 189% | 262% | 122% | 55% | 73% | 77% |
| 2022 | 165% | 45% | 240% | 167% | 58% | 68% | 53% | 29% | 44% | 93% | 85% | 43% |
| 2023 | 48% | 92% | 98% | 106% | 104% | 150% | 130% | 132% | 166% | 144% | 127% | 132% |
| 2024 | 223% | 122% | 116% | 121% | 81% | 67% | 174% | 40% | 47% | 107% | 93% | 70% |
| 2025 | 143% | 41% | 132% | 96% | 109% | 97% | 45% | 161% | 151% | 202% | 83% | 191% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Wu Gorge
China
- 1,550 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 39°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q8038910) · 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?
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mountains
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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 
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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