Russia Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
The cut
1,959 metres, to scale.
A slice through Argun River ravine 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.
1,959m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
9.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
51°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,262m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
14 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 26 °C on the floor, against 13 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to September. The rim freezes at night from September to May. The wettest months are from May to June.
- 1°-12°Jan
- 3°-11°Feb
- 7°-6°Mar
- 13°-1°Apr
- 18°5°May
- 23°9°Jun
- 26°12°Jul
- 26°13°Aug
- 22°8°Sep
- 16°2°Oct
- 9°-5°Nov
- 4°-10°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 and narroe valley in Chechnya
Argun River ravine is a canyon in Russia. The relief model measures 1,959 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 9.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 4.5 km from the floor
- Magas Airport (IGT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 74 km in a straight lineCar hire at TBS airport (Tbilisi)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to Septemberbest 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 May to June.
The the river carries about 2.1 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from November to February.
- 0.7 m³/sJan
- 0.8 m³/sFeb
- 2.7 m³/sMar
- 4.5 m³/sApr
- 6.9 m³/sMay
- 6.2 m³/sJun
- 3.6 m³/sJul
- 2.1 m³/sAug
- 1.6 m³/sSep
- 1.7 m³/sOct
- 0.6 m³/sNov
- 0.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.28 m³/s in the lowest month to 6.9 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 191 km².
The Argun from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 21 × 21 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 5viewpoints within 5 km
- 3marked hiking routes within 4 kmShatili–Kistani (no trail markers on this segment), Omalo-Shatili, Kachou Fortress Trail
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1caves within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 5campsites within 8 kmნიადე and 4 more
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmწინა ციხე, აპარეკა, Green House and 12 more
- 4restaurants and cafés 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
- car parks 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Argun River ravine.
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.
Riveryas3 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas12 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 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 9 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | -12 | -11 | -6 | -1 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 2 | -5 | -10 |
| Night · rim | -22 | -21 | -16 | -11 | -6 | -1 | 2 | 1 | -3 | -8 | -14 | -19 |
| Rain (mm) | 28 | 26 | 46 | 63 | 89 | 86 | 58 | 53 | 46 | 52 | 33 | 24 |
| Rainy days | 7 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 6.1 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 21 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 19 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1 | -12 | -22 | 28 | 4.3 |
| Feb | 3 | -11 | -21 | 26 | 5.1 |
| Mar | 7 | -6 | -16 | 46 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 13 | -1 | -11 | 63 | 5.2 |
| May | 18 | 5 | -6 | 89 | 6.1 |
| Jun | 23 | 9 | -1 | 86 | 7.6 |
| Jul | 26 | 12 | 2 | 58 | 7.6 |
| Aug | 26 | 13 | 1 | 53 | 8.0 |
| Sep | 22 | 8 | -3 | 46 | 6.7 |
| Oct | 16 | 2 | -8 | 52 | 5.3 |
| Nov | 9 | -5 | -14 | 33 | 4.5 |
| Dec | 4 | -10 | -19 | 24 | 4.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,262 m) and the rim (3,354 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 | 75% | 80% | 93% | 85% | 127% | 60% | 69% | 134% | 41% | 25% | 101% | 113% |
| 2021 | 65% | 111% | 77% | 68% | 46% | 81% | 126% | 47% | 144% | 85% | 59% | 43% |
| 2022 | 59% | 65% | 107% | 68% | 102% | 132% | 56% | 45% | 75% | 73% | 89% | 66% |
| 2023 | 50% | 131% | 93% | 89% | 84% | 134% | 131% | 58% | 110% | 40% | 149% | 157% |
| 2024 | 102% | 104% | 85% | 32% | 120% | 72% | 96% | 65% | 124% | 104% | 169% | 117% |
| 2025 | 54% | 97% | 164% | 135% | 68% | 72% | 44% | 21% | 199% | 76% | 2% | 117% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Argun River ravine
Russia
- 1,959 mDepth
- 9.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 51°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q4068870) · 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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