United States Canyon
Black Canyon of the Colorado
632 m of rock, cut by the Colorado River.
Spl553 · Public domain
The cut
632 metres, to scale.
A slice through Black Canyon of the Colorado 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.
632m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
7.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
34°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
194m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 45 °C on the floor, against 40 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in February and in November. The floor passes 35 °C from May to September: walk at dawn and carry water.
- 17°13°Jan
- 20°16°Feb
- 25°21°Mar
- 30°25°Apr
- 36°32°May
- 42°38°Jun
- 45°40°Jul
- 43°39°Aug
- 39°35°Sep
- 31°27°Oct
- 23°19°Nov
- 16°12°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 on the Colorado River where Hoover Dam was built
Black Canyon of the Colorado is a canyon in United States, cut by the Colorado River. The relief model measures 632 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 7.5 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Getting there.
- Boulder Citynearest town · 22 km in a straight line
- Boulder City Municipal Airport (BLD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 21 km in a straight lineCar hire at LAS airport (Las Vegas)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In February 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 Colorado River runs highest from February to March.
The Colorado River carries about 549 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from February to March. It is lowest from June to November.
- 897 m³/sJan
- 1,202 m³/sFeb
- 1,169 m³/sMar
- 895 m³/sApr
- 601 m³/sMay
- 274 m³/sJun
- 215 m³/sJul
- 234 m³/sAug
- 249 m³/sSep
- 316 m³/sOct
- 390 m³/sNov
- 639 m³/sDec
From about 215 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,202 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 424,467 km².
Follow the Colorado 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
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.
- 1campsites within 8 kmWillow Beach Campground
- 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
- 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
- Boulder City22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Black Canyon of the Colorado.
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.
Peakyas7 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 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 45 | 43 | 39 | 31 | 23 | 16 |
| Afternoon · rim | 13 | 16 | 21 | 25 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 39 | 35 | 27 | 19 | 12 |
| Night · rim | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 18 | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 18 |
| Rainy days | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.3 | 8.2 | 9.9 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 14.2 | 12.4 | 11.9 | 11.3 | 9.6 | 8.1 | 6.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 7.3 |
| Feb | 20 | 16 | 2 | 23 | 8.2 |
| Mar | 25 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 9.9 |
| Apr | 30 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 11.5 |
| May | 36 | 32 | 15 | 3 | 13.0 |
| Jun | 42 | 38 | 21 | 1 | 14.2 |
| Jul | 45 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 12.4 |
| Aug | 43 | 39 | 24 | 15 | 11.9 |
| Sep | 39 | 35 | 20 | 9 | 11.3 |
| Oct | 31 | 27 | 12 | 13 | 9.6 |
| Nov | 23 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 8.1 |
| Dec | 16 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 6.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (194 m) and the rim (828 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 | 0% | 45% | 463% | 111% | — | — | 4% | 25% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 3% |
| 2021 | 49% | 3% | 60% | 7% | — | — | 180% | 48% | 31% | 69% | 0% | 171% |
| 2022 | 15% | 3% | 31% | 19% | — | — | 191% | 189% | 234% | 9% | 110% | 34% |
| 2023 | 290% | 52% | 231% | 0% | — | — | 4% | 341% | 321% | 17% | 27% | 10% |
| 2024 | 68% | 159% | 231% | 93% | — | — | 47% | 25% | 17% | 2% | 12% | 2% |
| 2025 | 2% | 69% | 60% | 11% | — | — | 28% | 36% | 303% | 78% | 312% | 86% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Black Canyon of the Colorado
United States
- 632 mDepth
- 7.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 34°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon
United States · 235 km
- 1,413 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- 446 kmLength
- 56°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q723581) · 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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