United Kingdom Gorge
Black Rock Gorge
241 m of rock, cut by the River Sgitheach.
Deacon of Pndapetzim at English Wikipedia · Public domain
The cut
241 metres, to scale.
A slice through Black Rock 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: Great Pyramid · 139 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.
241m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.1km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
28°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
0m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 18 °C on the floor, against 15 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to September. The rim freezes at night in February. The wettest months are in August.
- 5°2°Jan
- 6°2°Feb
- 8°4°Mar
- 11°8°Apr
- 14°11°May
- 17°13°Jun
- 18°15°Jul
- 18°14°Aug
- 16°12°Sep
- 12°8°Oct
- 8°5°Nov
- 6°2°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 Highland, Scotland, UK
Black Rock Gorge is a gorge in United Kingdom, cut by the River Sgitheach. The relief model measures 241 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 529 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Evantonnearest town · 1.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 500 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Inverness Airport (INV)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 24 km in a straight lineCar hire at INV airport (Inverness)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 River Sgitheach runs highest from July to April.
The River Sgitheach carries about 3.8 m³/s on average here.
- 3.6 m³/sJan
- 2.5 m³/sFeb
- 2.7 m³/sMar
- 2.5 m³/sApr
- 2.2 m³/sMay
- 1.9 m³/sJun
- 2.5 m³/sJul
- 4.3 m³/sAug
- 3.0 m³/sSep
- 5.8 m³/sOct
- 5.1 m³/sNov
- 3.9 m³/sDec
From about 1.9 m³/s in the lowest month to 5.8 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 114 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
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.
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmJohn O'Groats Trail (Culbokie to Alness)
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 7car parks within 3 km
- 4bus stops within 2 km
- 4campsites within 8 kmDingwall Camping and Caravanning Club, Black Rock Holiday Park and 2 more
- 12hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmNovar Arms Hotel, The National Hotel, The Royal Guest House and 9 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- viewpoints within 5 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
- information boards and visitor centres 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
- Evanton1.8 km in a straight line
- Alness7.6 km in a straight line
- Dingwall8.6 km in a straight line
- Maryburgh11 km in a straight line
- Conon Bridge12 km in a straight line
- Invergordon12 km in a straight line
- Strathpeffer14 km in a straight line
- Fortrose17 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Black Rock 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.
Peakyas14 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures 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 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Afternoon · rim | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -2 | -2 | -1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | -1 |
| Rain (mm) | 72 | 61 | 61 | 56 | 72 | 84 | 95 | 102 | 75 | 96 | 75 | 72 |
| Rainy days | 19 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 18 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.4 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 11 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | 2 | -2 | 72 | 0.4 |
| Feb | 6 | 2 | -2 | 61 | 1.7 |
| Mar | 8 | 4 | -1 | 61 | 3.0 |
| Apr | 11 | 8 | 1 | 56 | 4.9 |
| May | 14 | 11 | 3 | 72 | 5.9 |
| Jun | 17 | 13 | 6 | 84 | 4.7 |
| Jul | 18 | 15 | 8 | 95 | 4.4 |
| Aug | 18 | 14 | 8 | 102 | 3.8 |
| Sep | 16 | 12 | 6 | 75 | 3.3 |
| Oct | 12 | 8 | 3 | 96 | 2.0 |
| Nov | 8 | 5 | 0 | 75 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 6 | 2 | -1 | 72 | 0.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (0 m) and the rim (529 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
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 | 82% | 172% | 85% | 40% | 82% | 139% | 86% | 67% | 88% | 194% | 88% | 146% |
| 2021 | 105% | 75% | 120% | 66% | 133% | 35% | 93% | 55% | 72% | 118% | 106% | 105% |
| 2022 | 74% | 150% | 37% | 114% | 99% | 50% | 95% | 51% | 73% | 80% | 117% | 91% |
| 2023 | 106% | 73% | 129% | 83% | 42% | 63% | 123% | 69% | 123% | 105% | 78% | 140% |
| 2024 | 88% | 96% | 88% | 136% | 75% | 85% | 100% | 76% | 67% | 60% | 55% | 167% |
| 2025 | 60% | 52% | 65% | 53% | 66% | 79% | 71% | 50% | 78% | 106% | 126% | 93% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Black Rock Gorge
United Kingdom
- 241 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 28°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q14995561) · 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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