United States inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) · CC BY-SA 2.0
The cut
582 metres, to scale.
A slice through Byers 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.
582m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
24.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
18°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
2,292m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
5 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 28 °C on the floor, against 23 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and in September. The rim freezes at night from October to May. The wettest months are in April.
- -2°-6°Jan
- -1°-6°Feb
- 4°0°Mar
- 10°5°Apr
- 16°12°May
- 24°20°Jun
- 28°23°Jul
- 26°22°Aug
- 22°17°Sep
- 13°8°Oct
- 5°0°Nov
- -1°-6°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 on the upper Colorado River in Grand County, Colorado
Byers Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Colorado River. The relief model measures 582 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 734 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 24 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Hot Sulphur Springsnearest town · 2.6 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,160 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 82 km in a straight lineCar hire at BJC airport (Denver)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and in 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 Colorado River runs highest from March to May.
The Colorado River carries about 6.6 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from August to November.
- 4.6 m³/sJan
- 6.4 m³/sFeb
- 15 m³/sMar
- 20 m³/sApr
- 16 m³/sMay
- 9.1 m³/sJun
- 5.1 m³/sJul
- 3.5 m³/sAug
- 3.5 m³/sSep
- 2.7 m³/sOct
- 3.5 m³/sNov
- 5.7 m³/sDec
From about 2.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 20 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,183 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
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.
- 4car parks within 3 km
- 10campsites within 8 kmPioneer Park Campground/Day Use and 9 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 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
- Hot Sulphur Springs2.6 km in a straight line
- Granby17 km in a straight line
- Kremmling22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Byers 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.
Peakyas7 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 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 | -2 | -1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 24 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 13 | 5 | -1 |
| Afternoon · rim | -6 | -6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 17 | 8 | 0 | -6 |
| Night · rim | -18 | -18 | -12 | -8 | -3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | -6 | -11 | -18 |
| Rain (mm) | 55 | 55 | 58 | 73 | 63 | 35 | 50 | 45 | 46 | 51 | 50 | 57 |
| Rainy days | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 9.3 | 11.8 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 5.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 33 | 37 | 25 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 22 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -2 | -6 | -18 | 55 | 6.0 |
| Feb | -1 | -6 | -18 | 55 | 7.0 |
| Mar | 4 | 0 | -12 | 58 | 8.7 |
| Apr | 10 | 5 | -8 | 73 | 8.7 |
| May | 16 | 12 | -3 | 63 | 9.3 |
| Jun | 24 | 20 | 2 | 35 | 11.8 |
| Jul | 28 | 23 | 6 | 50 | 10.9 |
| Aug | 26 | 22 | 5 | 45 | 9.5 |
| Sep | 22 | 17 | 1 | 46 | 9.2 |
| Oct | 13 | 8 | -6 | 51 | 7.2 |
| Nov | 5 | 0 | -11 | 50 | 5.9 |
| Dec | -1 | -6 | -18 | 57 | 5.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (2,292 m) and the rim (3,026 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 | 110% | 148% | 87% | 80% | 50% | 78% | 54% | 37% | 48% | 58% | 83% | 75% |
| 2021 | 55% | 142% | 103% | 53% | 77% | 81% | 93% | 87% | 75% | 85% | 68% | 162% |
| 2022 | 97% | 49% | 79% | 78% | 111% | 88% | 104% | 129% | 84% | 87% | 108% | 169% |
| 2023 | 128% | 64% | 124% | 63% | 66% | 166% | 73% | 134% | 40% | 92% | 56% | 99% |
| 2024 | 141% | 116% | 147% | 88% | 81% | 91% | 58% | 130% | 40% | 76% | 153% | 62% |
| 2025 | 84% | 107% | 81% | 57% | 64% | 56% | 44% | 86% | 99% | 87% | 44% | 87% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Byers Canyon
United States
- 582 mDepth
- 24 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 18°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5004065) · 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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