Australia Cgoodwin · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
655 metres, to scale.
A slice through Carnarvon 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 · 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.
655m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
6.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
34°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
449m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In January the afternoon reaches 33 °C on the floor, against 29 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from May to August. The wettest months are from December to February.
- 33°29°Jan
- 32°28°Feb
- 30°26°Mar
- 27°23°Apr
- 23°19°May
- 20°16°Jun
- 20°16°Jul
- 22°18°Aug
- 27°23°Sep
- 30°26°Oct
- 32°28°Nov
- 33°29°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 Central Queensland, Australia
Carnarvon Gorge is a gorge in Australia, cut by the Boowinda Gorge river. The relief model measures 655 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 6.7 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Battleship Spur Lookoutnearest viewpoint · 5.9 km from the floor
- Emerald Airport (EMD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 163 km in a straight lineCar hire at EMD airport (Emerald)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to Augustbest 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 Boowinda Gorge runs highest from January to February.
The Boowinda Gorge carries about 0.08 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to February. It is lowest in May and from July to September.
- 0.2 m³/sJan
- 0.2 m³/sFeb
- 0.2 m³/sMar
- 0.1 m³/sApr
- 0.0 m³/sMay
- 0.1 m³/sJun
- 0.0 m³/sJul
- 0.0 m³/sAug
- 0.0 m³/sSep
- 0.1 m³/sOct
- 0.1 m³/sNov
- 0.2 m³/sDec
From about 0.01 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.24 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 177 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
4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 15 × 15 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1viewpoints within 5 kmBattleship Spur Lookout
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmCarnarvon Great Walk
- 3campsites within 8 kmBig Bend Walkers' Camp, Carnarvon National Park Camp Ground, Cabbage Tree Camping Zone
- 28hotels and guesthouses within 8 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
- 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Carnarvon 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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas9 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 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 32 | 33 |
| Afternoon · rim | 29 | 28 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 28 | 29 |
| Night · rim | 16 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 15 |
| Rain (mm) | 99 | 110 | 70 | 28 | 16 | 40 | 18 | 20 | 29 | 50 | 65 | 104 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 9.1 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 9.5 | 9.9 | 10.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 29 | 16 | 99 | 9.1 |
| Feb | 32 | 28 | 15 | 110 | 8.8 |
| Mar | 30 | 26 | 14 | 70 | 8.6 |
| Apr | 27 | 23 | 10 | 28 | 9.0 |
| May | 23 | 19 | 6 | 16 | 8.4 |
| Jun | 20 | 16 | 4 | 40 | 7.5 |
| Jul | 20 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 8.4 |
| Aug | 22 | 18 | 3 | 20 | 9.5 |
| Sep | 27 | 23 | 7 | 29 | 9.9 |
| Oct | 30 | 26 | 10 | 50 | 10.1 |
| Nov | 32 | 28 | 13 | 65 | 10.0 |
| Dec | 33 | 29 | 15 | 104 | 9.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (449 m) and the rim (1,111 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 | 62% | 171% | 55% | 23% | 44% | 21% | 48% | 57% | 34% | 99% | 33% | 33% |
| 2021 | 44% | 41% | 83% | 30% | 58% | 53% | 125% | 32% | 51% | 69% | 263% | 50% |
| 2022 | 12% | 37% | 48% | 110% | 539% | 40% | 219% | 115% | 201% | 259% | 95% | 31% |
| 2023 | 91% | 19% | 76% | 93% | 46% | 7% | 151% | 3% | 0% | 5% | 132% | 67% |
| 2024 | 88% | 41% | 73% | 88% | 33% | 52% | 102% | 134% | 9% | 36% | 109% | 65% |
| 2025 | 49% | 68% | 136% | 132% | 114% | 19% | 119% | 77% | 14% | 35% | 65% | 21% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5043790) · 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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