United Kingdom Ravine
Castle Eden Dene
46 m of rock, cut by the Castle Eden Burn.
Asmgabber · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
46 metres, to scale.
A slice through Castle Eden Dene 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: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 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.
46m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
8°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
0m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 18 °C. The best months to hike are from June to September. The wettest months are in August.
- 7°6°Jan
- 7°6°Feb
- 8°7°Mar
- 10°9°Apr
- 13°12°May
- 16°15°Jun
- 18°17°Jul
- 18°17°Aug
- 16°15°Sep
- 13°12°Oct
- 10°9°Nov
- 8°7°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.
Ravine in County Durham, England, UK
Castle Eden Dene is a ravine in United Kingdom, cut by the Castle Eden Burn river. The relief model measures 46 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 98 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 8.4 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Peterleenearest town · 1.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 980 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.4 km from the floor
- Teesside International Airport (MME)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 28 km in a straight lineCar hire at NCL airport (Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear)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.
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), 18 × 18 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 4viewpoints within 5 km
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmDurham Coastal Path, King Charles III England Coast Path: North Gare to South Bents, Squirrel Trail and 2 more
- 39footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmDungy Bridge, Mossy Bridge, Gunner's Pool Bridge and 36 more
- 125car parks within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 159bus stops within 2 km
- 9campsites within 8 kmDropswell Farm, The Barn at Easington, Ashfield Caravan Park and 6 more
- 13hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmThe Oakroyd Hotel, Douglass Hotel, The Bell and 10 more
- 13restaurants 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
- caves within 3 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
- Peterlee1.3 km in a straight line
- Wingate3.9 km in a straight line
- Easington4.5 km in a straight line
- Hawthorn5.8 km in a straight line
- Thornley6.9 km in a straight line
- Haswell6.9 km in a straight line
- Trimdon Grange7.5 km in a straight line
- South Hetton7.5 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Castle Eden Dene.
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.
Figures 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 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Afternoon · rim | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 7 |
| Night · rim | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 4 |
| Rain (mm) | 66 | 56 | 51 | 46 | 48 | 69 | 77 | 86 | 60 | 79 | 76 | 68 |
| Rainy days | 15 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.1 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 6 | 4 | 66 | 1.1 |
| Feb | 7 | 6 | 3 | 56 | 2.3 |
| Mar | 8 | 7 | 4 | 51 | 4.1 |
| Apr | 10 | 9 | 5 | 46 | 6.5 |
| May | 13 | 12 | 8 | 48 | 8.0 |
| Jun | 16 | 15 | 10 | 69 | 7.0 |
| Jul | 18 | 17 | 13 | 77 | 6.8 |
| Aug | 18 | 17 | 13 | 86 | 5.9 |
| Sep | 16 | 15 | 11 | 60 | 5.0 |
| Oct | 13 | 12 | 9 | 79 | 2.8 |
| Nov | 10 | 9 | 6 | 76 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 8 | 7 | 4 | 68 | 0.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (0 m) and the rim (98 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 | 65% | 137% | 54% | 16% | 35% | 106% | 106% | 115% | 98% | 127% | 59% | 164% |
| 2021 | 215% | 168% | 84% | 29% | 171% | 29% | 83% | 54% | 64% | 144% | 85% | 150% |
| 2022 | 36% | 141% | 88% | 59% | 114% | 45% | 44% | 36% | 122% | 95% | 126% | 100% |
| 2023 | 69% | 52% | 162% | 152% | 57% | 98% | 158% | 81% | 123% | 169% | 139% | 221% |
| 2024 | 171% | 133% | 139% | 208% | 149% | 50% | 95% | 53% | 147% | 103% | 50% | 114% |
| 2025 | 112% | 59% | 42% | 21% | 55% | 87% | 79% | 31% | 180% | 84% | 161% | 148% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5050067) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.



