United States Canyon
Cataract Canyon
488 m of rock, cut by the Colorado River.
National Park Service, Neal Herbert · Public domain
The cut
488 metres, to scale.
A slice through Cataract 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.
488m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
7.1km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
42°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,106m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 38 °C on the floor, against 35 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The floor passes 35 °C from June to August: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to February.
- 8°5°Jan
- 11°7°Feb
- 17°13°Mar
- 22°18°Apr
- 28°25°May
- 36°32°Jun
- 38°35°Jul
- 36°32°Aug
- 31°28°Sep
- 22°19°Oct
- 15°11°Nov
- 8°5°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.
Section of the Colorado River
Cataract Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Colorado River. The relief model measures 488 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 7.1 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Getting there.
- Canyonlands Regional Airport (CNY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 108 km in a straight lineCar hire at CNY airport (Moab)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In April and in Octoberbest 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 453 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May. It is lowest in August.
- 451 m³/sJan
- 686 m³/sFeb
- 1,117 m³/sMar
- 1,306 m³/sApr
- 1,062 m³/sMay
- 615 m³/sJun
- 266 m³/sJul
- 132 m³/sAug
- 244 m³/sSep
- 488 m³/sOct
- 465 m³/sNov
- 367 m³/sDec
From about 132 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,306 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 185,340 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.
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmADT - Utah - R - Seg 2
- viewpoints within 5 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
- campsites within 8 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Cataract 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.
Peakyas5 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 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 22 | 28 | 36 | 38 | 36 | 31 | 22 | 15 | 8 |
| Afternoon · rim | 5 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 32 | 35 | 32 | 28 | 19 | 11 | 5 |
| Night · rim | -5 | -4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 5 | -1 | -5 |
| Rain (mm) | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 16 | 20 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.5 | 7.2 | 9.3 | 10.8 | 12.1 | 13.7 | 12.1 | 11.0 | 10.4 | 9.1 | 7.6 | 6.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 14 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 5 | -5 | 19 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 11 | 7 | -4 | 18 | 7.2 |
| Mar | 17 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 9.3 |
| Apr | 22 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 10.8 |
| May | 28 | 25 | 9 | 16 | 12.1 |
| Jun | 36 | 32 | 15 | 9 | 13.7 |
| Jul | 38 | 35 | 20 | 26 | 12.1 |
| Aug | 36 | 32 | 18 | 25 | 11.0 |
| Sep | 31 | 28 | 13 | 27 | 10.4 |
| Oct | 22 | 19 | 5 | 26 | 9.1 |
| Nov | 15 | 11 | -1 | 16 | 7.6 |
| Dec | 8 | 5 | -5 | 20 | 6.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,106 m) and the rim (1,612 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 | 45% | 38% | 206% | 16% | 12% | 203% | 58% | 7% | 29% | 27% | 47% | 55% |
| 2021 | 67% | 62% | 98% | 55% | 33% | 123% | 115% | 173% | 110% | 135% | 5% | 115% |
| 2022 | 5% | 65% | 92% | 29% | 7% | 133% | 140% | 157% | 117% | 123% | 93% | 133% |
| 2023 | 230% | 128% | 313% | 67% | 89% | 73% | 26% | 150% | 51% | 30% | 85% | 97% |
| 2024 | 97% | 172% | 245% | 47% | 50% | 277% | 25% | 253% | 14% | 107% | 107% | 4% |
| 2025 | 2% | 46% | 42% | 127% | 117% | 97% | 39% | 56% | 70% | 215% | 169% | 47% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Cataract Canyon
United States
- 488 mDepth
- 7.1 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 42°Steepest wall
Stillwater Canyon
United States · 53 km
- 345 mDepth
- 1.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 44°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5051461) · 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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