Colombia Canyon
Chicamocha Canyon
1,128 m of rock, cut by the Chicamocha River.
Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
1,128 metres, to scale.
A slice through Chicamocha 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
1,128m
Depth
published figure: 2,000 m
7.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
38°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
227km
Length
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In February the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The wettest months are in May and from October to November.
- 33°25°Jan
- 34°26°Feb
- 33°26°Mar
- 32°24°Apr
- 32°24°May
- 32°24°Jun
- 33°25°Jul
- 33°25°Aug
- 32°24°Sep
- 31°23°Oct
- 30°22°Nov
- 31°24°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.
Steep sided canyon carved by the Chicamocha River in Colombia
Chicamocha Canyon is a canyon in Colombia, cut by the Chicamocha River. The relief model measures 1,128 m from the floor to the lower rim. The published depth is 2,000 m. It runs for 227 km. Rim to rim it is 7.3 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Cepitánearest town · 7.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,250 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.2 km from the floor
- Palonegro Airport (BGA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 40 km in a straight lineCar hire in BucaramangaDiscover Cars · sponsored link↗
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 Chicamocha River runs highest from May to June and from October to December.
The Chicamocha River carries about 201 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June and from October to December. It is lowest in February.
- 152 m³/sJan
- 68 m³/sFeb
- 124 m³/sMar
- 217 m³/sApr
- 314 m³/sMay
- 284 m³/sJun
- 241 m³/sJul
- 203 m³/sAug
- 206 m³/sSep
- 311 m³/sOct
- 354 m³/sNov
- 292 m³/sDec
From about 68 m³/s in the lowest month to 354 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 9,333 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), 16 × 16 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmTorrentismo
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmTorrentismo
- 4car parks within 3 km
- 17hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLos Gaby, Hotel Farallones Del Chicamocha, Hostal Cepitá and 14 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes 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
- campsites 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
- Cepitá7.9 km in a straight line
- Los Santos13 km in a straight line
- Jordán13 km in a straight line
- Aratoca14 km in a straight line
- San Andrés18 km in a straight line
- Guaca18 km in a straight line
- Piedecuesta20 km in a straight line
- Santa Bárbara22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Chicamocha 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.
Peakyas1 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 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 31 |
| Afternoon · rim | 25 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 24 |
| Night · rim | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| Rain (mm) | 44 | 54 | 110 | 126 | 145 | 97 | 97 | 105 | 100 | 161 | 136 | 72 |
| Rainy days | 10 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.7 | 7.4 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 6.9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 25 | 14 | 44 | 7.7 |
| Feb | 34 | 26 | 14 | 54 | 7.4 |
| Mar | 33 | 26 | 15 | 110 | 5.8 |
| Apr | 32 | 24 | 15 | 126 | 5.1 |
| May | 32 | 24 | 15 | 145 | 5.7 |
| Jun | 32 | 24 | 14 | 97 | 6.5 |
| Jul | 33 | 25 | 14 | 97 | 6.8 |
| Aug | 33 | 25 | 14 | 105 | 6.6 |
| Sep | 32 | 24 | 14 | 100 | 6.2 |
| Oct | 31 | 23 | 15 | 161 | 5.6 |
| Nov | 30 | 22 | 14 | 136 | 5.6 |
| Dec | 31 | 24 | 14 | 72 | 6.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (510 m) and the rim (1,723 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 | 217% | 50% | 278% | 56% | 46% | 45% | 60% | 82% | 59% | 33% | 40% | 90% |
| 2021 | 119% | 59% | 13% | 4% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 5% | 42% | 161% |
| 2022 | 56% | 203% | 107% | 223% | 114% | 165% | 157% | 237% | 173% | 141% | 115% | 92% |
| 2023 | 235% | 75% | 129% | 132% | 98% | 140% | 99% | 128% | 78% | 108% | 76% | 87% |
| 2024 | 40% | 145% | 125% | 112% | 173% | 232% | 105% | 70% | 139% | 90% | 98% | 98% |
| 2025 | 33% | 203% | 185% | 99% | 108% | 260% | 136% | 103% | 82% | 185% | 48% | 56% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q2936924) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here