New Zealand TheKiwiAbroad · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
910 metres, to scale.
A slice through Cromwell 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: 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.
910m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
31°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
194m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In January the afternoon reaches 22 °C on the floor, against 14 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from December to March. The rim freezes at night from April to October.
- 22°14°Jan
- 22°14°Feb
- 20°12°Mar
- 16°7°Apr
- 12°3°May
- 8°0°Jun
- 8°-1°Jul
- 10°1°Aug
- 13°4°Sep
- 15°7°Oct
- 18°10°Nov
- 21°12°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.
Canyon in New Zealand
Cromwell Gorge is a canyon in New Zealand, cut by the Sonora Creek. The relief model measures 910 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,304 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 8.6 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Cromwellnearest town · 9.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,820 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the floor
- Wanaka Airport (WKA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 42 km in a straight lineCar hire at ZQN airport (Queenstown)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December to Marchbest 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 Sonora Creek runs highest from May to February.
The Sonora Creek carries about 498 m³/s on average here.
- 654 m³/sJan
- 497 m³/sFeb
- 327 m³/sMar
- 299 m³/sApr
- 518 m³/sMay
- 546 m³/sJun
- 593 m³/sJul
- 572 m³/sAug
- 829 m³/sSep
- 935 m³/sOct
- 897 m³/sNov
- 769 m³/sDec
From about 299 m³/s in the lowest month to 935 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 12,034 km².
Follow the Clutha River / Mata-Au 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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 19 × 19 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 9viewpoints within 5 kmRocky outcrop, The Secret Seat, Pickaxe Bluff Bridge and 6 more
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 4campsites within 8 kmChampagne Gully, Jackson Orchard, Jacksons Inlet Freedom Camping and 1 more
- 8hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAnderson Park Motel, Asure Central Gold Motel, Carrick Lodge Motel and 5 more
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 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).
Towns nearby
- Cromwell9.5 km in a straight line
- Alexandra18 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Cromwell 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.
Peakyas14 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 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 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 21 |
| Afternoon · rim | 14 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 |
| Night · rim | 2 | 2 | 0 | -2 | -4 | -6 | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -2 | 1 |
| Rain (mm) | 93 | 76 | 68 | 73 | 91 | 78 | 70 | 66 | 79 | 86 | 81 | 92 |
| Rainy days | 15 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.9 | 8.8 | 7.5 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 7.2 | 8.5 | 8.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 14 | 2 | 93 | 8.9 |
| Feb | 22 | 14 | 2 | 76 | 8.8 |
| Mar | 20 | 12 | 0 | 68 | 7.5 |
| Apr | 16 | 7 | -2 | 73 | 6.1 |
| May | 12 | 3 | -4 | 91 | 4.3 |
| Jun | 8 | 0 | -6 | 78 | 4.0 |
| Jul | 8 | -1 | -7 | 70 | 4.4 |
| Aug | 10 | 1 | -6 | 66 | 5.4 |
| Sep | 13 | 4 | -5 | 79 | 6.4 |
| Oct | 15 | 7 | -4 | 86 | 7.2 |
| Nov | 18 | 10 | -2 | 81 | 8.5 |
| Dec | 21 | 12 | 1 | 92 | 8.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (194 m) and the rim (1,498 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 | 33% | 153% | 81% | 90% | 54% | 68% | 135% | 71% | 159% | 98% | 61% | 80% |
| 2021 | 163% | 36% | 67% | 82% | 93% | 95% | 143% | 114% | 109% | 77% | 103% | 113% |
| 2022 | 28% | 168% | 29% | 75% | 64% | 151% | 181% | 184% | 67% | 87% | 126% | 60% |
| 2023 | 31% | 105% | 190% | 83% | 168% | 75% | 80% | 83% | 178% | 87% | 71% | 82% |
| 2024 | 103% | 64% | 107% | 142% | 39% | 57% | 103% | 126% | 190% | 177% | 96% | 90% |
| 2025 | 47% | 38% | 63% | 102% | 95% | 135% | 50% | 72% | 181% | 204% | 95% | 102% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Cromwell Gorge
New Zealand
- 910 mDepth
- 8.6 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 31°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1140882) · 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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