North Macedonia This illustration was made by Rašo . An email to Rašo would be appreciated too. · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
719 metres, to scale.
A slice through Demir Kapija 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.
719m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
11.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
31°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
89m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
7 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 27 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The rim freezes at night from December to March.
- 7°0°Jan
- 10°3°Feb
- 15°8°Mar
- 19°13°Apr
- 25°18°May
- 30°23°Jun
- 34°27°Jul
- 34°27°Aug
- 28°22°Sep
- 22°15°Oct
- 15°8°Nov
- 9°2°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.
Demir Kapija Canyon is a canyon in North Macedonia. The relief model measures 719 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,054 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Demir Kapijanearest town · 1.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,970 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.0 km from the floor
- Skopje International Airport (SKP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 81 km in a straight lineCar hire at SKP airport (Ilinden)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 the river runs highest from February to June.
The the river carries about 167 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from February to June.
- 236 m³/sJan
- 261 m³/sFeb
- 323 m³/sMar
- 369 m³/sApr
- 342 m³/sMay
- 253 m³/sJun
- 127 m³/sJul
- 55 m³/sAug
- 53 m³/sSep
- 135 m³/sOct
- 197 m³/sNov
- 242 m³/sDec
From about 53 m³/s in the lowest month to 369 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 21,259 km².
Follow the Vardar 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
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 4viewpoints within 5 km
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmSammiana I3, Sammiana I2
- 6caves within 3 km
- 2car parks within 3 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 36campsites within 8 kmRock camp and 35 more
- 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLovec, Калабастер, Драчевица and 2 more
- 7restaurants and cafés within 4 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
- information boards and visitor centres 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
- Demir Kapija1.5 km in a straight line
- Konče14 km in a straight line
- Negotino17 km in a straight line
- Miravci18 km in a straight line
- Vataša20 km in a straight line
- Kavadarci21 km in a straight line
- Pirava24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Demir Kapija 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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas12 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 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 25 | 30 | 34 | 34 | 28 | 22 | 15 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 15 | 8 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -7 | -6 | -2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 4 | -1 | -6 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 46 | 55 | 58 | 67 | 67 | 45 | 47 | 52 | 60 | 53 | 64 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.5 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 8.2 | 10.0 | 10.9 | 10.0 | 7.6 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 0 | -7 | 53 | 3.5 |
| Feb | 10 | 3 | -6 | 46 | 4.6 |
| Mar | 15 | 8 | -2 | 55 | 5.7 |
| Apr | 19 | 13 | 2 | 58 | 6.9 |
| May | 25 | 18 | 7 | 67 | 8.2 |
| Jun | 30 | 23 | 11 | 67 | 10.0 |
| Jul | 34 | 27 | 14 | 45 | 10.9 |
| Aug | 34 | 27 | 14 | 47 | 10.0 |
| Sep | 28 | 22 | 9 | 52 | 7.6 |
| Oct | 22 | 15 | 4 | 60 | 5.9 |
| Nov | 15 | 8 | -1 | 53 | 4.1 |
| Dec | 9 | 2 | -6 | 64 | 3.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (89 m) and the rim (1,144 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 | 24% | 75% | 216% | 141% | 42% | 60% | 58% | 256% | 57% | 74% | 8% | 116% |
| 2021 | 370% | 60% | 76% | 77% | 61% | 55% | 16% | 40% | 58% | 201% | 66% | 213% |
| 2022 | 52% | 82% | 54% | 61% | 58% | 103% | 84% | 146% | 90% | 35% | 89% | 69% |
| 2023 | 140% | 46% | 71% | 153% | 149% | 134% | 97% | 72% | 25% | 49% | 183% | 87% |
| 2024 | 224% | 61% | 112% | 80% | 86% | 54% | 26% | 67% | 110% | 24% | 130% | 218% |
| 2025 | 43% | 260% | 157% | 86% | 106% | 11% | 21% | 56% | 26% | 139% | 303% | 72% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Demir Kapija Canyon
North Macedonia
- 719 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 31°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q12906050) · 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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