D Sneiders from Temple City, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
The cut
260 metres, to scale.
A slice through Eaton 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
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.
260m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
13.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
30°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
295m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 31 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from March to April and in November. The wettest months are from December to March.
- 18°13°Jan
- 18°14°Feb
- 20°16°Mar
- 21°17°Apr
- 24°20°May
- 27°23°Jun
- 30°26°Jul
- 31°26°Aug
- 30°25°Sep
- 26°22°Oct
- 22°17°Nov
- 17°13°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 the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, USA
Eaton Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Eaton Creek. The relief model measures 260 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 679 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Altadenanearest town · 4.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 140 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.1 km from the floor
- Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope Airport (BUR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 25 km in a straight lineCar hire at BUR airport (Burbank)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From March to April and in Novemberbest 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
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.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmInspiration Point, Echo Rock and 4 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmLower Sam Merril Trail/ Echo Mountain, Mount Wilson Toll Road
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmAltadena Crest Trail
- 9named waterfalls within 4 kmMoss Grotto Falls, Ribbon Rocks Falls, Grand Chasm Falls and 6 more
- 4car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 10campsites within 8 kmValley Forge Trail Camp, West Fork Trail Camp, Devore Trail Camp and 7 more
- 77hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAltadena Lodge, Hilton, Zinkes Drive Inn and 74 more
- 11restaurants 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
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 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
- Altadena4.3 km in a straight line
- Sierra Madre5.8 km in a straight line
- East Pasadena7.5 km in a straight line
- Pasadena8.2 km in a straight line
- Arcadia8.7 km in a straight line
- La Cañada Flintridge9.2 km in a straight line
- San Marino9.4 km in a straight line
- East San Gabriel10 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Eaton 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.
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 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 26 | 22 | 17 |
| Afternoon · rim | 13 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 13 |
| Night · rim | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 3 |
| Rain (mm) | 73 | 75 | 42 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 25 | 65 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.1 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 10.6 | 11.7 | 12.9 | 12.8 | 12.5 | 11.1 | 9.4 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18 | 13 | 3 | 73 | 7.1 |
| Feb | 18 | 14 | 3 | 75 | 7.8 |
| Mar | 20 | 16 | 5 | 42 | 9.2 |
| Apr | 21 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 10.6 |
| May | 24 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 11.7 |
| Jun | 27 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 12.9 |
| Jul | 30 | 26 | 14 | 2 | 12.8 |
| Aug | 31 | 26 | 14 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Sep | 30 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 11.1 |
| Oct | 26 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 9.4 |
| Nov | 22 | 17 | 6 | 25 | 8.1 |
| Dec | 17 | 13 | 3 | 65 | 6.9 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (295 m) and the rim (974 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 | 11% | 8% | 320% | 478% | 39% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 27% | 54% |
| 2021 | 71% | 1% | 77% | 6% | 14% | — | — | — | — | 126% | 0% | 360% |
| 2022 | 4% | 6% | 79% | 30% | 3% | — | — | — | — | 34% | 207% | 149% |
| 2023 | 290% | 171% | 451% | 10% | 197% | — | — | — | — | 4% | 61% | 100% |
| 2024 | 61% | 367% | 241% | 95% | 32% | — | — | — | — | 2% | 17% | 1% |
| 2025 | 26% | 110% | 130% | 30% | 53% | — | — | — | — | 213% | 552% | 241% |
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 (Q5331341) · 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.



