United States Canyon
Frenchman Coulee
370 m of rock, cut by the Columbia River.
Gabriele Giuseppini · CC BY 3.0
The cut
370 metres, to scale.
A slice through Frenchman Coulee 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: Big Ben · 96 m · Eiffel Tower · 330 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
370m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
16.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
15°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
171m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 29 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are from November to January.
- 4°-1°Jan
- 7°3°Feb
- 13°8°Mar
- 18°13°Apr
- 24°20°May
- 28°24°Jun
- 34°29°Jul
- 32°28°Aug
- 26°22°Sep
- 18°13°Oct
- 9°5°Nov
- 4°-1°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.
Valley in Grant County, Washington, United States of America
Frenchman Coulee is a canyon in United States, cut by the Columbia River. The relief model measures 370 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 677 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 16 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 820 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.3 km from the floor
- Pangborn Memorial Airport (EAT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 44 km in a straight lineCar hire at PSC airport (Pasco)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May and from September to 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 Columbia River runs highest from February to April.
The Columbia River carries about 3,491 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from February to April, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from July to October.
- 6,520 m³/sJan
- 8,113 m³/sFeb
- 9,064 m³/sMar
- 8,319 m³/sApr
- 6,585 m³/sMay
- 4,343 m³/sJun
- 2,261 m³/sJul
- 1,303 m³/sAug
- 854 m³/sSep
- 1,657 m³/sOct
- 3,043 m³/sNov
- 4,531 m³/sDec
From about 854 m³/s in the lowest month to 9,064 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 235,879 km².
Follow the Columbia 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
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.
- 3viewpoints within 5 kmFrenchman Coulee
- 22climbing crags within 3 kmZig zag wall, River View, Millenium and 19 more
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmFrenchman Coulee Boat Launch
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmFrenchman Coulee Waterfall
- 5car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 7campsites within 8 kmVantage Camping Site, Rocky Coulee Recreation Area Campground, Wildhorse Campground and 4 more
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmSagecliffe Inn
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Frenchman Coulee.
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.
Peakyas2 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 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 24 | 28 | 34 | 32 | 26 | 18 | 9 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | -1 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 24 | 29 | 28 | 22 | 13 | 5 | -1 |
| Night · rim | -7 | -6 | -3 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 2 | -4 | -7 |
| Rain (mm) | 47 | 30 | 34 | 23 | 25 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 42 | 55 |
| Rainy days | 13 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.2 | 4.9 | 6.3 | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.1 | 13.1 | 11.3 | 9.0 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 1.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 19 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 16 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | -1 | -7 | 47 | 2.2 |
| Feb | 7 | 3 | -6 | 30 | 4.9 |
| Mar | 13 | 8 | -3 | 34 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 18 | 13 | 0 | 23 | 8.7 |
| May | 24 | 20 | 5 | 25 | 10.1 |
| Jun | 28 | 24 | 9 | 18 | 11.1 |
| Jul | 34 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 13.1 |
| Aug | 32 | 28 | 12 | 7 | 11.3 |
| Sep | 26 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 9.0 |
| Oct | 18 | 13 | 2 | 31 | 6.4 |
| Nov | 9 | 5 | -4 | 42 | 3.4 |
| Dec | 4 | -1 | -7 | 55 | 1.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (171 m) and the rim (848 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 | 139% | 75% | 60% | 31% | 169% | 148% | 11% | 9% | 121% | 99% | 110% | 82% |
| 2021 | 122% | 109% | 26% | 14% | 19% | 30% | 64% | 169% | 215% | 100% | 159% | 56% |
| 2022 | 103% | 75% | 56% | 159% | 114% | 227% | 251% | 37% | 72% | 47% | 122% | 116% |
| 2023 | 79% | 51% | 91% | 159% | 76% | 60% | 128% | 269% | 115% | 74% | 93% | 125% |
| 2024 | 147% | 90% | 59% | 44% | 51% | 123% | 17% | 115% | 36% | 56% | 186% | 160% |
| 2025 | 63% | 145% | 126% | 77% | 74% | 17% | 111% | 269% | 62% | 137% | 154% | 136% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Frenchman Coulee
United States
- 370 mDepth
- 16 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 15°Steepest wall
Columbia River Gorge
United States · 199 km
- 890 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 50°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q14215986) · 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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