United States Canyon World Heritage
Golden Gate Canyon
478 m of rock, cut by the Glen Creek.
Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
478 metres, to scale.
A slice through Golden Gate 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: 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.
478m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
5.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
31°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,891m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 26 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and from August to September. The rim freezes at night from October to May. The wettest months are in May.
- -3°-7°Jan
- -3°-6°Feb
- 2°-2°Mar
- 6°2°Apr
- 14°10°May
- 20°16°Jun
- 26°22°Jul
- 25°21°Aug
- 19°15°Sep
- 10°6°Oct
- 2°-2°Nov
- -4°-8°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 Yellowstone National Park
Golden Gate Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Glen Creek. The relief model measures 478 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 592 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 5.7 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Yellowstone National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,750 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.3 km from the floor
- Yellowstone Airport (WYS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 42 km in a straight lineCar hire at BZN airport (Bozeman)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and from August to Septemberbest 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
3 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 12 × 12 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 5viewpoints within 5 kmViewpoint to the cascade and 4 more
- 3marked hiking routes within 4 kmBunsen Peak Trail, Osprey Falls Trail, Mammoth Hot Springs Trails
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmOsprey Falls Trail
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmRustic Falls
- 11car parks within 3 km
- 4information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 11campsites within 8 kmRescue Creek, Lava Creek, Big Horn Pass Trail and 8 more
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMammoth Hot Springs Hotel
- 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
- 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 Golden Gate 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.
Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas3 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas24 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 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 | -3 | -3 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 26 | 25 | 19 | 10 | 2 | -4 |
| Afternoon · rim | -7 | -6 | -2 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 21 | 15 | 6 | -2 | -8 |
| Night · rim | -18 | -18 | -13 | -8 | -3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | -6 | -12 | -18 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 63 | 66 | 78 | 85 | 74 | 41 | 40 | 48 | 64 | 64 | 68 |
| Rainy days | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.7 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 11.8 | 10.3 | 8.4 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 3.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 52 | 64 | 60 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 32 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -3 | -7 | -18 | 61 | 4.7 |
| Feb | -3 | -6 | -18 | 63 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 2 | -2 | -13 | 66 | 6.8 |
| Apr | 6 | 2 | -8 | 78 | 7.1 |
| May | 14 | 10 | -3 | 85 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 20 | 16 | 2 | 74 | 10.0 |
| Jul | 26 | 22 | 7 | 41 | 11.8 |
| Aug | 25 | 21 | 5 | 40 | 10.3 |
| Sep | 19 | 15 | 0 | 48 | 8.4 |
| Oct | 10 | 6 | -6 | 64 | 5.8 |
| Nov | 2 | -2 | -12 | 64 | 4.4 |
| Dec | -4 | -8 | -18 | 68 | 3.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,891 m) and the rim (2,483 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 | 100% | 108% | 113% | 66% | 107% | 139% | 86% | 77% | 62% | 122% | 84% | 45% |
| 2021 | 67% | 110% | 54% | 45% | 96% | 14% | 81% | 179% | 39% | 82% | 58% | 107% |
| 2022 | 55% | 30% | 36% | 95% | 152% | 133% | 53% | 106% | 88% | 85% | 105% | 98% |
| 2023 | 59% | 81% | 120% | 63% | 60% | 193% | 78% | 234% | 128% | 120% | 47% | 49% |
| 2024 | 50% | 101% | 116% | 75% | 112% | 60% | 68% | 105% | 116% | 41% | 63% | 69% |
| 2025 | 70% | 133% | 82% | 83% | 77% | 67% | 77% | 108% | 84% | 128% | 43% | 196% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Golden Gate Canyon
United States
- 478 mDepth
- 5.7 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 31°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
United States · 31 km
- 301 mDepth
- 1.7 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 42°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q5579438) · 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
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