Salvatore Giallombardo · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
386 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gole del Sosio 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.
386m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
2.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
37°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
236m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May. The wettest months are from October to February.
- 13°9°Jan
- 13°9°Feb
- 15°11°Mar
- 17°14°Apr
- 21°18°May
- 26°22°Jun
- 30°26°Jul
- 30°26°Aug
- 26°22°Sep
- 22°19°Oct
- 18°14°Nov
- 14°11°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.
Gole del Sosio is a canyon in Italy, cut by the Fiume Sosio. The relief model measures 386 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 562 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 2.2 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Burgionearest town · 5.1 km in a straight line
- Falcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 62 km in a straight lineCar hire at PMO airport (Palermo)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In Maybest 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 Fiume Sosio runs highest from November to March.
The Fiume Sosio carries about 1.1 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to March. It is lowest from May to September.
- 2.5 m³/sJan
- 2.4 m³/sFeb
- 2.0 m³/sMar
- 1.4 m³/sApr
- 0.7 m³/sMay
- 0.3 m³/sJun
- 0.2 m³/sJul
- 0.1 m³/sAug
- 0.6 m³/sSep
- 1.4 m³/sOct
- 2.0 m³/sNov
- 2.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.15 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.5 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 208 km².
The Verdura from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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
1.2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.0 × 5.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 8marked hiking routes within 4 kmDa Palazzo Adriano a Portella San Adriano, Itinerarium Rosaliae - Tappa 3, Itinerarium Rosaliae - Tappa 4 and 5 more
- 4hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmFeudo Hotel, Il Noce Antico, Casale Borgia Resort and 1 more
- viewpoints within 5 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
- caves within 3 km
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 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
- Burgio5.1 km in a straight line
- Chiusa Sclafani5.2 km in a straight line
- Villafranca Sicula6.4 km in a straight line
- Lucca Sicula7.2 km in a straight line
- Palazzo Adriano7.3 km in a straight line
- Giuliana7.4 km in a straight line
- Bisacquino8.1 km in a straight line
- Caltabellotta11 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gole del Sosio.
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 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 14 |
| Afternoon · rim | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| Night · rim | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 92 | 82 | 75 | 53 | 27 | 18 | 7 | 12 | 56 | 90 | 91 | 88 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.6 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 8.4 | 10.4 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 11.4 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 4.4 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13 | 9 | 5 | 92 | 4.6 |
| Feb | 13 | 9 | 4 | 82 | 5.4 |
| Mar | 15 | 11 | 6 | 75 | 6.9 |
| Apr | 17 | 14 | 8 | 53 | 8.4 |
| May | 21 | 18 | 10 | 27 | 10.4 |
| Jun | 26 | 22 | 15 | 18 | 12.0 |
| Jul | 30 | 26 | 18 | 7 | 12.8 |
| Aug | 30 | 26 | 18 | 12 | 11.4 |
| Sep | 26 | 22 | 16 | 56 | 8.5 |
| Oct | 22 | 19 | 13 | 90 | 6.8 |
| Nov | 18 | 14 | 10 | 91 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 14 | 11 | 6 | 88 | 4.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (236 m) and the rim (798 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 | 7% | 3% | 172% | 106% | 30% | 125% | 124% | 36% | 121% | 53% | 82% | 112% |
| 2021 | 74% | 58% | 89% | 70% | 30% | 26% | 141% | 10% | 38% | 177% | 154% | 79% |
| 2022 | 25% | 10% | 61% | 23% | 154% | 11% | 24% | 236% | 123% | 67% | 120% | 26% |
| 2023 | 55% | 106% | 76% | 35% | 2,245% | 270% | 165% | 60% | 18% | 5% | 49% | 31% |
| 2024 | 53% | 37% | 41% | 22% | 136% | 39% | 13% | 189% | 129% | 33% | 48% | 37% |
| 2025 | 29% | 46% | 38% | 25% | 2,531% | 80% | 178% | 55% | 74% | 83% | 101% | 162% |
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 (Q3773082) · 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
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.






