United Kingdom Peter Scott · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
287 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gordale Scar 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.
287m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
13.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
18°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
178m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 19 °C on the floor, against 17 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to September.
- 5°3°Jan
- 6°3°Feb
- 8°6°Mar
- 11°9°Apr
- 14°12°May
- 18°15°Jun
- 19°17°Jul
- 19°16°Aug
- 16°14°Sep
- 12°10°Oct
- 8°6°Nov
- 6°4°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.
Waterfall
Gordale Scar is a canyon in United Kingdom, cut by the Moor Close Gill river. The relief model measures 287 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Grassingtonnearest town · 8.7 km in a straight line
- Parking 270 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Janet's Fossnearest viewpoint · 2.2 km from the floor
- Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 38 km in a straight lineCar hire at LBA airport (Leeds, West Yorkshire)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June 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
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 kmJanet's Foss, Gordale Scar
- 11marked hiking routes within 4 kmSettle Loop, Pennine Way (Ickornshaw to Malham), Pennine Way (Malham to Horton in Ribblesdale) and 8 more
- 14footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmBlack Hole Bridge, Moon Bridge and 12 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmJanet's Foss
- 2caves within 3 km
- 12car parks within 3 km
- 16information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3bus stops within 2 km
- 12campsites within 8 kmHurries Farm CL, Wharfedale Caravan Club Site, Riverside Campsite and 9 more
- 24hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmThe Corncrake Guest House, Station House, Moon NJF Residential and 21 more
- 2restaurants 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
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
- Grassington8.7 km in a straight line
- Settle9.6 km in a straight line
- Hellifield9.6 km in a straight line
- Gargrave10 km in a straight line
- Embsay14 km in a straight line
- Skipton14 km in a straight line
- Earby17 km in a straight line
- Barnoldswick18 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gordale Scar.
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.
Cascadyas4 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas7 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas3 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 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 6 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| Night · rim | -1 | -1 | -1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 86 | 71 | 67 | 60 | 70 | 92 | 97 | 106 | 77 | 96 | 93 | 92 |
| Rainy days | 18 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 9 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | 3 | -1 | 86 | 1.3 |
| Feb | 6 | 3 | -1 | 71 | 2.4 |
| Mar | 8 | 6 | -1 | 67 | 3.8 |
| Apr | 11 | 9 | 1 | 60 | 5.4 |
| May | 14 | 12 | 4 | 70 | 6.3 |
| Jun | 18 | 15 | 7 | 92 | 5.5 |
| Jul | 19 | 17 | 9 | 97 | 5.7 |
| Aug | 19 | 16 | 9 | 106 | 4.8 |
| Sep | 16 | 14 | 6 | 77 | 4.4 |
| Oct | 12 | 10 | 4 | 96 | 2.5 |
| Nov | 8 | 6 | 2 | 93 | 1.5 |
| Dec | 6 | 4 | 0 | 92 | 1.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (178 m) and the rim (488 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 | 89% | 231% | 80% | 31% | 27% | 129% | 114% | 116% | 75% | 132% | 94% | 151% |
| 2021 | 175% | 162% | 92% | 29% | 191% | 31% | 100% | 61% | 70% | 122% | 57% | 109% |
| 2022 | 44% | 174% | 67% | 61% | 109% | 59% | 61% | 38% | 113% | 114% | 122% | 111% |
| 2023 | 88% | 37% | 171% | 131% | 56% | 60% | 159% | 101% | 135% | 144% | 136% | 178% |
| 2024 | 143% | 143% | 147% | 170% | 151% | 70% | 74% | 52% | 148% | 90% | 54% | 99% |
| 2025 | 110% | 63% | 45% | 30% | 61% | 78% | 90% | 33% | 179% | 87% | 150% | 142% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gordale Scar
United Kingdom
- 287 mDepth
- 13 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 18°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q650289) · 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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