This illustration was made by ( User:Royonx ) and released under the license(s) stated abo · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
936 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges de Daluis 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
936m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
40°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
628m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 20 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night from November to April. The wettest months are from October to November.
- 7°-3°Jan
- 8°-2°Feb
- 12°3°Mar
- 17°7°Apr
- 21°11°May
- 27°17°Jun
- 30°20°Jul
- 30°20°Aug
- 24°14°Sep
- 19°9°Oct
- 12°2°Nov
- 8°-2°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 France
Gorges de Daluis is a canyon in France, cut by the Var river. The relief model measures 936 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,524 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 8.6 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Gorges de Daluis Regional Nature Reserve.
Getting there.
- Puget-Théniersnearest town · 10 km in a straight line
- Parking 380 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.5 km from the floor
- Nice-Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 52 km in a straight lineCar hire at NCE airport (Nice, Alpes-Maritimes)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In 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 Var runs highest from November to December.
The Var carries about 4.8 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to December. It is lowest from July to September.
- 6.0 m³/sJan
- 5.2 m³/sFeb
- 6.1 m³/sMar
- 6.5 m³/sApr
- 5.7 m³/sMay
- 3.5 m³/sJun
- 1.6 m³/sJul
- 1.1 m³/sAug
- 2.3 m³/sSep
- 5.6 m³/sOct
- 9.7 m³/sNov
- 7.7 m³/sDec
From about 1.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 9.7 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 348 km².
Follow the Var 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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 19 × 19 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 16viewpoints within 5 kmPoint Sublime, La Roche Trouée, Crête de Cambon and 13 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmCircuit d'Amen, Gorges de Daluis
- 4footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmCascade d'Amen
- 14car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmCamping du Pont de la Mariée, Aire camping-cars le Lagopède Valberg
- 12hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmVacancéole - Résidence Les Gorges Rouges, Le Blanche Neige, L'Auvarois and 9 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
- 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
- Puget-Théniers10 km in a straight line
- Annot16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges de Daluis.
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 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 8 |
| Afternoon · rim | -3 | -2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 2 | -2 |
| Night · rim | -10 | -10 | -7 | -4 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | -2 | -6 | -9 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 49 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 44 | 27 | 30 | 52 | 85 | 114 | 76 |
| Rainy days | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.0 | 5.7 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 9.7 | 10.8 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 14 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | -3 | -10 | 52 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 8 | -2 | -10 | 49 | 5.7 |
| Mar | 12 | 3 | -7 | 57 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 17 | 7 | -4 | 60 | 6.9 |
| May | 21 | 11 | 0 | 63 | 7.6 |
| Jun | 27 | 17 | 5 | 44 | 9.7 |
| Jul | 30 | 20 | 7 | 27 | 10.8 |
| Aug | 30 | 20 | 7 | 30 | 9.7 |
| Sep | 24 | 14 | 2 | 52 | 8.1 |
| Oct | 19 | 9 | -2 | 85 | 6.0 |
| Nov | 12 | 2 | -6 | 114 | 4.4 |
| Dec | 8 | -2 | -9 | 76 | 4.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (628 m) and the rim (2,152 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 | 60% | 27% | 107% | 83% | 161% | 223% | 76% | 120% | 80% | 102% | 23% | 102% |
| 2021 | 154% | 69% | 14% | 131% | 98% | 81% | 108% | 60% | 87% | 59% | 49% | 66% |
| 2022 | 7% | 45% | 32% | 60% | 43% | 49% | 83% | 198% | 96% | 24% | 49% | 137% |
| 2023 | 45% | 21% | 20% | 42% | 112% | 180% | 40% | 115% | 101% | 90% | 36% | 64% |
| 2024 | 78% | 202% | 264% | 65% | 116% | 112% | 64% | 46% | 202% | 199% | 28% | 10% |
| 2025 | 91% | 27% | 107% | 75% | 50% | 47% | 73% | 83% | 68% | 30% | 28% | 39% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q16982336) · 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.



