France Jean-Marc Rosier (de/from http://www.cjrosier.com + http://www.gordes-immobilier.com ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
319 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges de la Nesque 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.
319m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
2.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
28°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
405m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 31 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from January to February. The wettest months are from October to November.
- 8°5°Jan
- 9°7°Feb
- 13°11°Mar
- 18°15°Apr
- 22°19°May
- 28°25°Jun
- 31°28°Jul
- 30°28°Aug
- 25°22°Sep
- 20°17°Oct
- 13°10°Nov
- 9°6°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 of the Alps in France
Gorges de la Nesque is a canyon in France, cut by the Nesque river. The relief model measures 319 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 432 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 2.4 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Gorges De La Nesque.
Getting there.
- Saultnearest town · 7.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 220 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the floor
- Avignon Caumont airport (AVN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 38 km in a straight lineCar hire at MRS airport (Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in 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 Nesque runs highest from November to December.
The Nesque carries about 2.8 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to December. It is lowest from July to August.
- 2.5 m³/sJan
- 2.2 m³/sFeb
- 2.4 m³/sMar
- 2.5 m³/sApr
- 2.4 m³/sMay
- 1.6 m³/sJun
- 0.8 m³/sJul
- 0.7 m³/sAug
- 1.4 m³/sSep
- 2.7 m³/sOct
- 4.3 m³/sNov
- 3.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.69 m³/s in the lowest month to 4.3 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 276 km².
The Nesque 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
1.4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.5 × 5.5 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 7viewpoints within 5 kmBelvedere de Castellaras, Belvedere St Hubert, Belvédère de la Nesque and 4 more
- 66marked hiking routes within 4 kmCircuit des chapelles and 65 more
- 2caves within 3 km
- 20car parks within 3 km
- 7information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmAire de camping-car de Sault, Camping Provence Ventoux à Sault, Camping municipal and 3 more
- 12hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLavand'Inn, Le Louvre, La Sarrasine and 9 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 4 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
- 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
- Sault7.8 km in a straight line
- Villes-sur-Auzon7.9 km in a straight line
- Mormoiron12 km in a straight line
- Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt13 km in a straight line
- Malemort-du-Comtat14 km in a straight line
- Bédoin15 km in a straight line
- Venasque16 km in a straight line
- Gargas16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges de la Nesque.
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.
Riveryas3 rivers in the canyonFigures 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 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | 5 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 6 |
| Night · rim | -3 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 1 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 47 | 40 | 45 | 54 | 60 | 41 | 24 | 31 | 56 | 79 | 98 | 57 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.1 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 10.4 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 8.0 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 10 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 5 | -3 | 47 | 4.1 |
| Feb | 9 | 7 | -3 | 40 | 5.3 |
| Mar | 13 | 11 | 0 | 45 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 18 | 15 | 3 | 54 | 7.3 |
| May | 22 | 19 | 7 | 60 | 8.3 |
| Jun | 28 | 25 | 12 | 41 | 10.4 |
| Jul | 31 | 28 | 14 | 24 | 11.2 |
| Aug | 30 | 28 | 14 | 31 | 9.9 |
| Sep | 25 | 22 | 10 | 56 | 8.0 |
| Oct | 20 | 17 | 6 | 79 | 5.7 |
| Nov | 13 | 10 | 1 | 98 | 4.1 |
| Dec | 9 | 6 | -2 | 57 | 3.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (405 m) and the rim (837 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 | 71% | 43% | 108% | 74% | 130% | 182% | 30% | 91% | 94% | 86% | 41% | 107% |
| 2021 | 104% | 85% | 14% | 152% | 116% | 86% | 117% | 76% | 101% | 83% | 48% | 108% |
| 2022 | 8% | 53% | 27% | 59% | 31% | 60% | 47% | 163% | 115% | 19% | 76% | 183% |
| 2023 | 32% | 24% | 36% | 39% | 99% | 149% | 36% | 77% | 86% | 92% | 47% | 90% |
| 2024 | 74% | 184% | 276% | 48% | 115% | 118% | 47% | 42% | 164% | 138% | 43% | 22% |
| 2025 | 74% | 45% | 96% | 44% | 34% | 40% | 34% | 76% | 58% | 33% | 25% | 44% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gorges de la Nesque
France
- 319 mDepth
- 2.4 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 28°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q752558) · 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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