France Aslak Raanes from Trondheim, Norway · CC BY 2.0
The cut
694 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges de la Pierre-Lys 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 · Empire State · 443 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.
694m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
12.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
47°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
301m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
6 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 24 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are in November.
- 9°4°Jan
- 10°4°Feb
- 14°8°Mar
- 17°11°Apr
- 21°15°May
- 26°21°Jun
- 30°24°Jul
- 29°24°Aug
- 25°19°Sep
- 20°14°Oct
- 13°8°Nov
- 10°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.
Gorges de la Pierre-Lys is a canyon in France, cut by the L'Aude river. The relief model measures 694 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 879 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Quillannearest town · 4.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 920 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Couïrounearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the floor
- Carcassonne Salvaza Airport (CCF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 43 km in a straight lineCar hire at CCF airport (Carcassonne)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 L'Aude runs highest from November to May.
The L'Aude carries about 11 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to May. It is lowest from July to August.
- 18 m³/sJan
- 16 m³/sFeb
- 18 m³/sMar
- 20 m³/sApr
- 16 m³/sMay
- 8.6 m³/sJun
- 3.6 m³/sJul
- 2.7 m³/sAug
- 5.1 m³/sSep
- 13 m³/sOct
- 19 m³/sNov
- 17 m³/sDec
From about 2.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 20 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 716 km².
Follow the Aude 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
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.
- 8viewpoints within 5 kmBelvédère du Diable, Couïrou, vue sur la vallée and 5 more
- 4marked hiking routes within 4 kmSC 06S : Puilaurens - Quirbajou, SC 07S : Quirbajou - Puivert, SC 06N : Bugarach - Quillan and 1 more
- 6footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPasserelle, Chemin de Fer Carcassonne - Rivesaltes, Chemin des Chèvres and 3 more
- 4rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmH2Aude and 3 more
- 3caves within 3 km
- 6car parks within 3 km
- 10information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmL'assaladou, La Sapinette, Aire Quillan, Coeur du Pays Cathare and 3 more
- 10hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHótel Axat, Canal, La Pierre Lys and 7 more
- 3restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls 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
- Quillan4.8 km in a straight line
- Espéraza11 km in a straight line
- Couiza13 km in a straight line
- Chalabre23 km in a straight line
- Bélesta23 km in a straight line
- Limoux24 km in a straight line
- Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet25 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges de la Pierre-Lys.
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.
Peakyas3 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 10 |
| Afternoon · rim | 4 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 4 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -4 | -2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 49 | 58 | 68 | 61 | 39 | 32 | 36 | 45 | 68 | 70 | 53 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 7.3 | 9.3 | 9.7 | 8.9 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 4 | -4 | 63 | 3.0 |
| Feb | 10 | 4 | -4 | 49 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 14 | 8 | -2 | 58 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 17 | 11 | 1 | 68 | 6.6 |
| May | 21 | 15 | 4 | 61 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 26 | 21 | 9 | 39 | 9.3 |
| Jul | 30 | 24 | 11 | 32 | 9.7 |
| Aug | 29 | 24 | 11 | 36 | 8.9 |
| Sep | 25 | 19 | 7 | 45 | 7.4 |
| Oct | 20 | 14 | 4 | 68 | 5.1 |
| Nov | 13 | 8 | 0 | 70 | 3.5 |
| Dec | 10 | 4 | -3 | 53 | 3.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (301 m) and the rim (1,180 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 | 137% | 44% | 128% | 178% | 143% | 190% | 91% | 130% | 191% | 124% | 84% | 188% |
| 2021 | 87% | 102% | 26% | 47% | 71% | 159% | 100% | 60% | 140% | 47% | 172% | 137% |
| 2022 | 64% | 31% | 124% | 93% | 28% | 69% | 134% | 81% | 141% | 19% | 117% | 55% |
| 2023 | 100% | 46% | 63% | 52% | 100% | 204% | 116% | 107% | 89% | 60% | 104% | 88% |
| 2024 | 54% | 113% | 128% | 84% | 131% | 133% | 95% | 79% | 160% | 174% | 53% | 86% |
| 2025 | 36% | 28% | 138% | 42% | 59% | 29% | 152% | 95% | 78% | 13% | 41% | 129% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gorges de la Pierre-Lys
France
- 694 mDepth
- 13 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 47°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3111006) · 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.
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lakes
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Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here